Page 14 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

“I saw Doc Potter the other day. He’s counting the days until Janey gets here to take over his practice. He and the missus bought a retirement home in Arizona to spend the winters there and the summers here. He can’t wait.”

“It was so good of him to stick it out until Janey was done with school,” Big Mac said.

“She’s the only one he would’ve turned over the practice to,” Seamus said. “He’s as proud of her as you guys are.”

“He’s been on Team Janey since she was a teenager,” Linda said. “This is a dream come true for all of us.”

“We can’t wait to celebrate her in Ohio,” Seamus said.

“First, we’ve got to bring four new babies home,” Big Mac said.

“Give Adam and Abby our congratulations. We’re looking forward to meeting the little guys.”

“We are, too,” Linda said.

“Four babies all at once,” Seamus said, seeming amazed.

“You never know what your kids have in store for you,” Big Mac said. “All you can do is hang on and enjoy the wild ride.”

“Do you have all this fatherly wisdom written down somewhere so new guys like me can refer to it as needed?”

Big Mac laughed. “It’s free to you any time you need it, my friend.”

“I have a feeling I’ll be needing it a lot.” Seamus waved to one of the dockhands, who signaled for him to start loading cars and trucks onto the ferry. “Have the best time with your kids.”

“We will,” Big Mac said. “Thanks for holding a spot for us for this mission.”

“Family takes care of family.”

Seamus walked away to direct the flow of vehicles onto the boat.

“I’m always so thankful you’re the one who does the backing on,” Linda said. “I stink at that.”

“I gotcha, love. We wouldn’t want you backing into the water, now would we?”

“Haha, like that’s even possible.”

He kept an eye in the mirror as he smoothly backed the truck onto the ferry. “You’d find a way.” Seamus had arranged it so they’d be the last ones on and the first ones off.

Island life had few disadvantages as far as Big Mac McCarthy was concerned.

But at a time like this, when his son and daughter-in-law had welcomed quadruplets on the mainland, he was chafing at the drawn-out process of getting from point A to point B.

If he’d had his way, they would’ve been with the kids the night before, but that hadn’t been possible.

Abby’s parents were also heading over today, on a later boat, and similarly eager to get there.

He and Linda left the truck on the lower level and took the stairs to get more coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the snack bar.

They had their pick of the tables this time of year, when it would often be standing room only in the summer.

As they cleared the breakwater to leave South Harbor, the boat bobbed in the late autumn seas.

Linda cast a wary look out the window at the rolling waves and pushed the rest of her sandwich across the table to him. “I hope I don’t regret eating that.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re an old hand at this by now.”

“Who you calling old?”

He smiled. “Not my gorgeous wife. She’s timeless.”

“Right, but that was a good recovery.”

“Besides, nothing can ever be worse than your first ride to the island.”

“That is very true. You’re lucky I came back a second time.”

“As you certainly know, you coming back and deciding to live on my island with me was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“As if it was ever a decision. I wanted to be where you were. Still do, for some strange reason.”

The seas got rougher when they cleared the island’s northern shore.

Big Mac reached a hand across to his wife, who held on tightly. “Remember, four babies at the other end of this ride.”

“That’s all I’m thinking about. I can’t wait to kiss those little faces.”

Adam and Abby had quickly discovered that caring for four newborns along with a cranky two-year-old in the mix was a nonstop process.

They’d get one baby changed and fed, only to repeat the process three more times while trying to keep Liam entertained and safe—all without so much as fifteen minutes of sleep for any of them—except Liam—all night long.

Upon the advice of the lactation specialist, Abby was attempting to combine breastfeeding with formula, since she wouldn’t be able to keep up with four breastfeeding babies.

“Holy shit,” Adam said to Abby in a brief lull around eight o’clock in the morning when Liam was settled in a recliner chair with cereal and Bluey on TV and all four babies were pacified—for the moment, anyway.

“Literally.”

They quietly cracked up laughing as Adam stretched out on the bed next to her.

“I had no idea that brand-new babies could produce that much poo,” she said. “They haven’t even eaten much of anything yet.”

“I think they came preloaded.”

That led to more quiet laughter, because God forbid they should disturb any of their five children during this moment of peace and quiet.

Liam had been unimpressed with his brothers since all they did was lie there and cry—and he said they were stinky.

He’d complained about the noise they made when he was trying to watch his show.

His parents were counting the minutes until the grandparents arrived to provide some much-needed relief for Liam and them.

They’d told him Grammy and Pop were coming in the morning and Nana and Papa in the afternoon. He couldn’t wait to get out of baby central.

“How many of the nurses do we get to take home with us?” Adam asked.

“Um, I think zero.”

“How’re we supposed to function without them? We have no clue what we’re doing.”

“I believe we’re expected to figure it out for ourselves. Thank goodness we’ll have a ton of help at home—and P.S., I can’t wait to go home.”

“How’re you feeling?”

“Sore from head to toe, but so happy and so relieved it’s over. Well, the birth part, that is. The rest is just beginning.”

“In case I forgot to tell you yesterday, I’m so proud of you for everything you went through to bring our boys safely into the world. You’re the undisputed star of this show, and I love you.”

“I love you, too, even if you knocked me up with quads.”

“I’d say I was sorry about that, but they’re awfully cute, and having four at once will give me bragging rights with my underachieving brothers for the rest of our lives.”

“Because that’s what really matters.”

“You know it, baby.”

Abby yawned as she attempted to find a comfortable position to rest while the babies did. She was under no illusions that the peaceful interlude would last for much longer.

The next thing she knew, Big Mac and Linda were there, gazing down at the babies, while Adam walked a crying baby around the room. “How long was I asleep?”

“About two hours,” Adam said.

“No way. I slept through that? What kind of mother does that make me?”

“The best kind,” Linda said as she leaned over to kiss Abby’s forehead. “The babies are gorgeous. Congratulations, Mama times five.”

“Thank you, I think.”

Linda laughed at the face Abby made.

“I thought five was a lot when they came one at a time. This is next-level.”

“Just what I always aimed to be. Next-level.”

Abby took Rory from Adam. At least she thought it was Rory. He had the blue bracelet, right?

“Rory,” Adam said, smiling.

“You read my mind.”

Big Mac held Liam, giving him his full attention while everyone else fawned over the new arrivals.

“Thank you, Papa,” Abby said. “You’re exactly what Liam needed today.”

“My pleasure, honey. How about Mr. Liam and I go out for a walk and a bite to eat?”

“He’d love that, wouldn’t you, buddy?” Abby asked her son, who had a confused look to him since awaking to four younger brothers who were occupying every second of his parents’ attention.

Liam nodded and rested his head on Big Mac’s shoulder.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”