Disclaimer: I do not own Walker.

Chapter 2

Praying that the house wouldn't collapse down on them as the storm roared outside, Walker tried to organize his thoughts so that he could help his former partner. "August, get behind Micki and let her lean back against you," he instructed his son.

The teen nodded and scrambled into position behind the laboring mother-to-be.

Walker placed a gentle hand on Micki's knee as the woman struggled to breathe through the contraction that seized her. "We need to get your pants off. I need to check you," he gulped, his cheeks warming even as he said the words.

August's phone continued to light the bathroom enough so that Cordell could see Micki's face. She reached down and struggled to push at the waistband of her pants. "I've got them," Cordell assured her, gently slipped them down and tossing them to the side. He snatched a towel off the rack on the wall and tucked it beneath her. "We need to get your underwear off, too."

Micki was in too much pain to be embarrassed at the thought of Walker seeing her most private parts. She felt his hands pull down her panties as the contraction finally loosened its grip on her and she relaxed back against August limply.

She watched as Walker rose and pulled clean towels out of the cabinet on the wall. "We'll have to keep her warm when she gets here," he explained. Micki nodded, glad that Walker was thinking straight; she could barely focus on anything except the pain and the fear that something was going to happen to the tiny baby she'd come to love.

The storm outside intensified and the house trembled around them, the wind taking on a wild shrieking sound. Walker dropped to his knees and pulled August and Micki against him, trying to shield them with his body.

Micki tightened her fist in Walker's t-shirt and buried her face in his chest. The roar of the storm drowned out her pained moan as a contraction tightened around her middle. She was terrified, yet in no position to do anything to help herself.

Their ears popped as the pressure dropped around them and the loud roar of a tornado filled the air. They could hear glass shattering and the walls around them trembled. Micki thought she screamed and she could hear August yelling behind her, but then the noise died away leaving behind the pouring rain and the boom of thunder. The bathroom seemed unnaturally quiet for a few minutes before the rain and wind assaulted the house once again, but without the force of a tornado this time.

Micki groaned and pulled back from her former partner. "I think she's coming." Leaning back against August once again, she gripped her knees tightly and tried to breathe through the contraction.

"Dad, what are we going to do?" August asked as he cradled Micki against him. His eyes were wide with worry and fear, but he looked up at his father trustingly.

"We're going to have a baby," Cordell replied.

"Do you know how to deliver a baby?" the teen asked incredulously.

"I've helped plenty of horses and cows," the Texas Ranger informed his son as he knelt between Micki's legs and tried to reassure himself that this would be no different. What if he let Micki down? What if something happened to her or her baby? Walker tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. He was the only one here that could help them right now.

"Horses and cows?" August repeated a bit frantically. "Do you know what to do with a human baby?

"I hope so," Cordell replied as Micki grabbed at her knees.

"I have to push!" Micki bore down and groaned.

Her former partner forced himself to look between her thighs, his cheeks warming once again in embarrassment. His stomach flipped at the sight. Again the thought crossed his mind, could he do this? Sure, he'd helped with his father with the animals on the family ranch, but his was Micki and her daughter. Could he be responsible for a human life? Cordell sucked in a deep breath and held it. He had to do this; there was no other choice. The lives of Micki and her daughter were in his hands.

He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat and reached out trembling hands as a head of dark hair crowned at Micki's opening. "You're almost there," he told her as he glanced up at her sweaty face wreathed in an expression of agony. Behind her, August looked horrified as he tried to hold her legs back for her.

"Her head is almost out," Walker assured his former partner. "I can see her hair."

"I can't," Micki gasped out, shaking her head as strands of sweaty hair stuck to her face.

"Yes, you can," Cordell ground out. "Give me your hand." He snatched Micki's sweaty hand into his trembling one and passed it to the head of dark hair that peeked through her opening. "That's your daughter," he told her.

Tears pooled in Micki's eyes at the feel of the daughter she couldn't wait to meet, and she bit down on her lower lip. "I have to do this," she told herself under her breath, her head dropping back on August's shoulder in exhaustion.

"You're almost there," Cordell reassured her. He could tell by Micki's face when her next contraction started. "PUSH," he ordered, his tone firm.

Micki, his tough as nails former partner, whimpered as she bore down with all of her strength. Her face turned red and sweat beaded her upper lip. Her dark hair fell in sweaty tangles around her face as her fingers clawed at her legs for purchase. She yelled as the baby's head slipped out, the burn causing tears to leak down her cheeks to mingle with the sweat.

"That was her head; feel it." Cordell pressed her hand carefully over the baby's head and Micki could feel the tiny nose and lips.

"She's so beautiful, Micki," Walker murmured, filled with awe at the perfect little face in front of him.

A sob escaped the former ranger and she took a deep breath. She knew she still had work to do, but she wasn't sure she had the energy to accomplish her task. Another contraction seized her. Micki groaned and bit her bottom lip until it bled as she bore down once again. More tears slid down her cheeks. "She's stuck," she nearly screamed. The burn was so intense she tried twisting her body to get away from the pain.

"August, hold her legs back," Cordell instructed his son. "You can do this, Micki. You HAVE to do this. Your daughter is counting on you."

Cordell cupped the baby's head carefully in one hand and used the other to try to coax the baby's shoulders out. "Come on; one more big push," he encouraged.

Micki's scream as she labored made his heart thunder in his chest as the tiny baby slid out into his waiting hands.

The exhausted new mother slumped back against August totally drained. She looked down to where Walker was taking care of the baby. "Is she okay?" She asked as her body trembled with exhaustion.

Cordell wrapped the baby in a towel and rubbed her vigorously.

"Why isn't she crying?" Micki asked, weakly pushing herself up so she could see what Walker was doing. "What's wrong with her?"

Cordell rubbed at the baby and then put his finger in her mouth to help clear out the mucus. She wasn't crying and he wasn't sure she was breathing. "Come on," he murmured. "Come on, baby girl."

Panic threatened to overwhelm him. Turning the baby over, he slapped her on her back twice and she sucked in a shaky breath before letting out a quavering cry. "There we go," Walker murmured, as he continued to rub her back. The little girl's cry grew stronger and louder and Cordell huffed out a shaky laugh. "I knew you could do it, princess." Gazing down at the baby's button nose and bowed lips, her face scrunched up in a furious cry, Cordell wasn't sure he'd seen anything so beautiful since his own children had been born. He wrapped her in a towel to keep her warm and looked up at Micki who was reaching out with shaking hands.

"Here you go," he told her, reluctantly giving up the baby and gently placing the crying newborn in her arms. Tears were streaming down MIcki's cheeks as she looked down at her daughter. Walker was surprised to find his own cheeks damp as well. He wiped at them with his sleeve before scrabbling through drawers to find something to tie off and cut the umbilical cord.

"Hey, baby girl," Micki greeted her tiny daughter. "You're impatient like your mom, aren't you?" The baby let out a few more cries before she quieted and studied her mom's face above her with big, dark brown eyes so much like Micki's. "I love you so much," the new mother crooned as she used the edge of the towel to finish cleaning off her daughter's face.

"What's her name?" August asked from behind Micki, smiling down at the small girl.

Cordell finished with the umbilical cord and looked up, eager to hear the name of his friend's new baby girl.

Mick sniffled and placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Clara. Clara Trey Ramirez."

Walker's heart melted as he watched his former partner cradle her tiny daughter. "Clara is beautiful, Micki." He found that he already loved baby Clara fiercely.

Cordell watched as Micki's face contorted with pain once more and she grunted.

"What's wrong?" August asked with alarm over Micki's shoulder as he felt her body tense against him. "Dad, is something wrong with her?"

"She has to deliver the placenta," Cordell informed him as Micki pushed once again to expel the sac that had held her baby. Once the placenta was delivered, she sank back against August once again, thoroughly exhausted.

Walker cleaned up the mess as well as he could and allowed himself a few moments to enjoy the sight of his partner cuddling her daughter before he pushed himself to his feet. "Time to see what the damage is," he told the other occupants of the room as he put his hand on the doorknob and turned it before attempting to push the door open. It opened a few inches before stopping. He pushed harder, and the door moved a few more inches. He peeked through into the murky darkness and used his own cellphone to shine into the bedroom. The large wardrobe that sat against the wall had tipped over and was blocking the bathroom door. He assumed there was damage to the wall behind it. No matter how hard he and August pushed, the door would open no further.

Worry for his parents spiraled through him. Cordell attempted to call them on his phone, but groaned in frustration when the call wouldn't go through. They were trapped in the bathroom with no way to make sure his parents were all right.

"It's chilly in here," August commented. "Dad, can you get some towels we can wrap around Micki? She's shivering."

Walker nodded and hurried to grab some of the thickest, warmest towels from the cabinet in the corner. He wrapped the largest one around Mickie's shoulders and tucked another one over her legs. "Want some help getting the pants back on?" he asked her. "Looks like we might be here a while."

It took the three of them a few minutes to get settled in a comfortable position on the cold bathroom floor. Walker looked over at his exhausted former partner. He had so many questions to ask her, but he knew now wasn't the time.

"I can't get warm," she told him, as she pulled the infant closer to her chest.

August had curled up with some towels in the corner and was dozing off and on.

Cordell moved toward Micki and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. " Come here," he murmured. "Close you eyes and get some rest. I'll keep any eye on Clara."

Rain began leaking through the ceiling over the bathtub as Micki drifted off to sleep against Walker's shoulder. The Texas ranger sighed. It was going to be a long night.

To Be Continued…