She’s everything.
“Hey, sweet boy,” she coos at my nephew.
Watching her hold him, it moves something in my chest. It’s as if I can see a flash of my future with her and our kids, and I like it. I like it a whole hell of a lot.
“He’s so tiny.” She looks over at me and smiles.
That smile, the joy on her face is something I want to give her. Something I want us to share together. I’m getting ahead of myself here, but for me, she’s the one. I just need to make her see that. I know it’s going to take time, but this right here, this is my end game.
“Hey, Roan.” I reach over and run my index finger down his cheek. He’s currently wrapped up like a burrito, and he’s snoozing away. I remember when Carter was born, he slept a lot.
“You need one,” Royce says out of the blue.
Turning my head, I see him sitting on the side of the bed with his arm around his wife, and both of their eyes are on us. He thinks he’s calling me out. Little does he know I’ve already come to that conclusion. “Whenever she’s ready,” I answer, pulling my gaze back to my nephew.
Aspen’s eyes snap to mine, and I shrug. Royce lets out a belly laugh. I’m sure at her reaction. “If you were going for the shock factor, it worked.” He chuckles.
“When can we do it again?” Sawyer asks, turning the heat from us to them.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Royce tells her—spinning my words to answer his wife.
“Aspen, who would have thought a tiny human could bring these Riggins men to their knees?” She laughs.
“Not just the tiny humans, their mommas too, or future mommas,” I tell my sister-in-law before Aspen can reply. My hand rests on her knee, and I give it a gentle squeeze, hoping she gets the meaning. I’m talking about her. She’s the future momma I’m referring to. I’ve shocked her by the look on her face, but that’s okay. I’m just now realizing this is what I want too. The only difference is, to me, we’re a done deal. She has to catch up to where I am.
My phone rings, and it’s Grant. “Hey,” I greet him. “You’re on speaker.”
“Are you done yet? You’ve been in there forever,” he whines, making us all snigger.
“Yeah, we’re about done. Let me steal him from Aspen to get my fix, and we’ll be right out.”
“Baby hog,” he mutters as we end the call.
“Here.” Aspen transfers Roan into my arms. “I could hold him all day.”
“So, what you’re saying is if we need a sitter, you’re the one to call?” Sawyer asks.
“Definitely. No way am I passing up baby snuggles,” Aspen tells her.
Staring down at my nephew, I decide I need to start my campaign. “All right, little man, we need to have a serious talk. I’m the favorite uncle. Remember that when those others come in here and try to take my title,” I tell the sleeping baby.
Aspen giggles, and I can’t not look at her. “You’re crazy.”
“Hey, we take the favorite uncle title very seriously in this family.”
“I think we need more babies to even it out. Five babies, five uncles, everyone wins.” Sawyer laughs.
“You might be onto something, sis,” I tell her. “All right, buddy. Uncle Grant is eager to meet you, so we need to go.” Standing, I hand him back to Royce. “Here you go, Daddy.”
Royce’s eyes mist with tears as he takes his son into his arms. He looks down at Roan, then to Sawyer. “Thank you for him. For loving me when I fought against it, for this life that we share. I love you.” He leans down and kisses her, and that’s our cue to go. We don’t bother saying goodbye, instead choosing to sneak out of the room.
“Finally,” Grant says when he sees us in the waiting room.
“Hey, blame Mom and Dad. They were in there longer than us,” I defend.
“Ready, babe?” he asks Aurora.
“For baby snuggles? Yes, please.”
“He’s so cute and tiny,” Aspen tells her.
“We’re heading out,” I tell my brother. “We’re going to grab some sleep. We’ll be back later.”
“Check in with Mom. She was talking about bringing food by.”
“Sounds good.” Taking Aspen’s hand in mine, I lead her out of the hospital and to my car. As soon as we’re on the road, my cell rings through the car speakers. “Hey, O, you’re on speaker with Aspen.”
“How’s the baby?”
“Good. Cute and tiny.” I laugh.
“You on your way home?”
“Yeah, Grant and Aurora are in with them now.”
“You need me to watch Carter so you can go?”
“Maybe in a few hours. You need to get some sleep, and we don’t want to wake him up to bring him out.”
“I can come to you,” I offer. I love my nephew and don’t mind helping, but what I really want to do is go home and curl up with Aspen in my arms and catch a few hours of sleep.
“Why are you up in the middle of the night?” I ask him.
He chuckles. “Little man was fussy. I got up to rock him a little.”
“Aw,” Aspen says.
“Call me in the morning if you want me to watch him.”
“Will do. Drive safe, oh, and, Aspen?”
“Yeah?”
“Keep his ass in line, will you?” Owen says before ending the call.
“I love your family,” Aspen comments.
“They love you too.” Reaching over, I take her hand in mine.
“I’m so tired, but it was worth it.” Glancing at the clock on the dash, it’s just after one in the morning.
“Me too, but you’re right, it was worth it.” The rest of the drive to my place is quiet, and I think she’s fallen asleep until I pull into the garage and she opens her door. Placing my hand on the small of her back, I lead her inside. “You hungry? Thirsty?” I ask her.
“Just sleep,” she says, covering a yawn.
“I’m glad we made the bed earlier,” I say, leading her down the hall to my room. It’s weird being here, in this new house. This isn’t how I thought this night would turn out, but I wouldn’t change it. Roan is here and healthy, Sawyer is doing great, and my big brother, well, he’s beside himself with love for his family. I’d say the night ended better than I could have imagined. I have a new nephew, and Aspen is here with me. I couldn’t ask for more.
In my room, she digs into the bag she packed and disappears into the bathroom without a word. A few minutes later, she’s opening the door in a pair of pajamas, and her hair is tied up on her head.
“Climb in bed. I’m going to change.” I kiss the corner of her mouth as we pass one another on my way to the bathroom. I rush through changing and brushing my teeth before turning off the light and blindly making my way to the bed. “Ouch,” I curse when I stub my toe on a box.
“You okay?” her sleepy voice asks.
“Sorry. Yeah, I need to unpack these boxes.”
“I told you so,” she says. I can hear the smirk in her voice.
Finally reaching the bed, I feel around and realize it’s the side of the bed that she chose. It will forever, from this point on, be her side of the bed. “I’m coming in,” I say, climbing over her and snuggling up to her back.