He reaches into his pocket and pulls out my engagement ring. “When you said that you’d marry me.”
I open my mouth and widen my eyes. “When did you get that?”
“I had Miles go get some of my things from the house. He said it was laying on the bathroom counter.”
I give him apologetic eyes. “I took it off to take a bath, but then my water broke, and, well…”
“I know. Sebastian told me.” He slides it back onto my finger. “Speaking of getting married.”
“I know how important it was to you to get married before she came.”
“Actually”—he laces his fingers with mine—“it’s not too late.”
I look down at the baby asleep on my breast. “Um, if you haven’t noticed.”
“It’s not too late for the birth certificate,” he says, smiling.
“Oh…what?” I ask, covering myself back up.
Someone knocks on the door and cracks it open. “Lucy?” Sebastian calls from the other side of it, and my heart swells.
“Come in,” I say, eager to see him.
“Hey,” he says softly, walking into the room with Paul. His eyes bounce between me and Sam and the baby, but ultimately land on the baby. “Oh, my God.” He leans over her and gasps. “I just can’t get over how precious she is. Can I hold her?” he asks tentatively.
“Of course.”
Sam carefully scoops her out of my arms and hands her to Sebastian. “Careful,” he says, cupping her head as Sebastian takes her. “You have to hold her head up.”
Sebastian cradles her in his arms and stares at her with awe. “She’s perfection,” he says, putting his finger in her tiny hand. “I’m your uncle Sebastian.” Paul looks over his shoulder and touches her little cheek. “We are so having a baby,” Bas says to him, and Paul smiles adoringly. Bas looks at Joey again and says softly to her, “You nearly gave me a heart attack last night.”
“I’m sorry.” I laugh, shaking my head.
“You were worth it,” he says to me. “And so were you,” he whispers to the baby, carefully laying her in the bassinet beside my bed.
“Sebastian.” Sam reaches for him and pulls him into a hug. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did last night.”
“Oh.” Sebastian pats his back. “It was an honor.” Sam releases him, and Sebastian goes on to say, “But if you ever do that to me again, I may never forgive you.”
Sam laughs. “Fair enough.”
“Don’t worry, if I ever get pregnant again, he’s going to be chained to me the whole time,” I tease.
“If?” Sam pulls his head back and smirks. “More like when.”
I smile and shake my head, but someone else knocks on the open door. “Can we come in?” Tristan asks, poking his head into the room.
“Yeah, come in,” Sam says to him.
Tristan walks in, followed by Molly, whose eyes fill with tears as soon as she sees the baby.
“Hey guys.” I smile at them as they walk over to me.
Tristan leans down and gives me a hug. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. And, thanks for looking out for Sam last night,” I say quietly.
“I told you I would.” He winks at me and stands up.
He glances over at the baby and smiles. “You sure picked one hell of a night to go into labor.”
“Tell me about it,” Sebastian says.
“It’s definitely one that none of us will ever forget,” Sam says, folding his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, because we were on the flight from hell,” Tris says, rolling his eyes dramatically.
“Why? What happened?” I ask glancing between them.
“Nothing happened. I was just a little anxious about getting back here.”
“Anxious? Is that what you call it?” Tristan shakes his head.
Molly leans down and squeezes me in her arms. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Molly.”
She releases me and makes her way around the bed, giving Sam a quick hug before turning all of her attention to Joey. “Oh, my gosh, she’s so precious,” she gushes, touching Joey’s cheek with the back of her finger.
Tristan walks over to Sam and looks at the baby asleep in the bassinet. “I guess I would’ve been freaking out too.”
Tristan puts his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “So, this is Joey?”
Sam smiles and nods. “Want to hold her?”
Tristan squares his shoulders and pulls his hand to his chest. “Oh, no, I don’t think I should,” he says, shaking his head.
Sam rolls his eyes. “Sit down.” He pushes Tristan down into a chair. “Now hold your arms out, like this,” he says, showing him. He leans over and picks the baby up out of the bassinet and hands her to Tristan.
“Careful,” Molly says, hovering over Tristan’s shoulder.
“What if I drop her?”
“Don’t,” Sam says seriously, and I tense with concern. “Hold her head,” he says, putting Tristan’s hand under her head.
Tristan holds her against his chest and covers her back with his wide hand. “She’s so little and warm.” He smiles and drops his cheek to the top of her head. “Look at her snuggling up to me.”
“You look good with a baby in your arms,” I say, smiling at him.
“You really do,” Molly adds.
“Oh, no.” He shakes his head. “This is the closest I want to come, right here.” He kisses the top of her head and smiles again. “You’re never going to be allowed to go on a date, you know that, right?” he says softly to her.
There’s another knock at the door. “Hey,” Miles says, walking into the room with a giant smile on his face.
I look up at Sam. “He really doesn’t understand the concept of knocking, does he?” I laugh and Sam shakes his head.
“Is the little princess ready to meet her uncle Miles?”
“Hey, Miles.”
He bends down to give me a hug. “Hey, sweetheart. You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” I squeeze him and say softly, “Thanks for getting Sam back here in time.”
“I wouldn’t have let him miss it for anything in the world.” He kisses my cheek and stands up. “Okay, let me take a look at her,” he says, crossing the room. He leans over Tristan and stares at her. “Wow,” he says with a big smile on his face. “Now that’s a good-looking kid.” He stands up and pulls Sam into a hug.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Sam smiles proudly.
“Yeah, just like her mom. Thank goodness she didn’t get your ugly mug.”
I shake my head and Sam laughs.
“You can hold her,” I say to Miles, just to watch him squirm like Tristan did.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Sam says, and Miles reaches down and scoops her up from Tristan without pause.
I tense for a moment, but he cups her head and holds her carefully as he brings her to his chest. “Hey, pretty girl,” he coos, bouncing her up and down gently, and she peeks her eyes open at him. “Well, hello.” He smiles at her.