Page 57 of Eye on the Ball
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Thanks, Eleanor. Oh! Please call Tina and ask her to come in this afternoon to do paperwork instead of this morning.”
“Will do. Say hi to Jack for me.” She giggled again and hung up.
I flopped back down on the pillow. “Is it possible the perfume really is enchanted?
“You even have to ask? May I remind you of the Doltar?”
I could never forget the Doltar.
Jack’s phone buzzed, and he grabbed it and stood, stretching. I admired the view of possibly the best male butt in the world and felt myself blush. Then I wondered how long we’d have to be in this relationship before I stopped blushing at the sight of my boyfriend’s unclothed body.
Not there yet.
He pulled on his clothes and then read me the text.
Celine is coming in for a chat this morning. FYI, she denies everything. Will let you know if we can get this cleared up before the big game.
I glanced at my phone and saw she’d included me in that text. “You know, it’s hard to believe there was a day when I wasn’t included in law enforcement communications.”
“Me, too,” Jack said dryly. He’d worked closely with both law enforcement and the military in his former jobs. “Coffee?”
“Please! And then, let’s go see the babies!”
* * *
They were the prettiest babies in the hospital. Maybe in the entire state of Florida. Their parents were both gorgeous, so I guess they had good genetic soup, but wow. The baby girl had a mop of wavy dark hair, like her dad, and the baby boy had a bit of golden fuzz the same color as his mom’s hair.
“I can never thank you enough,” Alejandro said, casual in jeans and a dark blue shirt. “You brought my daughter into the world, Tess. Anything you ever wish for that I can grant is yours.”
I blinked back tears and smiled at him. “Good, Special Agent Genie. My first wish is that you stop trying to get Jack to take a P-Ops job.”
“Don’t joke about genies and wishes,” Rose said. She was pale and lovely in a pink robe, her glorious golden hair pulled back away from her face. “My cousin Jake is in love with a djinn. It has caused some … complications.”
I didn’t even ask. I just leaned over to stare at their beautiful new daughter. “Oh, Rose. Look what you did. They’re amazing.”
Rose beamed at her daughter. “Yes. They are.”
“Where’s your mom?”
“She went to the cafe to get breakfast. She’s tired but ecstatic, kind of like me.”
Then she held the baby up to me. “Take her.”
“Really?” I carefully lifted the baby into my arms and automatically started rocking back and forth, years of babysitting coming to the fore. “Oh! I love baby smell.”
“Did you tell her?” Alejandro asked his wife.
“Not yet. Why don’t you do it?”
Alejandro turned to me and bowed. “Tess, Jack, meet our new daughter: Jasmine Tess Cardinal Vasquez.”
I was so shocked I was lucky I didn’t drop the baby. “Who? What? Really?”
“You were the first person she saw in this world, and you helped her to be born. Of course, we named her Tess. It’s tradition that Cardinal witches have flower names, so she’s Jasmine Tess, but we’ll be sure she knows all about you,” Rose said.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so incredibly honored.”