Page 95 of The Sacrifice
“Did you miss me?” He grins and lifts Hadley higher onto his side. On the same side, he has three bags slung over his shoulder.
“Were you gone?”
“Nope. Never left your side.”
He’s perfect. The fact he’s obliging my over-packing makes my heart swell until it’s about to burst. Nicholas came as a surprise a few days early, and all my bags were at home. We were at Andrew’s when my water broke and had to make a mad dash to the hospital. Thankfully, everything went smoothly from there.
“Ma. Ma.” Hadley struggles against Jackson until he lets her down, and she toddles across the floor in her adorable red and black tennis shoes. She had to have a pair that matched her dads.
“Be careful, sweetheart. Remember, momma is sore, and the baby is new. You can’t poke him or drag him around by his head.”
She doesn’t listen to a word he says as she grabs handfuls of the sheet and tries to pull herself up. “Ma. Ma.” He deposits her on the bed, and her pink lips pucker. I give her a quick kiss.
“Hello, baby girl. I missed you.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder and hold her to my side so she can get a good view of her brother, but he’s safely out of her reach. Jackson isn’t lying. It wouldn’t be good if she held him like she does her dolls. She touches his blanket. “Ba.”
“Yes, he’s a baby. Just like you.”
She tips her head up and smiles, making her dimples pop and her soft brown curls brush against my chest. “Ma?”
“They should let us go home in a few hours.” I give her a squeeze, and Nicholas stirs in my arms, stretching and arching against me. I know that move well. He was like an alien trying to push his way through my stomach.
“Are you feeling okay?” Jackson drops the bags onto the chair beside the hospital bed. The tiny chair that my husband slept in until a couple of hours ago when he went home to get Hadley and my hospital supplies.
“Yes, I’m great. Tired and ready to get out of here.” He walks to the other side of the bed and leans down. “Hey, there, little man.”
Nicholas swings his arms and looks blankly in Jackson’s direction. When his tongue pokes out, I sigh, “Isn’t that the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“You all are.” His eyes are misty as he studies us huddled on the bed.
The hospital intercom makes an announcement in the hallway, but I can’t catch anything the man says. Not when my husband looks at me like we’re the only things in the world that matter to him. He’s cured my issues with PA systems. “Have I told you I love you today?”
“Yes, about twenty times, but I’ll take twenty-one.” I smile and scoot over so he can join us on the bed.Ugg. I can’t wait to heal up from this.Moving an inch feels like I climbed a mountain with my insides pulled out, flipped over, and stuffed back inside of my hoo-ha.
“Can I hold him?”
“Of course.” I kiss Nicholas’s forehead and hand him over to Jackson.
He pulls the blanket back, and I bite my bottom lip. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” The baby onesie with his jersey number was custom-made. It’s a size smaller than the one Hadley wore.
“I love you.” I lean over and kiss his lips.
“I can’t believe you thought to get a team jersey with everything else going on.” He opens the blanket farther and arches his eyebrow. “My number?”
“Well, who else would I put on there?”
“Thank you.” He traces his index finger over his stork mark. “Thank you for marrying me, loving our daughter the same as if you’d given birth to her, and for giving us a son.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Thank you. Thank you for being an awesome father. And for letting Andrew invite me into your world even though you knew I would be a disapproving witch. I can’t imagine one second of my life being different or any better than it already is.”
“You’re in luck.” Andrew breezes through the doorway, carrying a vase of spring flowers. “I’m here, so things just got better.” He sets the flowers on the sink and sweeps Hadley off the bed. “Hello, gorgeous.” He swings her into the air and smiles at her giggles of delight.
“Unc.” She giggles and wraps her arms around his neck, squeezing and placing her lips against his cheek.
“Hadley, let go of Uncle Andrew’s neck before you suffocate him.” She lets go and pats his cheeks.
“Let me see this pipsqueak.” He marches across the floor with Hadley perched on his hip. He’s been a fantastic uncle to her, and I no longer question if he could step up to the plate and love her if something were to happen to us. “He looks just like you. Poor thing.” He shakes his head.