Ian could only imagine. “I’ll get Charlie to back off. It was never my intention to run roughshod over you, Case. I just wanted to get to know you.”
“That wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean I wish we hadn’t met. I mean I wish you’d been my big brother, too. All those years…I wish it had been you and Sean and me and Theo.”
The Taggart brothers. “You understand I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”
“Jesus, man. Is that a tear?” Case looked properly horrified.
“It’s manly hug time.” He caught his brother and gave him a good pounding on his back. “And now we’re done.”
Case’s mouth turned up. “Thank god because Theo would have drawn that shit out.”
Sean popped back out of the waiting room. “What’s going on?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Ian lied because Sean would drag that shit out, too, and the last thing he needed was a bunch of crying dudes hanging on him.
“Not a thing, brother.” Case gave him a nod and joined the rest.
Sean stared at him suspiciously. “Yeah, I believe that.” He sighed. “You know you’re going to be good at this, right?”
“I’m good at everything.” But not this. Maybe he would be awful. He was sarcastic and didn’t particularly believe in showing his emotions to anyone but Charlie. He worried that he was going to resent the kids for taking time away from her, and didn’t that make him a complete asshole?
“Joke all you like, but in this I’m the leader, brother. I know what this feels like. I know how awful it feels to watch your wife do something you can’t help her with. You can’t take this burden from her.”
Ian shrugged. “Charlie’s tough.”
“And I also know what it feels like to worry that your whole world is about to change,” Sean said, ignoring him completely. “And guess what—it is. Nothing you’ve gone through prepares you. A lot of people will tell you you’ve already been a parent to me, and in some ways you were. You took care of me. I know what you sacrificed, but Ian, I wasn’t your kid. You have no idea how you’re going to feel when they put that first baby girl in your hands, and nothing I say will prepare you for it. But I am going to say this.”
“Do you have to? You know I really think those dudes back in the sixties had it right. We should go and sit in a bar somewhere and a nurse will call us and tell us the baby’s here.”
Sean put a hand on his shoulder. “Wasn’t that the life? Sorry. Come in here and you’re going to figure something out. I know you say you’re not afraid, but I’m going to do this anyway.”
He led Ian through the doors of the waiting room, and Ian was shocked at how they’d taken up all the space.
Li and Avery sat with Jake and Adam and Serena. They’d set up a small playpen and the boys were sitting in it while Carys held court between them. Grace was talking to Eve while Alex was pacing the floor and talking on his cell phone.
“Yes, Damon. I’ll be sure to call when they’re born,” Alex was saying. “Yeah, I know. Two girls. They’re going to drive him absolutely insane. Say hello to Penny for us.”
Simon was sitting with Jesse and Phoebe, and at least half of the members of Sanctum were here, too.
“I know one thing in this world and that’s the fact that Ian Taggart knows how to create a family. None of us would be here without you, you sarcastic asshole brother of mine. So go and help your wife make our family a little bigger.”
Ian did just that because the last thing he wanted any of them to see was the way his eyes had watered.
They’d come together because they’d all been defeated one way or another. They’d all been broken—by death or loss or failure. Ian hadn’t wanted to lose them. He hadn’t wanted to lose himself, so he’d started McKay-Taggart in order to give them all something to do.
How had they become more than friends? More than colleagues? Those people had become his family.
And his family was about to welcome another two of their own.
He slipped into Charlie’s room, ready to face the future.
Ten hours later, he was fairly certain his hand was going to break.
“One more big push and the first one will be out, Charlotte,” Dr. Bates said. “You’re doing great. I wish all my twin deliveries went like this.”
Charlie grunted and squeezed his hand and seemed to put all her willpower into her task. Then again, she was trying to push two whole human beings out of her vagina. She glanced up at him. “You could say something helpful.”
“Nope.” He really couldn’t. He’d spent hours watching her in pain and not being able to do or say anything that could make it better. He hated this. He hated every part of it. They were never doing this again. These two girls better like each other because they weren’t getting siblings. No way. No how. For the first time he actually thought about getting snipped so she would never have to deal with this kind of pain again.
“Wimp.” Somehow Charlie managed a smile right before she screamed again. And then with a long sigh, she laid back.