“Here, will you take Livie?” I ask Nic. “I’m going to go talk to the nurse.”
Her eyes go wide, but she takes the baby from me, settles Liv on her shoulder and sways back and forth, kissing her head.
Jesus, she looks good with a baby on her.
I shake that thought off and march over to the nurse at the nurse’s station.
“I’m Detective Montgomery,” I begin. “I’m Natalie Williams’ brother. Can you give me any information?”
“I’m sorry, detective, I don’t have any information for you. The doctor is with her. I’m sure her husband or mother-in-law will come brief you all soon.” She leans in and lowers her voice. “Is that Will Montgomery, the football player? And Leo Nash?”
I stare at her hard, clenching my jaw, until she looks down in embarrassment. “I hope my family doesn’t have to worry about the press hearing about our emergency.” The threat is veiled, but it’s plain as day: Don’t fuck with my family.
“Of course not. I’m sorry. It shouldn’t be long until you hear something.”
I nod and walk back to Nic, Jules and Nate.
“Want me to take her?” I ask, gesturing to the sleeping baby.
“No, I have her,” Nic replies with a soft smile. “She’s asleep. We won’t move her.”
“My mom’s coming back to get her,” Stacy says. “They didn’t have enough car-seat space in the van for all the kids.”
I nod and shove my hands in my pockets and sigh in exasperation. Waiting is the worst. There’s absolutely nothing we can do, and I can tell by the looks on all my brothers’ faces that it’s making us all nuts. I glance down at Nic and see that she’s eyeing my mom nervously, and I realize what an asshole I am.
“I’m so sorry, Mom and Dad, I just realized that you haven’t met Nic yet.” I cringe and pull Nic to my side. “This is Nicole Dalton. Nic, these are my parents, Gail and Steven Montgomery.”
“So nice to meet you,” Nic replies and shakes both of their hands.
“Oh, no, it’s our pleasure.” Mom’s eyes are wide in surprise when they meet mine and then she smiles broadly at Nic before looking up to me with a million questions in her eyes. I know I’ll be getting the third degree later.
“This fucking blows.” Will sighs and rubs his hands over his face.
“I want to see my girl,” Mom whispers and brushes a tear from her eye.
I rub my hand up and down Mom’s back, soothing her, and glance over to see Nic with her lips resting on Livie’s head. She’s whispering to her and rocking her back and forth, and I suddenly feel like I’ve been punched in the face.
I see the whole package when I look at this woman. Marriage and babies and houses and bills. Fights and laughter.
Everything.
“Any news?” Stacy’s mom asks an hour later as she hurries out of the elevator and hugs Mom close.
“Not yet,” I reply.
“Well, keep us updated. I’m going to take Liv with me. I want to get back quickly to make sure the other kids haven’t killed the adults and taken over the world.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “She’ll probably sleep for a while. She tuckered herself out with all those tears.”
Nic gingerly hands the baby over to the other woman, runs her hand over Liv’s dark curls and smiles as they walk away.
“You baked Brynna and Caleb’s cake,” Mom says to Nic, making conversation.
“I did.” Nic nods. “I own Succulent Sweets in the city.”
“How lovely,” Mom replies and loops her arm through Nic’s, dragging her away to have a chat.
Nic glances back at me over her shoulder, and I just smile and shrug.
“Your mom will be gentle,” Dad assures me and then claps me on the shoulder. “She’s a looker, that one.”
“She is,” I agree.
“Owns a business, so she’s smart, too.”
“Very smart.”
“Must be special. You don’t typically bring girls around.”
I nod and then look my dad in the eye. “She’s the one, Dad.”
He firms his lips and watches me for a moment, glances over to where Nic and Mom are chatting with Jules, Meg and Sam. Finally, he turns his gaze back to me and nods. “I look forward to getting to know her.”
“You’ll love her.”
He nods again and then we all turn our attention to Luke, who is walking toward us. His face is pale, his eyes look scared, and his hair is messier than usual.
“What’s going on?” Mom asks, dashing to his side.
Luke wraps his arm around Mom’s shoulders and kisses her head.
“She’s going to be okay. The baby is fine, too.”
We all breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“But they’re keeping her for a while.”
“Why?” Meg demands.
“She has kidney stones, which is where the bleeding was coming from when she went to the bathroom,” Luke replies. “The ‘growing pains’ she says she’s been having have actually been kidney pain.” He shakes his head and swears under his breath. “I knew I should have made her go to the doctor.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Mom assures him and pats his chest.
“So if it’s just stones, why can’t she go home?” Mark asks with a frown.
“They want her to pass it here, and monitor the baby until she’s out of the woods.”
“I’ll stay, too,” Jules volunteers.
“You’ll come home after you look in on her,” Nate corrects her. “You’re pregnant, too.”
“She’s my best friend.”
Nate pulls Jules back into his arms and whispers in her ear. Finally, she smiles and leans away, nodding up at him. “Okay. You’re right.”
“So, everyone can see her,” Luke continues, “but maybe a few at a time, because that room isn’t very big.”
Mom, Dad, Luke’s dad, Neil, and Jules go in first, leaving Luke with us.
“Scared the fuck out of me,” he whispers and hugs Meg to him. “When she said she was bleeding, I panicked. My life doesn’t work without her in it.” He swallows and shakes his head, then plows his fingers through his hair.
“Scared the fuck out of all of us,” I reply.