Epilogue
“Time for breakfast.”
Kelsey scooted up against the pillows and reached for the top button of her nightshirt. “Somebody sounds hungry this morning.”
“Be nice to this guy,” Coop said, carrying his little son in his arms. “He slept six hours straight.” He handed the baby to Kelsey. “Of course, he woke up wet to the gills and ready to eat my finger, but that’s not bad for a little guy who’s only four and a half weeks old.”
“Good morning, my precious,” Kelsey cooed as she took the baby in her arms. Smiling, she looked at Coop. “How long did you have to wait?”
Coop gave her an innocent look. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean,” she said dryly as her son began nursing hungrily at her breast. “I heard you stub your toe on the nightstand when you got up.”
“I just took a peck,” he said, rubbing his sore toe.
“A peek?” She gave him a skeptical look.
“To make sure he was all right,” he insisted. “It was his first night in the nursery, and that’s a whole room away.”
Kelsey gave him a stern look. “Coop, you have got to stop standing over that crib all night long—you need your sleep.”
“I can always sleep,” he said with a sigh, laying down across the bed and running a finger along his son’s full cheek. “But he’s only going to be like this a short time.” He leaned close and gave the baby a kiss on the top of his head, then kissed Kelsey, too. “I just like looking at him.”
Kelsey smiled, looking at the child in her arms. Chandler Cooper Reed—or CC as his daddy called him—was indeed a sight to behold with his big brown eyes and wispy brown hair. At eight pounds, two ounces, he’d burst into the world kicking and screaming—round, healthy and six days overdue. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I sort of like looking at you, too,” Coop murmured, pressing his mouth to hers again. The kiss was far from a peck this time. “How did I ever get so lucky?”
“You wouldn’t give up,” she whispered, her heart filled with emotion. “Even when I wanted to.”
“Well.” He sighed, feeling more content, more comfortable than any one person had a right to feel. “I guess it just goes to show if you keep at something long enough, you finally get it right. Marriage, babies, they just take a little practice.”
Kelsey lifted CC to her shoulder and patted him gently on the back. “And maybe a good bump on the head.”
CC let out a yelp and pulled a loud burp up from his toes. Kelsey and Coop looked at him, then at each other and laughed.
“Oh, no,” Coop assured her as he took the baby from her. “I’ve learned my lesson good.” Holding CC in one arm, he reached for Kelsey with the other, pulling her close. “A building doesn’t have to fall on me to know how lucky I am. This marriage is forever this time—I’m never letting you go again.”
“That’s good,” she murmured, snuggling into the crook of his arm and lazily buttoning her pajama top. “’Cause I’m afraid you’re both stuck with me.”
“Yeah, stuck,” Coop repeated, holding his whole world in his arms. “And don’t you forget it.”