The Plan (The Hillers of Barratt County #4)

Epilogue

They finally wheeled him in to be with his wife. Veronica was sound asleep in the bed, her hair washed and braided. He’d heard Genesis had done that while Veronica had been in recovery. Genesis had called in favors with the head of this hospital where she and Guthrie both worked, to be allowed in the room with Veronica. Genesis still hadn’t fully recovered from the attack on her, but she had gotten in here somehow. Genesis was well-liked at the hospital; no denying that. And her closest friend had been out there on that highway to help Veronica when she needed it most. Aubrey ran the entire ER and was assistant to the man who ran the entire hospital. Since that man’s sister was married to Veronica’s brother… George suspected there had been favors called in to get Genesis back there.

He appreciated it so much.

His family had been there to take care of her when he couldn’t. He stood. He hurt like hell, but he was alive. And so was she. And so were… his children.

George almost hit his knees again as he thought about what the cost of today could have been. He could have lost what, who, mattered most. He hadn’t felt that terrified since the moment Holland Felner had held Veronica and two of George’s baby sisters at gunpoint. But that day had been resolved with a handful of arrests and some stitches. Today… it could have been so much worse.

Veronica shifted in the bed. Her eyes opened. Then she was looking at him. “Georgie!”

“Hey, sweetheart. Hell of a day, huh?” He would never forget. “I’m sorry, I should have seen?—”

“Not your fault, silly. It was his. The man in the truck. Who was he? Is he okay, too?” Her words were slurred, and her eyes dulled, but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. George would always think that.

“He took off. Sheriff Addy is hunting him down now.”

“Where are… they?” She was looking around. He knew… who she was looking for. “Are they okay? Where are they?”

“They are sleeping. Right here.” George shifted to the left. And he watched her face—as his wife saw their youngest two children for the first time. “Nurses brought them in when Guthrie wheeled me in here. You’ve only been out of it for a few hours. You scared me.”

“Scared me, too.”

“I wanted to be with you. I am sorry I wasn’t. I tried to get up here, but… well… Chad and that Dr. Alvaro threatened to sit on me if I didn’t get taken care of first. Chad, I could have taken—but that Alvaro is a damned giant.”

“He’s a beautiful man. Just like… you are. Let me see one. Get a nurse in here to help.”

“Genesis and Aubrey are outside the room, updating the family. Genesis walked back up here with me. Aubrey had stayed with the babies.”

“I would have freaked beyond measure if she hadn’t been out there.”

“I know. When I first saw her… just looking at me, telling me I had to move… I felt hope.”

“I don’t think it’s hope your brother feels when he looks at her. I remember that much. He was right there beside me. And so was she. I wasn’t alone, Georgie. And you know darned good and well I would have insisted you be taken care of first, anyway. You are mine. I have to take good care of you.” She gave him that grin he loved so much. “Now, the nurse…”

He made his way gingerly to the door. With his arm in the sling now, he wasn’t going to risk dropping the babies. George hadn’t dropped one of their children even once, with the notable exception of that day with their eldest. But… Marnie was just fine, he hadn’t done any permanent damage. He wasn’t about to start with these two.

Then Genesis was there. His little sister had never gotten any bigger than she had been that day when she’d crawled out the bathroom window to get help for Veronica and Giavonna, but she was still as adorable—and beautiful—as she had always been. They had almost lost her recently, her and Gene and Chantal, and it just made him appreciate the ones he loved even more.

Genesis helped him get their son settled into Veronica’s arms. Then his youngest daughter was resting in George’s good arm. And he was looking at her precious, beautiful face. She was beautiful. Holding his children for the first time were the miracles he would always cherish. This… this was his daughter. And she was beautiful.

And… there was no denying… He laughed. He just looked at her and laughed.

“What? What is so funny?” Veronica asked.

“I suspect I know,” Genesis said, from the door where she was staying back to give him and Veronica this moment with their children together. “Do you want me to… swap… them out?”

“Yes, please. I want to see her.” Veronica kissed their son on his little forehead. “Georgiano Maxwell Hiller, the Fourth. Mama loves you, baby boy. And we have waited for you a very long time. I hope you are prepared for a life with five sisters. I can guarantee it’s going to be amazing.”

George would never forget how she looked in that very moment.

Ronnie didn’t want to let her son go, but she wanted to hold her daughter. To see her for the first time. And she was hurting too badly to hold them both. And she wanted George to see his son. They had intended to tell the family that the last ultrasound had revealed a little surprise hiding behind their son that they had not seen at first. She hadn’t had a great deal of ultrasounds with this pregnancy, but they should have at least seen some hint. But even Dr. Lewis was stumped by this one.

They’d known for one month, but there had been some concern with how healthy their baby girl would be. They had been afraid she’d be too small, that her brother was getting all the “meat and taters” and she hadn’t been getting enough, or there had been something wrong with her placenta, or… all sorts of scary things. All they had known was that something was wrong.

They had been planning to induce labor in a week and a half. They’d learned two days ago that that was the best chance for a safe delivery for both babies. But… the accident had changed all that.

“She’s healthy? Not hurt from the accident?” She remembered enough… one of the babies had been in distress. And she knew… the way a mother knew… it had been her baby girl.

“She’s a little tiny because she got here a little early, Ronnie,” Genny said, scooping the pink-wrapped bundle from her brother’s arm. “But she’s doing really well. Aubrey was in with you—do you remember?—she said the cord was wrapped around her a little, but they got her out and she was fine. She’s healthy, just… small. I have already told my new niece that I understand completely. And small is still very mighty.”

“Genesis only weighed an ounce over five pounds,” George said. “She was always small, too.”

“Her size may just be genetic,” Genny said. “She got the best DNA, just like I did.”

Then Genny was lowering the baby girl into Ronnie’s arms. And there she was. Her newest baby girl. Five. She had five girls and one boy now. They had decided before that this was it. Their family was complete.

She had tiny but perfect lips, that was what Ronnie noticed first. And the eyebrows. Oh, they were Hiller eyebrows. The baby’s eyes blinked open. Those were Hiller eyes, too. Only time would tell what color they would be. But everything else—Ronnie laughed. She saw it, too.

This baby girl—unlike her four older sisters Marnie Gayle, Marlie Rebecca, Madeline Isabella, and Mari Lynn Celia, who were carbon copies of Ronnie’s brothers through and through— this baby girl was a carbon copy of her aunt Genny.

Ronnie had wanted one to look like George. She’d gotten her wish at last.

And this baby girl was as beautiful as her big sisters, as beautiful as her twin brother—who looked remarkably like Uncle Anthony’s baby pictures. And Ronnie loved each and every one of her babies completely.

“We need to pick out her middle name,” George said, as Genny stepped back outside to be with the rest of their family, and give them more privacy. But he wasn’t taking his eyes off his son. His boy. She knew he had been wanting a son, even though he was made to be a daughter-daddy all the way. “One that means something to us.”

The name came to her immediately. Because… she wouldn’t ever forget the compassion and the kindness in big blue eyes out there on that highway, and in that operating room. “Aubrey. Mira Aubrey Hiller. Because… it just feels right. Aubrey helped me not feel so alone out there today. And would we have gotten our baby girl here in time, George? If she hadn’t been there?”

“I don’t think we’ll ever know. Mira Aubrey Hiller she is.”

Ronnie looked down. “Look what we did, Georgie. Look what we did. By loving each other.”

“Nothing can ever feel more perfect than this. I love you, Veronica Dawn Lake Hiller. For now and always. You, them, the girls—you are my world. And you always will be.”

George moved closer, then. Shuffling a little. He was hurting, but her man would never admit it. He held their son close, protectively, even though George could barely move. And he leaned down, kissed her gently. And looked at their daughter.

Ronnie looked at their children, and knew… she was right where she belonged.