Chapter 18
Jax
After coming to the cafe on her way back from New York a month ago, Carter had spent a few hours a day at the cafe.
Her time out of the house seemed to make both her and her grandma much happier.
There was a shift in the mood at our house that I was very appreciative of.
Life was good, which meant I could finally focus more of my attention on coming up with the perfect proposal.
So far, I had… nothing. I knew I would get there soon though.
I looked across the room at Carter in the cafe and expected her to sense my stare and look right back at me like usual, but she was completely immersed in the phone call she was on.
I really hoped everything was okay, because her face was much more serious than usual, which was saying a lot when it came to Carter.
As soon as she hung up the phone, she stood from her chair and hurried over to me. “Olivia’s water just broke. They are heading to the hospital right now.”
“Oh shit.” I looked all around me as if I was searching for something, but I didn’t know what that something was. I couldn’t think straight, because my best friend was having a baby. My best friend is having a baby. I smiled at Carter. “Holy shit. We need to go.”
Olivia had requested that both me and Carter be in the room when she gave birth, and there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity.
Carter and I both ran to the back where Ethan was in his office. I busted through the door without knocking. Ethan stood from his desk when we walked in. “It’s time, isn’t it?”
I squealed and clapped my hands. “It is! Are you okay to—”
Ethan’s nod cut me off. “Yes. Jamie and I will take care of Mrs. Miller and Speck. Don’t worry. Just make sure you send us lots of pictures.”
“You got it.” I made finger guns at him, which seemed like something Carter would do, not me. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t give it another thought. Just go take care of our girl.”
That was all I had to hear. I grabbed Carter’s hand and ran toward the back door. Once we were outside, I tried to run through everything we’d need to pack, but I was having a hard time.
“We need to pack as quickly as possible,” I told Carter, as if she didn’t already realize that.
“Already taken care of,” Carter said proudly. “I’ve had a bag packed and waiting in my car for the past month.”
I laughed, because of course she did. “I bet Olivia hasn’t even had a bag packed that long.”
“Of course not. My mom told me when her water broke, she was rushing around her house throwing things into a bag because she hadn’t prepared herself at all.”
I laughed again. “Typical Liv.”
Once we were in Carter’s car, we began our trip to the hospital.
We spent the trip talking about what name we thought Olivia might give the baby (she had been very secretive about it) and singing along to our favorite songs.
I was so happy things had turned around in the past month.
I had no idea what had been the turning point for Carter, but I was just happy to see her smile again.
Carter had apparently already studied a map of the hospital and knew exactly where we needed to park when we arrived and how to get to the labor and delivery area. When we gave them Olivia’s name, they had us wait in the family area.
Carter’s moms were already there. They both stood up and gave us big hugs as soon as they saw us.
“How are you two doing?” Carter’s mom asked.
“You got here so quickly,” her mama added.
I pointed to Carter. “She was very prepared. Had our bags packed and everything.”
Carter’s mama smiled lovingly at her. “That doesn’t surprise me one bit. I’m glad we were able to raise at least one responsible child.”
“Speaking of children, when is Ronan coming?” Carter asked.
“Not until the weekend. Mallory’s mom is going to go there to stay with the kids so both of them can come meet the baby.”
I loved how close Carter’s whole family was. It made me feel so lucky that I was able to be a part of it.
“Carter and Jax?” a woman called from across the room.
When Carter raised her hand, the woman smiled at us. “Olivia has requested you two come back to the room.”
I felt a little guilty that Olivia’s moms were stuck in the waiting room when I was about to watch her give birth to their grandbaby. I turned to look at them. “Do one of you want to go instead?”
Carter’s mama shook her head. “She requested you two, and we think that is absolutely perfect.”
Her mom pointed a thumb at her mama. “I watched this one give birth to three babies at once. I’ll be fine if I never have to witness another birth. Trust me.”
That was good enough for me, so we followed the nurse back to Olivia’s hospital room.
“It’s about time you two showed up,” Olivia said when we were just barely inside.
Carter looked down at her watch. “We literally left as soon as we heard that your water broke.”
“Whatever.” She pointed to the equipment attached to her. “I don’t know what they gave me, but I’m feeling wonderful right now. Nothing can bring me down.”
The euphoria didn’t last too long. As soon as Olivia went into active labor, she began yelling at Quinton about how this was all his fault. Luckily, Quinton was the perfect gentleman and kept himself calm and collected during her tantrum.
He didn’t even seem to care when Olivia requested that Carter and I were the ones to hold her hands. Although, maybe that was because he realized what was coming. It wasn’t long before I lost all feeling in my hand because of how hard she was squeezing it.
It was all worth it when I saw my best friend’s baby girl for the first time. My eyes teared up as I watched the doctor hand Olivia her child. A hand slipped into mine, and I looked over to find Carter with tears in her eyes as well.
We stepped back to give the new family their moment. I had never seen Olivia or Quinton so happy. Not even on their wedding day.
After a minute, Olivia looked over at us. “I’d like to introduce you two to Jada Carter Byrd. The J name is in honor of Jax and obviously the middle name is in honor of Carter, even if it is also my middle name.”
Now, more tears came to my eyes. I was at a loss for words over the fact that she would consider me when naming her child.
“That’s…” My voice cracked, and I struggled to form a sentence. “Wow.”
Olivia held her up. “Do you want to hold her?”
I laughed and wiped my eyes. “Is that even a question?”
When I took Jada into my arms, my heart exploded with a type of love I’d never experienced before. This was different from the love I felt for my friends, family, or Carter. It was even different than what I felt toward Ronan’s kids, and I absolutely adored those little munchkins.
“Hi, Jada,” I whispered. “It’s your Aunt Jax. I have a feeling you and I are going to be good friends.”
Carter stood behind me and put her chin on my shoulder. “She’s perfect, isn’t she?”
“She really is.”
Honestly, everything about this moment was perfect. Our new niece, the daughter of my best friend. Experiencing this moment with Carter.
If it wasn’t so taboo, I’d get down on my knee right now and propose to Carter. There was no way I was going to take the focus off of Olivia and Quinton and their perfect child though.
“Can I hold her?” Carter asked after a minute or two.
“Of course.” As I carefully moved her from my arms to Carter’s, I got a view of the future. I could see us taking turns with our own child someday.
Wow, I had way too many emotions right now. Who knew this was going to take such a toll on me?
Soon, Carter’s moms joined us as well as Quinton’s mom, dad, and brother. The room was getting pretty crowded with the nurses constantly coming in as well, so I figured this was a good time for Carter and me to slip away.
“Do you think maybe we should go back to your moms’ house? That way, everyone else gets their time with Jada.”
Carter blew out a long breath of relief. “That sounds amazing.”
Once we were back at the house, we laid down on the couch together to watch some TV, but it didn’t take long for me to drift off to sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was pitch black outside and I could hear the sound of Carter’s moms talking in another room.
Carter was still napping, so I carefully extracted my arm out from underneath her.
I was happy when I was able to stand up without waking her.
I followed the sound of her moms’ voices which led me into the kitchen, where they were sitting together eating dinner.
“Hey, there!” Mama Charlie smiled at me and pointed across the kitchen. “I made a bunch of pasta. It’s on the stove. Help yourself.”
I got out a bowl and filled it up, then had a seat at the table. “What time is it?”
Momsy Reagan squinted at something across the room. “Almost midnight.” She stretched and yawned. “We just got home from the hospital around an hour ago, and figured we should make something in case you two woke up hungry.”
Charlie put a hand on Reagan’s. “Plus, the only thing this one could talk about was how hungry she was. And for whatever reason, she had a big craving for pasta. You’d think she was the one who just gave birth with the way she was acting.”
Reagan patted her stomach. “What can I say? It’s rough being a grandmother. I’m not old enough for this.” She looked at her wife. “Are we really old enough to have three grandchildren?”
“Of course you’re not,” I told her. “There’s no way you’re a day over forty.”
Reagan smiled at me. “This is why we love you so much. Well, one of the many reasons.”
Charlie nodded. “For sure. How are you enjoying Maryland? Carter refuses to talk about it much, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”