Chapter 7
Seven
The next few hours were a blur for Maggie as she and Jill supported Kate and Reid through the early stages of labor.
When she and Jill had declined to be in the delivery room for the baby’s arrival, Kate had called them wimps.
However, Maggie was one hundred percent sure she’d made the right decision, especially after watching Kate suffer through early labor until she reached the point where she could push.
That’s when Jill and Maggie had run for their lives to the waiting room. Maggie took advantage of the opportunity to visit Corey, who was in the same unit, still being closely monitored. The goal was to give the baby another couple of weeks to develop before being born.
“I’m so bored,” Corey moaned. The young blonde woman’s hair was messy from being in bed, and her hazel eyes were rimmed with red from lack of sleep and probably a few tears.
“They let me up only to use the bathroom and shower once a day, and they’re making me stay because my blood pressure has been so up and down. ”
“It’ll all be worth it to have a healthy little one.”
“I know.”
Maggie had wondered about the baby’s father and Corey’s family, but the young woman had been reluctant to share anything about her past when she first arrived at Matthews House.
“Hey, check it out!” Corey gestured to the TV where the interview Maggie and her sisters had done earlier was airing. “You’re on TV.”
“Oh yay.” It was so weird to see herself on TV. Maggie was used to seeing Kate all the time, but not herself or Jill.
“It’s so cool. I hope I get to meet Kate while I’m staying with y’all.”
“She’s going to be pretty busy having a newborn for the next little while.”
Corey nodded and seemed to fade a bit at the mention of having a newborn.
They watched the interview together, and Maggie was relieved that she hadn’t embarrassed herself or her sisters. She sent a text to the family group chat to tell them the interview had aired and to look for it online.
Maggie spent another hour with Corey before heading back to the waiting room to try to get some sleep.
At four o’clock the next morning, Jill woke Maggie to let her know the baby had arrived and was eager to meet her aunts. “She’s here,” Jill said.
“She’s a she?”
“She is.”
As she followed Jill into Kate’s room, Maggie stretched the kinks out of her neck caused by sleeping on a stiff love seat in the waiting room.
Sitting up in the hospital bed, swaddled baby in her arms and her husband next to her with his arm around her, Kate looked as happy—and as tired—as Maggie had ever seen her.
“Come in,” Kate said to her sisters. “Come meet Poppy Harrington Matthews.”
“Poppy,” Jill said with a sigh. “I love that.”
Maggie loved it, too, but the huge lump in her throat made it impossible for her to say anything, so she squeezed Kate’s shoulder as she gazed down at her sleeping niece.
“I’m so glad you like it. We settled on it early on for a girl, and we kept coming back to it.”
“Don’t forget how much you love the flower poppies, too,” Reid added.
“That, too,” Kate said, smiling at him.
“It’s perfect,” Maggie whispered, blinking back tears. “And so is she.”
“How do you feel?” Jill asked.
“Like I got sawed in half in one of those magician boxes and put back together all wrong.”
“Ouch.”
“Your sister was incredible,” Reid said, seeming to battle his own emotions. “She was a warrior and never gave up until our little angel arrived.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you, babe,” Kate said, gazing up at him.
“Mom and Dad are dying for us to FaceTime,” Jill said. “Are you up for that?” Their parents had asked them to call the second the baby arrived, no matter what time it was. Knowing Clare and Jack, they were both up pacing as they waited to hear from them.
Kate grimaced when she shifted to find a more comfortable position. “Sure.”
“Was it as bad as you thought it would be?” Maggie asked.
“I’ll never tell. I want to have nieces and nephews.”
“So it was horrific,” Jill said.
“I never said that!”
Jill called their mother while Maggie called their father. Both picked up right away, as if they’d been staring at their phones willing them to ring. Knowing them, they had been.
“The gang’s all here,” Jill said, laughing as Aidan squeezed into the frame next to Clare, and Andi did the same next to Jack.
“We’re dying over here,” Jack said. “What’s the verdict?”
“Reid and I are pleased to introduce you to Poppy Harrington Matthews.” Kate angled the baby so they could see her face.
“Poppy,” Clare said softly. “We have a granddaughter! I’m a grandmother! How dare you do this to me?”
Everyone laughed. No one was more excited to be a grandmother than Clare had been in the last few months.
“Congratulations, guys,” Jack said, his voice wavering. “She’s beautiful.”
“We can’t wait to meet her,” Clare said. “We’ll be there tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to seeing you all,” Kate said. “Poppy can’t wait to meet you, either.”
“You look beautiful, Kate,” Andi said.
“Doesn’t she?” Reid asked. “You’d never know what she just went through.”
“Thanks, guys. You’re good for a girl’s ego. Aidan, will you let Grammy and the rest of the O’Malleys know that Poppy has arrived?”
“I already hit the group text, and congrats are flooding in. Colin is calling me Gramps.”
Everyone laughed at that.
“Are you guys ever going to forgive me for making you grandparents?”
“We already have,” Jack said.
Maggie drove back to Matthews House as the sun was coming up, casting a warm, rosy glow over the rolling hills. She couldn’t stop yawning as she drove and had the windows down and the music blasting to keep herself awake. She had a niece! Poppy. Maggie loved the baby’s adorable name so much.
She hadn’t expected to be so emotional over the baby’s arrival, but today reminded her of the day her twin brothers had arrived, on the same day her dad had married Andi.
She’d felt all the same things then—elation, joy, love, excitement…
It was almost too much to process, she thought as she navigated the winding driveway that led to home.
At some point in recent weeks, Matthews House had begun to feel like home to her, which she hadn’t realized until this very moment.
She parked her car behind the stables and came around the corner to the driveway in a sleep-deprived daze to smack into an immovable object that knocked her right off her feet.
Maggie landed hard on the ground with a loud oof.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” Brayden Thomas towered over her.
Apparently, he was the immovable object she’d crashed into, and dear God, he was gorgeous in the morning, with scruff on his jaw and a plaid work shirt rolled up to reveal strong forearms. As he held out a hand to help her up, Maggie noted the perfect fit of his faded denim jeans. Yum.
A second after the thought popped into her mind, she chastised herself for thinking such things about her employee. Knock it off.
He gently pulled her to her feet. “Are you all right?”
Maggie immediately released his hand to brush the dirt and grass off her clothes, the same clothes she’d left wearing this time yesterday.
Figured she’d run into him looking like death warmed over and in bad need of a toothbrush, a hairbrush and a horizontal surface.
She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to find a shred of composure.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“Not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention, either.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Everything is wonderful. My niece, Poppy, was born early this morning.” Why was she telling him?
His face lit up with a warm smile. “That’s awesome. Congrats. How’s your sister?”
“Tired but thrilled. Just like me. It’s been a long night.”
“You look really nice for someone who’s been up all night.”
For a moment, Maggie was struck dumb with pleasure from the unexpected compliment.
Then she remembered the hair and makeup from the day before.
“I did an interview with my sisters before Kate went into labor. That seems like a week ago, but it was just yesterday, thus the hair and what’s left of the makeup.
” Oh my God, quit babbling. He doesn’t care about your hair and makeup.
“I saw it last night. It was good.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Derek asked me to drive the van to the bus stop this morning. Hope that’s okay.”
“No problem. Is everything all right with him?”
“He thinks he might have the stomach flu, actually.”
Maggie had a brief, horrifying visual of the stomach flu whipping through the house. “Oh, the poor guy. I’ll check on him later.”
The kitchen door opened, and a gaggle of mothers and children emerged, the children carrying backpacks and lunchboxes.
Maggie was happy to see the McBride children and their mother among the group.
“I’d better get the van,” Brayden said. “Get some rest.”
“Probably not happening until later. Let’s talk after lunch about getting your program started.”
“Sounds good. I’ll come find you.”
Something to look forward to, Maggie thought, before again reminding herself that she could not lust after her employee.
She wished she could attribute her lustful thoughts to being sleep-deprived, but she’d had the same lustful thoughts yesterday when fully rested.
The man was gorgeous. She’d have to be dead not to notice that, and since she wasn’t dead, she noticed him. So what? It didn’t mean anything.
“Keep telling yourself that,” she grumbled as she went inside.
“You say something, Maggie?” Mitch asked from the kitchen.
“Talking to myself.”
“Ah, gotcha. You just getting home?” he asked with a teasing grin.
“I am. My sister had her baby early this morning.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news. What did she have?”
“A girl named Poppy. She’s perfect.”
“Congratulations, Aunt Maggie.”
“That’s the first time I’ve been called that.”
“Won’t be the last.”
Teresa came into the kitchen. “Did I hear you say the baby came?”