Chapter 31 Lydia
Lydia
My body ached as I made my way out to the kitchen. The smell of bacon and coffee dragged me through the hallway like an invisible string pulling me along.
Seb was standing at the stove, and I had a moment to admire him from afar after doing most of my admiring from very, very close last night. He turned to me, his eyes raking me over before a cocky grin split his face.
“You doing alright? You’re walking a little funny.” He waggled his brows at me.
“Shut it,” I grumbled, waddling my way over to him. He reached out his arm to hug me, but I sidestepped him in favor of the coffee pot instead.
“Ha,” he laughed. “Grumpy this morning, I see. It’s a good thing I made the maple bacon for you.”
“Mhmm,” I hummed. “That does help a little.” I leaned into him, cradling my hot cup of coffee to my chest.
Seb placed a kiss to the top of my head.
It was so sweet. I couldn’t really believe that our one night together all those years ago was the reason Sebastian Devereux had never settled down, but whatever the reason, I was glad for it.
It meant that I got to have this version of him all to myself.
The kind and sweet version that made sure I had coffee every morning and made me breakfast on lazy mornings in.
He turned back to the stove to flip the bacon and start the eggs. “Be honest though. Was I too rough last night?”
“Hell no. I would tell you if you were. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’ll always worry about you.”
He plated the eggs and bacon and brought our breakfast to the small dining table. “Thank you. This is delicious,” I said through a full mouth of food. I had left my phone in the bedroom, but I heard the ding of a text come through. Nothing that was going to pull me away from this breakfast.
“After last night, you deserve a damn feast. That thing you did with your tongue.” He made a low, throaty growl, and my lips tugged into a sultry smile.
“You liked that?”
“Fuck yeah, I did.” He leaned over to kiss me as a text chimed on his phone too.
My phone sounded again, this time in sync with another text to Seb’s phone.
Worry immediately started to build within me. Who was trying to reach us at 7:00 in the morning, multiple times? Almost immediately after the last text, another one came through, both of our phones going off again.
“Who is that?” I asked, jutting my chin toward his phone.
Seb unlocked his phone, swiping to the messages.
“Oh, shit.” He jumped up. He swung his round eyes to mine.
“What? What happened?”
“Scarlett’s in labor. They’re heading to the hospital now.”
“Oh my God. That’s so exciting. I’m going to get dressed.
” I hopped up, my breakfast forgotten in my rush to be there for my brother and Scarlett.
I wasn’t here to meet Jane when she first came into Wyatt’s life.
I’d missed the birth of Veda, too wrapped up in a mess of my own making to come down and be here for her arrival.
I wasn’t about to miss Baby Boy Wilder’s entrance too.
I changed quickly and brushed my teeth, pulling my sneakers on as I hobbled down the hallway, half hopping my way through the house. Seb had cleared our plates and left the pans in the sink to worry about later. He waited for me by the door, keys in hand.
“Are you ready?”
“Yup. Let’s do this.” I clapped my hands like I was pumping myself up. Seb chuckled.
“It’s less exciting than you think, at least until the baby comes.”
I grabbed my bag and headed out the door that Seb held open for me. “That’s what you think, but I’m here for all of it.”
The drive to the hospital was easy. Most of the tourists didn’t get started with their day until later, and there weren’t enough locals in our small town to cause any traffic on their own.
Seb parked in the lot across the street from the hospital. Our fingers intertwined as we crossed the road and entered through the main entrance. The woman at the front desk directed us to the maternity ward on the third floor.
Dad, Reid, and Claire had arrived before us and were already in the waiting room when we walked in.
“Morning. Has anyone heard anything from Luke yet?” I asked, taking a seat next to my dad.
“Not yet, but these things can take a while sometimes,” my dad said. He reached over and squeezed my shoulders, bringing me in for a side hug. “How are you doing, Lydi-bug? I heard there was some excitement last night.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder, letting him comfort me, even though I was perfectly fine. “I’m good, Dad. He’s gone now. And after yesterday, when a wall of Wilders showed up to deal with him, I have a feeling he’s gone for good.”
“Good. I’m glad they were there for you. Makes me think I did something right along the way.”
“You did, Dad.” I kissed his cheek and pulled out of his embrace.
My dad had done a lot more than “something” right.
Somehow along the way, the heathens that were my brothers grew up and became good men, good husbands and fathers.
Sebastian and Wes too. That crew of unruly kids, drinking by the bonfire on the beach, smoking weed because they were bored and thought it looked cool, breaking hearts because they could…
they’d turned into the best people I knew.
“You too, Sebastian. Thank you for being there for my girl when she needed you.”
“Nowhere else I’d be, Charlie. Our girl’s got more muscle behind her than a heavyweight champion boxer.” Seb sent me a quick wink.
“Okay, enough about me. This is Scarlett’s day,” I said, changing the subject.
Wes showed up a few minutes later. He carried with him a blue gift bag, his large hands dwarfing the bag into a comically small proportion. He took the seat next to Reid and Claire, dropping the bag between his legs.
“What’d you bring?” I asked.
A sparkle glinted in Wes’s eyes, his expression otherwise stoic and neutral. He reached down and pulled out a stuffed tiger with a police uniform and cap sewn on. “I think it’s more for Luke than the baby,” he said.
“Luke’s going to die,” I laughed.
“You’ll have to keep on eye on it, make sure he doesn’t try to steal it,” Claire added with a chuckle.
Wes put the tiger back in the bag, and Wyatt and Maeve came through the doors. The waiting room was small, with only six seats, all occupied by Dad, Seb, Reid, Claire, Wes, and me.
“Sorry. I had to wait for my mom to get to the house to watch the girls,” Maeve huffed, looking like she had just run up two flights of stairs. Seb immediately got up, offering his chair to her. “Oh, no. Don’t worry. I’m fine.” She waved him away.
Seb moved to stand against the wall behind me. “I’m not sitting there while you stand. Don’t sit if you don’t want to, but neither am I.”
“Take the seat, doll,” Wyatt encouraged her, placing a kiss to her temple.
Maeve looked around, everyone staring at her expectantly. She relented with a dramatic sigh. “Oh, fine. I guess if no one else is going to use it.”
Wyatt chuckled, rubbing his hand along her arm.
Seb stood behind me, his fingers threading through my hair.
Reid had his hand on Claire’s leg, drawing lazy circles on her bare skin below the cut of her skirt.
Wes… we were going to need to find a lady friend for Wes Winters to spend some time with.
I wondered if Maeve had any friends from the high school where she worked who would be interested in a six-foot-six, long-haired, thick-bearded, silent-type guy?
Or maybe Scarlett could find him someone after she went back to work at Daisy Days Flower Shop.
There had to be a large female clientele who went in there.
Oh no. I was becoming one of those people who found love and forced it onto the (presumably) lonely souls around her.
I had heard of that happening, but I always thought it was ridiculous and meddlesome.
And now, here I was, trying to plan a meet-cute at a florist for someone who never asked for it.
After a few hours of waiting for word from Luke, I was starting to get antsy. I hadn’t thought to bring my good camera with me when I ran out of the house this morning, but it was amazing what a simple cell phone camera could capture with a couple of settings tweaks.
I started to walk around the waiting room, capturing moments between our close-knit group as everyone waited for the big news to come.
Dad and Wyatt were grinning, looking more alike every day.
Claire, Wes, and Maeve talked animatedly, Claire’s hands gesturing in front of her, while Maeve had a look of shock, and Wes had one brow lifted in suspicion.
Seb and Reid were deep in conversation. Seb was standing with his back against the wall, his muscular biceps pulling at the seams of his shirt as he crossed his arms over his chest, and Reid had an intense look on his face, his hand still placed on Claire’s leg.
I couldn’t believe that I missed out on eleven years of this, yet here I was, fully accepted and integrated into the group like no time had passed at all.
Even the newer members, Maeve, Scarlett, and Claire, had become my family.
When I was younger, I’d thought I wanted to cut ties and spread my wings.
I thought I needed to get out of this suffocating small town life in order to achieve anything that would matter.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Working with Seb, developing relationships with Lisa and Brenda, Lauren and Amy, rebuilding my relationships with my brothers, my nieces… with Sebastian… that was what mattered.
I clicked through the photos I had captured on my phone, smiling to myself at the camaraderie between everyone. I felt Seb come up behind me. He wrapped his arm around me, putting his chin on my shoulder to peek at my phone.
“How are you doing? You seem awfully quiet,” he whispered in my ear.
Placing a soft kiss to his lips, I smiled at him. “I’m perfect. Just thinking about how much family matters and that I might just have the best family there is.”
“You do,” Seb said, getting cut off when the ward doors opened and Luke came out.
Everyone was on their feet in an instant, crowding around the new father.
He passed his phone around with the very first pictures of his brand-new baby boy. “Colton Lucas has arrived. Eight pounds, two ounces. Healthy and, by the sounds of his cries, less than happy to be here,” Luke laughed.
“How’s Scarlett?” I asked.
“Mama is doing great. She was an absolutely rock star in there. You should have seen it,” Luke gushed.
Wyatt nodded emphatically. “It’s incredible, isn’t it. Terrifying, but fucking awesome.”
“Congratulations, Luke.” I hugged my brother tightly as everyone else joined in with their congratulations and back slaps.
I stepped back for others to have their turn, and Seb stepped in.
Tears fell from Luke’s eyes as his emotions overcame him, wrapping Seb in a true embrace.
Seb whispered something in his ear, and Luke grinned.
Maeve bounced on her feet, waiting for her turn, so Seb let go and moved a few steps back toward me.
“What did you say to him?” I asked quietly.
“Just that I’m proud of him, and he’s going to make a great dad.”
I leaned into Seb, throwing my arms around his waist and tilting my head up to him for a kiss.
“I’m really glad you two worked things out.
I would have hated to come between a twenty-plus-year friendship,” I said.
I peppered small, quick kisses on his lips.
“I mean, I would have, but I would have hated it.”
Seb laughed, his gaze locking on mine. “I would have blown it all up for you, little wild. But I’m glad I don’t have to too.”
“Lyds, Seb. Do you want to come in and meet your nephew first?” Luke called.
I snapped my head to him, my eyes rounded in disbelief. “What? I can’t go first. Wyatt and Maeve or Reid and Claire should go in before me.”
“Why? Besides, you’re the one Scarlett asked for.”
I might as well have been the Grinch with the way my heart grew three sizes. Seb and I followed Luke past the ward doors and into Labor and Delivery.
Scarlett was talking to a nurse about latching techniques when we walked in, the smallest blue bundle I had ever seen in her arms.
She looked absolutely drained, yet radiant in a new mother glow.
“Scarlett! How are you feeling?” I asked.
“More tired than I have ever been in my entire life,” she said with a smile.
Seb and I crowded around her to meet Colton.
“Hi, baby Colton. It’s nice to meet you,” I cooed, touching the bumpy skin of his newborn cheeks.
“Wow, man. You did good. This is one seriously cute baby,” Seb said, grinning at Luke.
“Yes, he did great,” Scarlett deadpanned.
We all burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of that statement. “I’m just trying to make the man feel important.” Seb winked. “Seriously, the idea that this whole person was inside of you an hour ago is mind-blowing. You are superhuman, Letty.”
“It is insane, isn’t it.” She gazed down at the bundle in her arms with so much love.
“Do you want to hold him?” She looked between Seb and me.
It dawned on me with striking clarity that I had never once held a newborn baby.
I had a few friends in New York who had kids, but by the time I met them, they were already at least a few months old.
Even Veda was already getting big by the time I made it home to meet her.
Luke must have seen the panic in my eyes. He grinned at me. “Go ahead, Lyds. You won’t hurt him. Colt, don’t you want to meet Auntie Lydia?”
“Oh, okay. Yeah.” I held my arms out for Scarlett to transfer him to me, cradling his little head the entire time. My heart felt so full of love and an overwhelming emotion. Seb rubbed my back as I studied his perfect features, trying to decide if he looked more like Luke or Scarlett.
“Does this make you want to change your mind about kids?” Seb asked.
“No. But it does make me want to be the best auntie in the whole wide world so I can spend as much time with him as I can and then send him home.”
Seb chuckled, reaching over to stroke Colt’s face, the only part of him that was showing since he was wrapped tightly into a baby burrito.
“Uncle Seb and Aunt Lydia. It had a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Seb said.
I turned to him with a smile, because yeah, it did have a nice ring to it.
I could see it—kids barging into our house to raid our kitchen after school, the two of us watching their sports games or dance recitals, backyard parties where my brothers would send their kids to bother Uncle Seb and Aunt Lydia because they wanted them out of their hair for ten minutes.
I saw it all, and I wanted it.