Chapter 37
chapter thirty-seven
LEO
My leg bounces up and down as I sit in the hospital waiting room, my hands gripping the armrests. I try forcing myself to relax my grip and stop my leg, but I keep falling back into the movements.
Marisol and I have been here for nearly two hours now, and with every minute that passes, I get more and more anxious. More nervous for May, hoping that she and the baby are okay, and more uncomfortable myself.
I hate hospitals. Especially this one. From being here myself, to seeing Miles in a bed last year after his boxing accident, to now. At least this time, it’s for something good.
Marisol walks around the corner, two paper cups of coffee in hand, and Isla, Caio, Marina, and Miles in tow. “Hey, man.” I stand up as Miles heads toward me, slapping a hand on my back.
“Having flashbacks?” he asks, and it takes me a moment to mean he’s talking about last year when he was in here, not when I was here, because he doesn’t know about that.
“This is far more worrying than that,” I tease, and he chuckles as he sits down next to me.
And while I’m teasing, it’s kind of true.
When I came to see Miles, I knew he was okay.
None of us knows how May is right now, and I know the risks of childbirth.
I know that it doesn’t always go as smoothly as we would hope.
Marisol sits in the seat on my other side. “Don’t know if this will make the leg twitch better or worse,” she says, handing me the cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” I say, pressing a kiss to her cheek as she takes a sip of her own.
She screws up her face after swallowing. “That is horrible. What a fucking cliché.”
A laugh bubbles up out of my chest, and Isla and Marina look over at me from their seats opposite us. “What?” I ask.
They both shake their heads, but Isla can’t fight a small smile. “Nothing,” they echo. I roll my eyes, but Marisol giggles to herself.
Miles nudges me in the side, and when I turn my head to look at him, he nods, the look in his eyes saying everything.
We sit mindlessly, trying to entertain each other for the next three hours, playing I Spy got old real quick, and I find myself wishing I had a pack of playing cards.
Go Fish would be better than staring at the wall, but honestly, I think I need to go for a lap outside the building.
The artificial lighting is giving me a headache.
Miles has been back and forth from the desk asking for updates with no luck in getting any answers.
Just as I stand up to stretch my legs, a nurse walks into the room. “For May Whitley?” Everyone else stands up too, looking at the nurse. She smiles at the crowd. “She’s stable, and her baby is healthy.” I feel a grin take over my face, and I find Marisol’s hand.
“Can we see her?” Isla asks.
“Is anyone family?” the nurse asks.
“Yes, we are,” Marisol says, stepping forward and bringing me with her. If my stomach wasn’t already flipping, it would be because of one simple word. We.
“Alright, come with me.”
She turns back to smile at the others before we follow the nurse down the hall, turning a corner before she holds a door open for us.
We inch our way in quietly, and the first thing I see is Rafael, with tear stains down his cheeks as he looks at May.
He wipes his eyes as he notices us, standing up and wrapping Marisol in a tight hug.
“Hi,” she whispers.
May catches my eye, and I see the tiny bundle she holds in her arms. It truly is so small. She looks exhausted, but she smiles wide. “It’s a girl.”
I grin back at her. “So much for a mother’s intuition.”
“Shut up,” she laughs before looking down. “She’s perfect.”
I move toward the bed, and I see the most gorgeous little face that has ever existed. I run my hand over May’s hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “God, she is.”
Marisol takes the seat Rafael rose from, leaning forward to get a view of her niece. “She’s so little.”
“I know,” Rafael says. “I can hardly believe she exists.” Marisol reaches for her brother’s hand without tearing her eyes away from the newborn.
“Do you want to hold her?” May asks.
“Are you serious?” Marisol asks. “Like, are you sure?”
“Yes,” May laughs. “ I want my little girl to know family from her first moments.”
Marisol smiles as she stands up, carefully scooping the baby from May’s arms, and the moment she sits down, she is absolutely enamored with her.
Her eyes shine with unshed tears as she pushes the swaddle back from her little face, whispering greetings to her.
Marisol tears her eyes away. “Do you have a name?”
“Camilla Maria Deo,” Rafael says, his eyes glittering over at May.
“Cami,” May says, smiling.
“Maria?” Marisol asks, and Rafael puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Sì.”
Her bottom lip wobbles, but she catches it between her teeth. “It’s beautiful.” May smiles in response.
Maria was their nonna’s name.
“How about you?” I ask, reaching for her hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Mentally? Like my heart just exploded. Physically, like I need to take a fucking nap,” she says.
“But you’re okay though?” I ask. “No complications?”
“Nothing crazy,” she says. “I’m okay.” She emphasizes it by squeezing my hand. I close my other hand over the top of hers as our attention is stolen back to the other side of the bed, where Marisol and Rafael look down at Camilla like she is an angel that has just landed on Earth.
Marisol smiles, and something inside of me clicks. I can see my future right in front of me. I don’t think I’ve ever thought much about what my future would look like, but now I can’t see anything else.