Chapter 53 Hailey
Hailey
Baby Landry was born almost twenty hours after we made it to the hospital.
The moment he was placed on my chest, I burst into tears and sobbed for a good while.
I was pretty sure I sobbed that he was the cutest squishy potato I had ever seen. For that, I blamed the painkillers.
Birth was tiring, messy, and stressful, but my alphas were there the entire time, holding my hand, feeding me ice chips, or rubbing my feet.
Overall, it was hard but so worth it.
Landry had insanely big blue eyes, and I found myself looking at them almost constantly.
It was almost impossible to think that a mere nine months ago, Preston and I had been in that alley, accidentally bonding with each other. Nine months for my world to entirely flip on its head. For me to fall in love with four alphas.
Every one of them had stayed by my side during birth, steadfast in their resolve to be there, supporting me.
Thankfully, the birth was easy—well, the doctor said it was an easy birth, but my very swollen downstairs begged to differ.
No birth was truly easy. Evicting a tiny human from your body was a difficult experience, no matter what.
But my birth lacked any complications, so I was able to go home after a day.
“Someone needs changing.” I smiled down at the baby in my arms. Since coming home, I'd spent every minute in the nest, snuggling with my baby. Feeding him or simply basking in newborn cuddles.
“Gimme!” a voice said next to me.
“I can do that,” I said as Wilder scooped up the baby and took him over to the changing table.
“No, you heard the doctor’s instructions,” Nolan said in a stern voice. “You’re to spend five days in bed, five days on the bed, and then five days around the bed.”
I was only three days in, and my alphas were taking those recommendations seriously.
“But I can change my baby,” I insisted.
Nolan rolled his eyes at me. “If you really want to change him, we’ll bring everything over to you. You shouldn’t be moving around too much—just for showers and the bathroom.”
I glowered playfully at my alpha. Even though I acted unhappy about it, deep down, I was absolutely elated to be pampered so much.
The only thing I had to focus on was taking care of my newborn.
He and I stayed curled up in the nest, both of us napping frequently.
The guys brought me food and snacks and rubbed my feet every day.
The room’s floor-to-ceiling windows meant we could open them up and let in tons of natural light and fresh air. Sometimes, it felt like I was outside while still curled up in my nest.
Wilder passed me the freshly changed Landry, taking a moment to bounce him in his arms before doing so.
“He’s so handsome with those eyes of mine!” Wilder declared, batting his lashes at the baby. “He’s going to be a heartbreaker, just like his daddies.”
“That’s not how that works.” Merrick frowned, glancing at me, and I shook my head.
Wilder had taken to declaring that baby Landry had his looks, and anytime we tried to explain that wasn’t how biology worked, he brushed us off.
“Let him have his delusions,” I whispered playfully.
Merrick considered for a moment, then shrugged with a laugh. Wilder’s wacky ideas were part of the reason we loved him.
Even though he was our goofier pack mate, he had been so attentive since I had given birth. Sometimes he was my mate Wilder, doting on me, and other times he was Nurse Wilder, checking over our son with shrewd eyes.
I was eternally thankful he had done several pediatric rotations. I knew a fair bit about emergency medicine, but tiny humans had me stumped more often than not.
“Hey, little man,” I cooed, rocking the freshly changed baby in my arms. He was still firmly in that scrunched-up newborn phase that I was loving.
“What do you want for dinner?” Merrick asked.
“Maybe pasta?”
“Sure, I can do that. Tomato and basil pasta with bacon bits and cheese.”
The sound that left my mouth was nearly inhuman. “That sounds amazing. Thank you, darling.”
“You know, Walker keeps blowing up my phone, asking when he can visit,” Preston said. “Apparently, he's got very important Landry business to discuss with our son.” He laughed.
Ever since Walker had found out we were naming the baby after him, he had been proud as Punch.
“You know he's probably going to cry when you ask him to be Landry’s godfather,” I pointed out.
“Should we ask someone else?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. I'm just saying, make sure you've got a phone camera on him, so we can record it.”
“Smart mate.” Wilder laughed, leaning forward for a quick kiss.
Despite the chaos that having a newborn brought to our lives, I had never felt so at peace. I wasn't even that sleep deprived because, between all of us, the night feeds had been easy. The guys took turns staying up for a few hours at a time, taking care of our fussy little prince.
Preston came and joined me in the nest, lying next to me and gazing down at the baby in my arms. Watching each of my alphas become dads had been a mind-blowing experience.
“I hope you know I fucking love you,” he said after a moment, looking down at me.
It was the first time he had said those words. We had both been dancing around it for a few weeks, but we had other priorities—namely, making sure that baby Landry got here safe and sound.
Looking up at him, I hoped my eyes conveyed just how sincere I was when I spoke. “And I fucking love you, too, Preston.”
A dazzling smile spread across his face. “Who would have thought an alley hookup would have resulted in this?” he chuckled.
“That sort of thing usually ends in a sexually transmitted disease, not a happy family with an adorable baby.”
“Really, I just defy the odds at all turns, don’t I?” he said.
“You really do. It’s like you play with fire and never get burned.”
“I suppose that’s a good thing, considering I’m a firefighter—or, at least, will be again soon.”
I let out a soft snort. “Are you going to put that on your résumé—that you’re naturally flame-retardant?”
Preston considered for a moment. “You know what? I think Walker might just take that seriously and put it to the test with all the stress I’ve given him.”
“Walker? I would happily do that to you with all the stress you’ve given me,” Nolan grumbled.
Preston smirked, his eyes never leaving our son as he spoke. Landry, oblivious to the world, gurgled and proceeded to spit up all over himself.
“Really, little man?” I asked, gigging as I wiped the spit-up away with a burp cloth.
“I’ll change him, you guys keep snuggling,” Merrick offered, returning from the kitchen.
I didn't hesitate to pass him the baby covered in spit-up.
“You know, everything feels like it's settling into place,” I told Preston as I looked around the room. Wilder was sitting on the other side of the nest and Nolan was in an armchair next to it, lying back. We had placed a TV in the nest so we could watch our shows together while resting.
“That's one of the perks of being in a pack—more hands to lighten the load,” Wilder said.
“Also more idiots to stress me out,” I mused.
Preston lightly tickled my side, and I smacked him on the chest, glowering playfully at him.
In a few weeks, I would be going back to work and we would have to find a new normal, but for now, I was soaking in all of this amazing time with my pack and my son.
Hell, I was even thinking about more babies. Despite my aching and swollen downstairs, I wanted more. Maybe having a baby really had addled my brain.
“Okay, here you go!” Merrick said, carrying Landry back into the room and handing him to Preston.
“What the fuck?” Preston choked out a laugh, taking the baby in his arms.
I leaned forward. Landry was in a onesie I didn’t recognize.
Shifting closer, an almighty burst of laughter escaped my chest when it dawned on me what my son was wearing. Intrigued, Nolan and Wilder converged on us, both bursting into laughter when they saw the outfit.
“Is that a baby prisoner outfit?” I asked through giggles.
It was one of those little orange jumpsuits that prisoners wore, only baby-sized. A miniature costume.
Merrick shrugged, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I saw it, and I thought it would be cute for Landry to be like his daddy,” he said, looking at Preston.
The alpha wasn't going to live down the convict jokes anytime soon. That was apparently how we had decided to deal with the stress of everything he had been through. Copious jokes.
“Look at you!” Preston cooed at our son, holding him up so everyone could get a better look while we all had a good giggle.
The prisoner onesie was a touch too big, but it still had the intended impact.
Landry was still too little to really interact, so he merely dribbled and looked at us with hazy, unfocused eyes.
“I think orange rather suits him,” Wilder said.
“At least there’s a lawyer in the family,” Nolan added.
“You know what I think? In this one aspect, I would rather he doesn't take after his daddy,” I said dryly.
Preston turned to me, a megawatt smile on his face as he looked between me and our son. “I don't know. As it turned out, playing with fire worked out pretty damn well for me.”