Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Hailey
The Best Teams Stay Together
I have never been more exhausted in my life.
Scratch that—exhausted doesn’t even begin to cover my current state. I am a shell of a human being. A walking nap waiting to happen. My body is barely functioning, my brain is stuck on a buffering screen, and if someone so much as breathes too loud, I might cry.
And yet, despite the fact that every muscle I own is currently on strike, despite the fact that my bed has never looked more inviting, despite the fact that I just endured the single most physically demanding experience of my life . . .
I’m the happiest woman in the world.
The second I step through the front door, something inside me unravels.
Not because I’m hormonal, which I absolutely am. Not because I’m overwhelmed, which, let’s be honest, I probably should be. But because it just feels so damn good to be home.
Two nights in the hospital were two nights too many. The nurses were amazing, the bed was a medieval torture device, and if I had to hear one more beeping machine at three in the morning, I was going to run away leaving everything behind—maybe not the baby.
But now we’re here.
At home.
Leif steps in behind me, carrying Luna in her car seat like she’s made of stardust and spun sugar. His hair is a mess, his hoodie is wrinkled beyond repair, and he looks wrecked. But also—completely, ridiculously in love. Like his entire world just got handed to him in a seven-pound bundle, and he still can’t believe his luck.
I know exactly how he feels.
Lucian helped us bring everything home earlier. He’s been amazing—watching over me while Leif was away, keeping me sane, making sure I didn’t go into labor alone. And thank God Luna decided to arrive while her daddy was home.
And yeah . . . we went with the name Luna instead of Celeste. The moment we saw her, we just knew. She wasn’t just stardust. She was everything—the sun, the moon, the whole damn universe wrapped up in a tiny, perfect body.
Leif sets the car seat down in the living room with so much care it’s almost reverent. Then he just . . . stares at her.
My chest clenches.
This man and his baby they make my ovaries explode every five seconds.
“Leif?” I murmur.
His eyes snap up to mine, wide and overwhelmed. “Holy shit.”
I blink. “What?”
He gestures at the general presence of our daughter. “They let us leave with the baby. Those suckers didn’t realize what they did.”
I let out a sleepy laugh. “Right? We know nothing. They just handed her to us—idiots.”
He shakes his head like that’s not the point. “I mean . . . she’s here with us now. Hopefully, she’ll want to stay forever.”
I bite my lip to keep from smiling too hard. Should I tell him she’ll probably turn eighteen, leave for college, and become a fiercely independent woman who forgets to text us back?
Nah. He’s too happy to start facing reality.
Leif drags a hand down his face. “No, but seriously—they just let us take her. No final test, no extended warranty. Just, ‘Congrats, try not to fuck it up.’”
I snort. “I think they assume we’re responsible adults.”
Leif stares at me. “I literally forgot my car keys twice before we left the hospital.”
I grin. “And yet, they still trusted us.”
He exhales, then kneels next to Luna, unbuckling her with ridiculous gentleness. “Okay, baby girl,” he murmurs. “Let’s see how you like your new home.”
She doesn’t respond, but when he lifts her into his arms, she immediately nestles against him, making a tiny noise that is, without a doubt, the single greatest sound I have ever heard.
Leif sags onto the couch, cradling her, pressing a kiss to her soft little head, and I swear I almost break apart from how much I love them.
“I really think she likes me,” he whispers.
I laugh softly, crawling onto the couch next to him. “I’m pretty sure she loves you.”
Leif grins, adjusting her in his arms. She makes another little noise that absolutely wrecks him.
Yeah. This man is in trouble. He’s going to do everything she wants him to do. And I’m just going to sit back and fall even more in love as I watch it happen. I close my eyes. While he’s doting on our little girl, I plan to close my eyes for a bit—try to recover. That’s what the doctor said, right? While she sleeps, try to sleep, and I will.
* * *
I am wrecked. My body is begging for sleep. I can practically hear my muscles sobbing in relief. My brain is mush, my eyelids feel like sandpaper, and yet—guess who can’t stop staring at the baby monitor like an obsessed lunatic? Not me, Leif.
“Leif,” I groan, cracking one eye open. “Put the phone down.”
He doesn’t. Instead, he tilts the screen toward me like it’s proof that we need to stay awake forever.
“She moved.”
I blink, trying to focus. “That’s what babies do.”
“Yeah, but . . . what if she stops breathing?”
I drag a hand down my face. “Leif.”
He turns back to the screen, brow furrowed.
“She’s just lying there,” he mutters, voice full of suspicion. “Menacingly.”
I snort. “Did you just call our newborn menacing?”
He narrows his eyes at the monitor. “I just think she’s planning something.”
I let out a long, slow sigh. “She’s sleeping. I doubt she’s plotting world domination. Now please go to sleep.”
He hesitates. “But?—”
“Now.”
He grumbles but finally tucks the phone under the pillow and rolls toward me.
I am seconds away from finally getting some goddamn sleep, when a tiny, barely-there whimper. Leif is out of bed so fast I swear he defies physics.
I groan, forcing myself upright. My body screams in protest, but I manage to shuffle toward the nursery, dragging my feet like a half-dead zombie.
When I get there, I stop in the doorway.
Leif is holding her, his massive hands cradling her impossibly small body like she’s his whole damn world. He’s swaying slightly, his voice low and achingly soft as he sings under his breath.
A lullaby. My giant, gruff, hockey-playing boyfriend is singing our baby to sleep. And just like that—I’m gone. This man ruins me even more with his gestures, with the way he loves me, but more so with the way he loves Luna.
I step into the room, pressing a hand to his back, and he turns, kissing my forehead.
“She just needed a little cuddling,” he murmurs, his voice warm and full of something too big for words.
I lean into him, staring down at our daughter, and let out a slow breath. Our final faceoff is over.
“Thank you for giving her to me,” he says. “I love you, Hailey Bean. I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too, Leif. So much.”