Chapter 22
Twelve long hours later, Anna felt both exhausted and exhilarated, and she hadn’t even been the one having the babies. She sat at a sleepy Wendy’s hospital bedside, Hayden on the other side.
All three shirtless—well, Anna was in a sports bra—each of them holding one of the babies skin to skin. Wendy was feeding Baby A. That was what they’d been calling them since they arrived, Baby A, B, and C, until Wendy and Hayden decided on names.
Anna couldn’t take her eyes off the cuteness overload in her arms. The way the wrinkly little thing looked up at her, her sweet blue eyes blinking even in the dimmed lights, mouth slightly agape, as if surprised in the very best way to be out of the womb, but also relieved to recognize the voices she’d been hearing for so many months.
“Hey,” Wendy said quietly. “You okay?”
Anna looked up, assuming she was talking to Hayden, but she wasn’t. Wendy was talking to her. “Me?” Anna shrugged. “Of course.”
But she wasn’t. She was shaking with letdown adrenaline and something else.
“What’s wrong?” Wendy asked.
And Anna... burst into tears. “I’m sorry. Ignore me!”
“Tell me,” Wendy said, looking deeply concerned. “Are you dying?”
“No! But I was worried you would.” Anna was doing that ugly-cry thing where you can’t catch your breath. “I’ve been freaking out that you’d die in childbirth.”
Wendy’s mouth fell open. “Oh my God.” She started crying too. “I wouldn’t do that to you!”
“You can’t control life and death!”
Wendy said something back that Anna couldn’t understand, and Hayden took Wendy’s hand and looked at them both. “Guys, only dogs can hear what either of you are saying.”
The babies were crying now too. It took Hayden a few minutes to get all the females in his life to stop sobbing, but he managed like a pro.
Wendy finally blew her nose and looked at Anna. “I’m not dying any time soon, but if I ever do—”
“Oh my God.”
“No, listen,” Wendy said. “When I go, the first thing you have to do is—”
“I know, I know,” Anna said. “I have to clean out the top drawer in your nightstand.”
Hayden grinned. “That’s my favorite drawer.”
“I’m dead, Hayden!”
They all laughed, softly now since the babies were back to sleeping.
“Dad would’ve loved this,” Anna said softly.
Wendy’s eyes misted. “I know.”
Hayden handed out tissues. Again. “So... Buffy, Cordelia, and Willow?” he asked, his voice still low and husky and filled with emotion, as it’d been ever since helping Wendy go through birth, making them an instant family of five.
“Oh my God, yes!” Anna grinned at Wendy. “He’s such a keeper.”
“He is.” Already softened by motherhood, Wendy gave Hayden a sweet smile. “But we aren’t naming our babies from the Buffy-verse.”
“Eenie, Meeny, and Miney?” Anna asked.
“Boo, Sully, and Mike?” Hayden asked.
“Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato?” Anna asked.
Wendy just looked at them.
“What?” Anna said. “I’m starving, and a BLT sounds amazing right about now.”
“Oh, I know!” Hayden lifted his head. “Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry.” And when both Anna and Wendy went brows up, he muttered, “I’m hungry too, jeez.”
“The nurse said they always provide a steak dinner postpartum. It should come soon.”
Anna’s stomach rumbled as she looked down at her bundle, at the perfect little infant, lips pursed like maybe she was hungry too. Proving it, she turned her tiny little capped head toward Anna’s chest and, with eyes closed now, began to root around with her mouth open like a baby bird. “Um...”
Wendy looked over and laughed.
“How is this funny?” Anna asked. “You’ve got three mouths to feed. Why aren’t you panicked?”
“You know me,” Wendy said. “My two factory settings are constant panic over every little thing and... it is what it is.”
“And right now it is what it is?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.” Anna nodded. “That’s good.” The baby was winding up with whimpers. “But what do I do here?”
“Cuddle her closer. I’ll swap you out when this one’s done.”
A few minutes later they all made a three-way shift change and Anna smiled down at Baby B. Or maybe she was Baby C. “Look at us,” she said to the triplets’ parents. “We’re not outnumbered at all.”
“Speak for yourself,” Hayden said. “It’s now five girls to me.”
Anna laughed, but quickly stopped when precious Baby B flinched at the sound. Hugging the cutie patootie into her, she nearly melted when the baby sighed in pleasure. “Maybe you are outnumbered,” she whispered to Hayden. “But you’re a basketball team now.”
And truthfully, it was so much more than that. Taking in these wrinkly, alien-looking five-pounders with their worried little frowns and soft little whimpers that made her heartbeat quicken, she felt completely undone. There was just something in the way they looked up at Wendy, and even at Hayden and Anna herself, like they knew they were with their people. Eyes wet yet again, she lifted her head and met Wendy’s own wet gaze. “They’re perfect, Wen,” she whispered.
“My whole family’s perfect,” her sister whispered back, and looked at Hayden with such love it almost hurt to take it in. “Everyone in this room. You’re all I need for the rest of my life.”
Anna nodded, but suddenly there was an empty spot in her chest and a pang to go with it. It really made no sense. She’d never been one to dream of a family of her own; she’d never given much thought to having kids. She’d let her work become the most important thing in her life.
But after these past few weeks, her job suddenly didn’t feel enough for her anymore. She had a terrifying idea of why that might be, and his name was Owen.
But... was it really so terrifying?
Yes, because she’d been stupid and made the rule that they’d be over when the case was over. Damn, Wendy had been right after all. She’d self-sabotaged herself yet again.
Leaning down, she dropped a kiss on the downy brunette head in her arms. The baby was calm and, just as her womb-mate had, was looking up at her with big eyes.
Baby C in Hayden’s arms was frustrated by the lack of a working nipple and began to make unhappy puppy sounds. Baby B, back in Wendy’s arms, was gurgling and babbling, going on and on with a story that no one but she understood. Anna leaned in close. “Just like your mama,” she whispered.
Wendy laughed, then sucked in air. “Okay, no one make me laugh. Ouch.”
Hayden’s head came up, eyes sharp. “You’re in pain?”
“Well, I’m not not in pain.”
“Babe.” Hayden pushed the button for the nurse.
Anna looked down to find Baby A’s eyes back on her, her brow slightly furrowed as if she was concentrating on Anna like nothing else mattered, and Anna’s ovaries actually ached. “I know this all seems crazy right now,” she told the baby, “but you should know, I’ll always have your back. No matter what, I’ve got you.”
The baby’s lips curved, and Anna’s mouth dropped open. “She’s smiling at me.”
“It’s gas,” Wendy said.
“No, it’s—” Anna broke off as sure enough, the baby farted right into the palm of her hand. “Never mind.” She grinned. “Like mama, like daughter.”
Hayden almost fell off his chair from trying to laugh silently.
Wendy narrowed her eyes at both of them, but nothing could erase Anna’s smile. She’d never been farted on before, and she didn’t even care. In that moment, the love she felt for her niece overruled everything else. “Do you think Mom looked at you like we’re looking at these babies?”
Wendy nodded. “I know it. And if she could have, she’d have looked at you like that too.”
Comforted by the image, Anna smiled, knowing the love she felt for these babies was forever. And suddenly she realized what she was feeling was the same love she’d seen mirrored in Ruby’s eyes when the older woman had looked at Owen. She hadn’t understood it then, but she understood it now.
Which made it even more important that they find her things, no matter what that meant for her dad’s reputation. “So are we going to name these girls for real or what?” Anna asked. “Maybe Michelle, for Mom, and then Louise, for Dad. And then, of course, you could name the third.”
Hayden gave a quiet laugh. “Don’t worry. I have no illusions of having any control over Namegate.”
Wendy gave him a warm, soft smile, and he returned it. “How about Michelle and Louise?” she said, and Hayden nodded his approval. “And then... Annabelle, for my favorite sister.”
Anna’s throat burned while her heart swelled, so she did as she always did when emotions swamped her and made her feel uncomfortable. “I hope this doesn’t mean you want me to take one. Cuz it’s not happening until after potty training.”
Wendy, not fooled for a second, sent her a sweet, happy smile. “Love you, Anna.”
“Love you back.”
Wendy turned to Hayden, and they stared deeply into each other’s eyes. A whole conversation was going on without either of them speaking a word. Wanting to give them a private moment, Anna stood and handed Wendy the baby, settling her so she could see her sister. Anna then kissed Wendy on the forehead. “Love you. I’ll be back.”
“Honey, go home and get some sleep,” Wendy murmured. “I need you rested.”
Anna nodded, and as she turned away and headed to the door, the tears she’d barely managed to hold back were already slipping down her face. She hated to cry, she really did, but she felt frazzled, emotionally spent, and exhausted.
She walked out of the room... and found Owen sitting in a chair against the opposite hallway wall, scrolling through his phone. He took one look at her and stood up, closing the distance between them, pulling her in. She allowed herself to relax into him because he was warm and strong, and when he held her like this, she felt safe and comforted.
“How long have you been here?” she asked, throat so thick it hurt to talk.
“Since I got your text that Wendy’d had the babies. She okay?”
“Yes, everyone’s good. You didn’t have to come, it’s been hours.”
His arms tightened, and he pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “I would’ve waited as long as it took.”
In the past when he made statements regarding his feelings for her, or what their future might be, she’d ignored them. Or tried. It’d been her own inability to believe or trust that he wouldn’t hurt her. And maybe it’d been the emotional last twenty-four hours, but she could feel herself signing the bottom line on the Believe and Trust Owen program.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“I’m unraveling and I don’t even know why.”
He held her gaze, then kissed her softly. “How about I take you home with me? You can unravel there, in my bed.”
“Yeah?”
He smiled at the eagerness in her voice. “If that works for you.”
“Will Turbo be there?”
“Yes, and he’ll be very excited to see you again. That is, if you’re interested.”
If she was any more interested, she’d levitate there. “Does he sleep in your bed?”
He rubbed the side of his jaw, his day-old stubble making a rasping sound that did things to her she wasn’t sure should be happening in public. “I try very hard to keep him off the bed,” he said. “But he waits until I fall asleep to join me. For a big guy, he can move like smoke when he wants to. But we can lock him out of the room.”
She had to blink away the image of a very sexy Owen sleeping in his bed, his dog lying at his feet. “Don’t you dare.”
He looked at her for a beat, then smiled. “I’ve also got ice cream.”
“Are you trying to... sweeten the deal?”
“Hedging my bets,” he said. “Doubling down.”
“You must really want me to... come... over.”
He gave a slow, sexy grin. “I do. I really do.”
She laughed.
“So? Yes? No?”
Instead of answering, she started power walking out, loving the sound of his low chuckle behind her.