Chapter 56 - Melanie #2
Sweat beaded along her hairline, and as I watched her tense up again, I started rethinking this pregnancy thing. Maybe adoption was the way to go. Or, if Nick and I somehow made millions with the restaurant expanding, I’d seriously look into a surrogate.
I was exhausted to the bone. My body ached from hours of sitting in this stiff hospital chair, and my mind was clouded with worry.
It felt like Abigail had been in labor forever.
Hours had passed since they gave her the epidural, yet she was still stuck at eight centimeters.
She needed to reach ten before she could start pushing.
The waiting room smelled of burnt coffee and antiseptic, the overhead lights buzzing like they, too, were losing patience.
“Here’s some coffee,” Nick said, settling beside me with a sigh.
The warmth of the cup brushed against my hand as he offered it to me.
“Why don’t you go home? Colt’s here, so she’ll be fine.
It’s almost midnight. You need to rest.” He paused, studying me.
“I checked on Loco earlier, left some food in the microwave. You should eat something other than vending machine peanuts.”
I curled my fingers around the cup, letting the heat seep into my cold hands.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, trying to sound convincing.
My blood sugar was stable—I had checked.
I even forced down some toast with avocado an hour ago.
But my eyelids felt heavy, my body betraying me.
The idea of a warm bed was a temptation I refused to give in to.
I leaned my head against his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent of him—clean laundry and the lingering trace of his cologne.
“I’m just glad Colt made it in time,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper. “I was seriously worried for his life earlier.”
Nick chuckled, low and amused. “Yeah, well, perks of being in the NFL and making millions. He had a charter plane on standby. Told the team if Abigail went into labor, he was leaving the second he got the call.”
“That’s cool,” I said, closing my eyes for just a second. “Must be nice.” A small smile tugged at my lips. “Abigail is so lucky. I’m so happy for her.”
Nick shifted beneath me, his posture suddenly rigid. I lifted my head, searching his face. “What?”
He hesitated, swirling the coffee in his cup as if the answer was somewhere in the dark liquid. Then, finally, he spoke. “You ever think… maybe this life, the simple life, isn’t really who you are? That one day you’ll miss all of it—the money, the luxury, the way things used to be?”
His words hit me like a punch to the stomach. My breath hitched. Was he really afraid I’d get tired of being loved? That I’d trade him—trade this—for something as empty as wealth?
I sat up, facing him fully. “No.”
He met my gaze, and for a moment, I forgot about the cold coffee in my hands, the exhaustion clawing at my body, the sterile hospital walls around us. I could have drowned in those green eyes.
“No,” I repeated, softer this time. “Never. That life—” I exhaled, shaking my head. “I was empty. Angry. At myself. At the world. I don’t miss it.” I tilted my head, teasing. “Well… maybe the endless shopping sprees and extravagant vacations.”
His jaw tensed.
I smirked. “I’m kidding. Kind of.”
He sighed, and I reached for his hand, tracing my fingers over his knuckles. “Look at me.”
He hesitated, but when he did, I squeezed his hand.
“Of course it’s nice not to have to worry about money,” I admitted.
“But that life came with a price. And I don’t want to pay it anymore.
I’d rather have a smaller house, a smaller budget, and a bigger peace of mind.
I didn’t even realize how much trauma I was carrying.
It was like a warzone in my head, and now… it’s like I finally won.”
A ghost of a smile flickered across his face. He squeezed my hand back. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Before I could say anything else, the hospital doors burst open.
“Holy shit!” Colt’s voice boomed through the waiting room. His hair was a mess, his expression wild. “Doc said the baby is crowning. She’s about to push. Oh my God, Chloe is about to be here. Holy shit.”
A loud scream echoed from the hallway behind him. Colt’s eyes widened in horror.
“I never thought a vagina could get that big. I mean, I don’t know how the hell Abigail is doing this right now because she has a tight—”
“Colt!” Abigail’s voice, hoarse but full of rage, cut through the air.
Colt winced. “Right. Yeah. Okay.” Then he grinned, pure excitement lighting up his face. “It’s go time, baby.”
And with that, he turned and sprinted back inside, ready to meet his daughter.
“Hi, Chloe. I’m Auntie Mel.”
I gazed down at the impossibly tiny human in my arms, my breath catching in my throat.
Her delicate fingers curled into a soft fist, her pink lips parted slightly as she slept, completely oblivious to the world around her.
I had never been so utterly captivated by a person before.
She was innocent, perfect—a miracle wrapped in a warm hospital blanket.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
I swallowed hard, trying to process the overwhelming wave of emotion washing over me.
This little girl had only been on this earth for a few minutes, and already, she had stolen a piece of my heart.
“They announced her birth at 1:10 a.m.,” I murmured, brushing a finger along her tiny cheek.
“February nineteenth, instead of the eighteenth,” Abigail says in a sluggish tone.
“Abigail couldn’t be happier,” Colt said, sitting beside his wife.
He held her hand in both of his, brushing damp hair strands from her forehead.
Abigail looked exhausted—her eyes drooping, her body drained—but she glowed with something deeper than mere happiness. A mother’s love. A newfound purpose.
Nick hovered behind me, peering over my shoulder. “Good job, guys,” he said, his voice softer than usual. “She really is beautiful.”
Colt smirked, his signature cocky attitude never far from reach. “You know you can’t go wrong with the Killian genes.”
Abigail let out a weak laugh, squeezing his hand. “I’m just so happy she’s a Pisces,” she mumbled, still groggy from the epidural. “I was worried about her being an Aquarius. Air signs and water signs don’t always mix well, and I really want us to be best friends.”
I shook my head, biting back a smile. Of course, even after giving birth, Abigail was still obsessing over zodiac signs.
Colt raised an eyebrow. “You married an Aquarius.”
Abigail patted his hand as if he were a child. “I know, baby. But you’re special. There’s no zodiac sign that fits you.”
Colt’s eyes softened as he looked at her, and in that moment, I saw it—the kind of love that people spend their whole lives searching for. The kind that didn’t need grand gestures or poetic words. It was in the way he touched her, the way he looked at her, as if she were his whole world.
I shifted, suddenly aware of the weight in my own chest. As much as the idea of motherhood scared me, the fear was starting to feel… smaller. Less consuming.
I turned to Nick and whispered, “We should probably go. Let them get some rest.”
But before I could move, he spoke. “Can I hold her?”
I froze.
Something about the way he asked—hesitant, almost reverent—made my heart ache in the best way.
Colt grinned. “Of course. Just make sure you support her head—newborns can’t hold their heads up at all. And you should probably sit down. You don’t wanna—”
Nick shot him a glare. “I’m not going to drop her.”
Colt held up his hands. “Hey, man, just saying. If you can’t follow Daddy’s orders—”
“For fuck’s sake, Colt,” Abigail groaned. “Nick’s got it.”
Colt sighed dramatically. “Sorry. It’s my first baby girl. I just wanna make sure she’s okay.”
Abigail’s expression softened. She reached up, stroking his arm. “I know, sweetie. But Nick’s a strong guy. I think we can trust him to hold a baby without dropping her.”
Nick rolled his eyes but sat beside me, holding out his arms. I gently placed Chloe into them, adjusting his hands to make sure she was secure.
“Ready?” I asked.
He nodded, his jaw tight with concentration. As soon as Chloe settled against his chest, his entire body relaxed. His expression shifted from nervousness to something deeper—something unspoken. He stared down at her, completely lost.
Colt exhaled, leaning back against the hospital bed.
“Man… it’s crazy. Bodie’s almost nine now, and I swear it feels like yesterday I was in the hospital, holding him for the first time.
” His voice thickened with emotion. “It was life-changing, becoming a dad. And I’m just so damn grateful I get to do it again…
this time, with the woman of my dreams.”
Abigail turned her head toward him, her eyes shining. Their fingers laced together, and the way they looked at each other made my chest ache all over again.
Nick glanced up at me, something unreadable in his expression. Then, with a small smirk, he asked, “What do you think? You ready to make one of these?”
My breath caught.
I stared at him, then at the baby in his arms, feeling something shift inside me.
I smiled. “Yeah. But I’d like a few more years of making grilled cheese sandwiches with you first, without worrying about a crying baby in the background.”
Nick chuckled, his thumb brushing lightly over Chloe’s tiny hand. “Yeah. Gives us more time to practice, too.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Abigail groaned. “Oh my God, Nick.”
Colt snorted. “Hear ya, man.”
Nick just grinned, but as the room quieted, we all fell into silence, staring down at Chloe Rae Killian—this perfect little human who had already changed everything.