Chapter 36 – Luke
LUKE
As far as Cat knows, she’s having a home birth with two doulas and Nate. In case of emergency, they’ll head to the hospital.
Because Nate conveniently forgot to mention that he transformed the poker room into a mini-hospital.
All the medical equipment Cat could possibly need has been brought into the building.
James even reluctantly let him use Maura’s industrial elevator to haul a portable MRI machine up to the penthouse.
If anything goes wrong with the home birth, there’s a whole team of medical experts ready to swoop down and take charge.
Unfortunately for me, they’re all camped out in my apartment, where all my friends can either entertain or ignore them.
“So hypothetically, a tail transplant would be possible?” Ryan asks Dr. Rashid, a bearded surgeon in his late fifties.
“Hypothetically, perhaps,” Dr. Rashid says. “Practically, if you were transplanting a tail from an animal, your body would almost certainly reject the tissue, and you wouldn’t have the same control over the muscle, anyway. I suppose if you grafted human skin—”
“Please, no skin grafting talk,” Pippa groans. “Ryan, you’re not getting a tail.”
“I never said I wanted one!” Ryan says defensively. “I just wanted to know if it was possible.”
“I appreciate his curiosity,” Dr. Rashid says politely.
Ryan’s eyes light up. “Okay, what about Wolverine claws? I know adamantium isn’t real, but science must be getting close, right?”
“A little whiskey for your coffee, Dr. Rashid?” Beau offers, holding up a bottle. “If Ryan’s getting into X-Men, you could probably use a pick-me-up.”
“Better not.” Dr. Rashid chuckles. “I’m on call.”
Beau turns to the anesthesiologist, a skinny redhead in glasses. “How about you, Dr. O’Connell?”
“Thanks fer askin’,” Dr. O’Connell replies in a heavy Irish brogue. “Better stick to coffee, though.”
“I’ll go brew some more,” I say, heading to the coffeepot. Between the doctors and the coterie of worried friends, the coffee I made half an hour ago has already vanished, and I know I’m going to get requests for more sooner than later.
Unfortunately, after I make the coffee for Dr. O'Connell, I'm immediately met with requests for espresso and specialty coffees.
Since I'm the only one who knows how to work the ridiculous top-of-the-line coffee machine I bought myself, I’m put on drink duty.
I spend a good twenty minutes taking requests until everyone who wants to be is caffeinated.
Once I’m done, my eyes automatically scan the room for Eden.
I find her sitting next to two older nurses who are working on a crossword together.
Eden looks at the floor, looking lost in thought.
I know immediately that something's wrong. Eden can be quiet sometimes, but she’s always tapped into the conversations around her, listening and taking stock.
She’s deliberately sat herself away from any of her friends, and I have a feeling I know why.
Across the room, Brinley’s seated between Beau and Maura, chatting animatedly with them. If I weren't her brother, I'd assume there was nothing wrong. But I've known Brinley since she was born. Her brow is furrowed just like it always is when she's angry but pretending not to be.
Shit. I’m not sure exactly where the tension came from, but I’d bet a fiscal year of Twisted Devil’s profits that it has to do with me.
I fill a coffee mug for Eden and bring it over to her. She accepts it with a quiet “thanks,” but doesn’t say anything else. Her eyes stay on the floor. Cool dread creeps into my stomach. Something’s up. Normally, she’d greet me with that small, warm smile.
“Are you okay?” I ask, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on her arm. She shrugs away from the touch, sending blaring alarm bells off in my head.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she says. “Cat’s having her baby. It’s exciting.”
“You don’t look excited.” I lean down close. “Did something happen with you and Brinley?”
“Of course not.” She sips her coffee and turns her back to me, focusing on the nurses. “I think I know twenty-eight down.”
Okay, so she doesn't want to talk. Looks like I’ll have to ask the other half of the equation. I spot Brinley headed down the hallway toward the guest bathroom. Perfect. If she’s avoiding me, then I’ll corner her. She’s in my house, after all. She owes me at least a conversation.
I follow her down the hallway and wait just outside the door. I hear running water—she’s washing her hands. I lean against the wall, hoping to look casual while also blocking her way back into the kitchen. When she emerges a second later, she jumps and shrieks.
“Luke! What the fuck?” She holds her hand to her chest. “You scared me.”
“Sorry, Brin. Didn’t mean to.”
“Likely story,” she mutters.
“So…I saw you and Eden come up together.”
Brinley’s eyes narrow. “Yeah.”
“And, uh, what did you two chat about?” Pathetically transparent. I’m the world’s worst interrogator—unsubtle and unthreatening at the same time.
My sister crosses her arms and scowls. “What do you want, Luke?”
I want to know if there’s any, miniscule, teeny-tiny chance that you’d approve of me dating your best friend.
“I’m just curious,” I say instead. “I’m sure you and Eden talk about me, and I wonder what kind of stuff you say.”
Brinley’s eyes flash, and I know instantly that she has no intentions of playing nice. “If you’re worried I’ll tell her you’re a world class, untrustworthy asshole, you can stop. I already did tell her, and apparently, that still hasn’t stopped you.”
I wince. I haven’t always been the best brother to Brinley, and I don’t blame her for not having the best opinion of me. Things are different now, though, and I feel the urge to defend myself.
“Maybe I have been, but I’m not now. I’m allowed to change, Brin.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. You tell yourself that, but you can’t seem to get rid of that mean streak, can you? You’re still trying to punish me for Beau, and that’s not fucking fair. You didn’t have to sleep with my best friend to get back at me!”
My knees practically go out from under me. It doesn’t matter that I technically haven’t slept with Eden. The sheer fact that Brinley thinks I’d be capable of using her like that makes me feel like a complete piece of shit.
“That’s not true.” My voice sounds weak, even to me.
“It’s not? So how come you kept hanging around her, even after you told us all it was fake?
Why, after knowing her for a goddamn decade, did you finally decide Eden was worth your time?
Why were you stringing her along when you knew the last thing you wanted was a girlfriend?
I can’t think of a single good reason, other than you’re pissed at me for dating Beau.
” She shakes her head. “It’s mean, Luke.
I thought you grew out of that, but I guess you didn’t. ”
My mind tries to grasp at words and form arguments, but the words don’t come. All I can do is sputter out a denial. “That’s not what happened, not even close—”
Brinley holds up a hand. “No. I don’t want to hear it right now, Luke. We’re here to support Cat and Nate. That’s what today is supposed to be about, and that’s the only thing I’ll be discussing with you today.”
She shoves past me and stomps down the hall. There’s enough noise coming from the living room that my guests might not have heard our argument, but if they see Brinley’s scowl, they’ll figure it out fast. I have to pull her back and make her listen to me. She’s got it all wrong.
Except one part of me, the part that grew up sharing a bathroom with her, keeps asking the question underneath the question: if my own sister can believe I’d use Eden as a weapon, what does the rest of the world think I’m capable of?
What does Eden think, in the hours I’m not there to prove otherwise?
The second I make it back to the living room, Nate walks through the elevator door. He’s wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, which feels wrong somehow. I’ve never seen him dressed so casually outside of the gym, and I’ve definitely never seen him with tears in his eyes.
Pippa practically springs across the room to him, hope and worry on her face.
“What happened?” she demands.
“Cat had our daughter, and they’re both healthy and happy,” he says, and the room fills with cheers and screams.
Pippa promptly begins sobbing, and Ryan pulls her into his arms.
“You’re an auntie, Pips,” Ryan says, stroking her back. “The world’s best auntie, and you haven’t even met her yet.”
James puts his arm around Maura and looks fondly at the baby dozing in her arms. “Hazel’s first friend,” he says.
Nate turns to the medical staff. “Everyone, thank you for standing by. The midwives say everything looks good, and you can all go home. I appreciate your being here.”
“When can we see the baby?” Brinley asks. I know her well enough to hear the forced cheerfulness in her voice. Across the room, Beau’s brow furrows as he picks up on it, too.
“Once the doctors are finished with the elevator,” Nate promises. “Cat wants to tell you the name herself.”
There’s a flurry of activity as the medical team gathers their things and heads downstairs, each with a handshake from Nate.
Then Maura heads up to the penthouse to put Hazel down for a nap.
Even though they have a nanny there, Maura still has the baby monitor in her hand when we all head down to Nate’s apartment.
The living room is messier than I’ve ever seen it. Nate usually keeps the place spotless, but now, there are blankets, magazines, half-drunk glasses of water, and the general debris left from the hours spent waiting out Cat’s labor.
“Do you think fatherhood is going to make Nate chill out a bit?” I murmur to Beau, who snorts.
“No way. By tomorrow, this place will be spotless, and he’ll be forcing hand sanitizer on anyone who walks in.”
“Shame. I could get used to casual Nate.”
We follow Nate down the hall to his and Cat’s bedroom. He opens the door, and a scowling midwife almost as tall as me emerges immediately. She gives each of us a death glare in turn.
“You will not speak loudly and you will not disturb the mother or child,” she commands. “If you act out of turn, you will be removed. You understand.”
The last two words are delivered as an order, not a question. I nod fervently, and as I glance over at the other guys, I can see them all doing the same. Even James looks cowed.
“Alright,” she concedes. “You may enter. But I will be watching.”
She steps away from the door, gesturing for us to enter.
I lean close to Nate before I follow everyone in. “That midwife is one of your hired bodyguards, right?”
“Not yet,” Nate says. “I’m considering making her an offer, though. She’s terrifying.”
Inside, Cat sits in the king-sized bed, surrounded by a pile of soft pink blankets. Her blonde curls are gathered into a messy ponytail, and her face is flushed and glowing with happiness. She looks up and smiles at us.
“Hi, everyone,” she says quietly. “I’d like you to meet Sylvie Rose.”
Under the midwife’s watchful eye, we all keep our cooing at a low level. Sylvie wiggles in Cat’s arms, her tiny mouth opening in an adorable yawn.
“She’s perfect,” Pippa sighs.
“Sylvie Rose,” Maura says, sounding like she’s savoring the syllables. “Beautiful—and French, of course.”
“There’s no way you’re going to let me enter her in baby pageants, are you?” Ryan says. “Because she’d sweep—just saying.”
“She doesn’t need a crown,” Cat says with a laugh. “Even though I’m pretty sure Nate already bought her one, anyway. By the way, how many doctors did Nate have hidden away upstairs?”
Nate scowls. “Who told her?”
“Nobody. I just know my husband.” Cat smiles. “I’m happy you took care of it, and happier that we were able to do things my way.”
Nate ducks his head and kisses Cat on the forehead. “I am, too. I would do anything to give you what you want, Kitten.”
The tender display makes all the couples move slightly closer. Ryan wraps his arms around Pippa’s waist while Maura leans against James’s shoulder. Beau and Brinley reach for each other’s hands.
Across the room, Eden gazes at baby Sylvie with tears shining in her hazel eyes.
And even though I’ve never thought about having kids before, suddenly I see them.
Babies with my hair and Eden’s impossible eyes, running through the fields back at Locke Ranch or cuddling with her while we read books in my apartment.
The image should scare me, but as Eden’s eyes meet mine across the room, all I feel is how much I wish it could be real.