Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Abby
“Is it time yet?” Mav asks from the opposite side of the couch.
I tried to distract him by watching one of his weird documentaries with him, but it doesn’t seem to be working.
Since I got the call from Cole last night that Riley was in labor, Mav has been asking me every ten minutes if the baby is here yet and if it’s time to go to the hospital.
His eagerness is one of the most precious things I’ve ever seen, even if his endless questions are kind of driving me up the wall. He is going to be the best big brother.
“Not yet, bud.”
“Are you sure Riley’s okay? This is taking so long.”
I love how much he loves Riley. She’s never tried to replace me, but she has still become an unshakable presence in my son’s life.
I feel blessed that he has so many people who love him so much. A mom couldn’t ask for anything more for their kid.
“Labor just takes a while sometimes, but your dad said she’s doing just fine. It shouldn’t be long now.” Cole texted about an hour ago, saying Riley was finally at nine centimeters.
“Did it take a long time when you had me?”
“Eighteen hours,” I tell him with a smile. It was rough, but thank goodness for epidurals.
“Wow,” he says. His eyes fly wide. “Did Dad freak out then, too?”
He overheard the call last night. Cole was indeed freaking out a little.
“It’s happening,” Cole says in lieu of a greeting.
“What?” I ask, squishing my phone between my shoulder and ear so I can finish getting the kitchen cleaned up after dinner.
“Riley… baby… now…” The disjointed words come out in a breathless mess.
I smile, standing upright. “Cole.”
“Yeah.”
“Take a deep breath.” The line is quiet for a minute before I hear an intake of breath followed by a slow exhale. “Again.” The pattern continues two more times. “Better?”
“A little.”
“Riley’s in labor?”
Mav appears in the kitchen as soon as the question is out of my mouth. He stares up at me with wide eyes.
“Yup.” I nod at Mav, so he knows what his dad said. I would put it on speaker, but I don’t know what the hell he’s going to say right now.
Mav starts jumping around the kitchen.
I expect Cole to give me some more information, but he’s gone quiet again. Geez, getting information out of him right now is like getting the sword out of the stone.
I’ll cut him some slack, though, because he is about to have a baby.
“Is she okay?” I press.
“I think so, yeah. Theo said she was. I’m meeting them at the hospital.”
“I know this is a lot, but you’ve done this before. Just take a deep breath and be the rock Riley’s going to need you to be.” I know he can do it because he was by my side through every contraction when I had Mav.
“You’re right,” he says with a heavy exhale.
“But Cole… I’ll be your rock when you need it through this. All you have to do is ask. Anything.”
“I love you, Abs.” The emotion in his voice is heavy. The enormity of the day is clearly weighing on him.
“I love you, too,” I tell him.
“Love you, Dad,” Mav shouts loud enough for Cole to hear him.
Now, it sounds like he really might be crying. “Tell him I love him, too.”
“Give Riley a hug for me,” Mav shouts again.
Cole’s breaths are jagged at best. I stay silent, giving him a minute to pull himself back together.
“You good?” I finally ask.
“Yeah… thanks.”
“What are best friends for?” I ask, smiling.
“Can you bring Mav to the hospital after?” he asks.
“Of course. Give Riley a hug for me, too.”
Surprisingly, Cole was the polar opposite of a mess when I had Mav. “No, he wasn’t. He was calm through all of it until you got here, and then he cried.”
I’m pretty sure he saw how freaked out I was and wanted to be the steady one for me to lean on. Over the years, we’ve learned to lean on one another, even if it isn’t in either of our natures to do so.
Mav and I walk hand-in-hand down the hallway to the room number Cole texted me thirty minutes ago.
That was the fastest I have ever seen Mav get ready in his life. I’ll have to use his baby sister as an excuse more often if it will get him to put some pep in his step while getting ready.
I knock softly on the door, not wanting to wake anyone if they’re sleeping, baby or mama. Cole pries the door open, grinning like a damn fool—a tired fool, but still a fool.
“Hey,” he says.
I lean down, kissing Mav on the forehead. “Go meet your little sister.”
He hugs me back, then grabs Cole’s hand.
I turn around, intending to return to the waiting room so they can have some privacy with their whole family together for the first time.
“Where are you going?” Cole asks, grabbing my hand with his free one.
“Waiting room?”
“Get in here,” he says, tugging me behind him as he walks into the room.
Riley’s sitting up in bed with a yellow blanket snuggled to her chest. Her eyes light up when she sees Mav, and my heart swells a little more for the love she holds in her heart for my son.
Mav’s eyes dart between Cole and Riley. “Can I go see her?” he asks Cole.
Cole gives my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and leading Mav to the bed. Riley pats the bed beside her. Mav slowly climbs up.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he tells Riley.
Her tired eyes soften even more. She holds out her arms. “Come here. You aren’t going to hurt me.”
He hesitates for a second but snuggles into her side. His eyes light up when she shifts her other arm closer to him.
“She’s so little,” Mav says, staring at his sister for the first time. There’s so much love in his eyes. It makes my heart ache in a good way.
“Do you want to hold her?” Riley asks.
“Can I?” Mav’s worried eyes roam around the room among all the adults.
“We trust you,” Theo tells him. “We know you’ll take care of her.”
“Always,” Mav says. The tears I have been trying to fight back threaten to make another appearance.
Finn tucks a pillow under Mav’s arm. Cole gives his daughter a kiss on the forehead before setting her in Mav’s arms.
He stares down at her like his world has just changed forever, but he doesn’t mind one bit. His heart willingly grew bigger to let her in.
“What’s her name?” Mav asks.
“Macie,” Riley says.
Maverick and Macie.
“That’s a good name,” Mav says with a nod.
We all start laughing, Finn the loudest. “I’m glad you approve, my man,” he says.
Cole ruffles Mav’s hair, then walks over to me. There are tears in both our eyes when he wraps his arms around me.
“I’m so happy for you,” I mumble against his shirt.
We’re both quiet for a long time, just standing there staring at our son holding his little sister. “He’s already got this big brother thing down,” Cole says.
“Yeah, he’s a natural,” I agree.
“Come here,” Riley says, holding her hand toward me. I walk to the opposite side of the bed from where Mav is sitting.
I lean down, giving her a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just pushed a watermelon out of a place where a watermelon shouldn’t be,” she says, laughing. She glances over at Mav and Macie. “I’m exhausted, but I’m so happy that it doesn’t even matter.”
I’ve been there. I know exactly what she means. I lean over the bed a little more, so I can get a better view of the little one.
Her face is scrunched up in sleep with only a few curly tufts of hair peeking out from under the pink and blue striped bow.
“She’s precious,” I say.
“Thanks,” Riley says dreamily.
I give her another hug, then step toward the door. “If you guys need anything, just let me know.”
I lock eyes with Cole, making sure he hears me. He gives a single nod.
“Let me know when to come get Mav.” I would say goodbye, but I don’t want to disturb the little bubble he’s in right now.
“Thank you,” Riley mouths.
I smile and nod, then step from the room. The view of all of them gathered together as a family hits me just as I’m shutting the door, and all the air gets stuck in my lungs.
That’s what I want.
I don’t even have a plan in place before I’m shifting the car out of park and driving to the bar. I know all three of my guys are there right now, so that’s where I need to be.
I can’t wait to talk to them. All of this might have just hit me upside the head, but I’m going to explode if I don’t get this out now.
The bar isn’t open yet, so I park in the back and pound on the door. This probably makes me seem a little crazy, but rational thought flew out the window a while ago.
“What the fuck?” Linc growls as the heavy metal door starts to swing open. “Abby?” he asks as I come into view. His face falls when he takes me in. “What happened?”
“I need to talk to you guys.”
He grabs my hand, pulling me inside. I follow him into the main room of the bar where Kane and Wyatt are busy stocking the shelves and getting ready for a busy Saturday night.
“Hey,” I say quietly. At the sound of my voice, they both whip around.
“Are you okay?” Wyatt asks.
Kane’s face falls. “Did something happen with Riley? The baby?” His eyes dart around. “Where’s Mav?”
I hold up my hand in front of me, shaking my head. “Everyone’s fine. Mav’s at the hospital with all of them right now. Riley and baby Macie are both doing well.”
Kane lets out a relieved breath. They all do.
“Then… what’s going on?” Linc asks, still holding my hand.
“Where’s Oliver?” I ask. We’ve worked so hard to keep this from the boys this whole time. I don’t want to ruin it by blurting this out where he could overhear us.
“He’s asleep in my office,” Kane says.
“He didn’t sleep much last night,” Wyatt adds.
I nod, knowing it’s probably because of the nightmares he still has sometimes.
Linc leads the way into a storage closet in the back, so we can all talk in private without a chance of Oliver waking up and hearing us.
“What’s going on, beautiful? You’re kind of freaking me out here,” Wyatt says.
I take a deep breath, facing all three of them. They’re lined up against a wall of shelves that are filled with liquor boxes.
“I have some things I need to say, and I really don’t want you guys to respond right now. I want you to think about it before you give me an answer. Okay?”
They all look wary as fuck, but they nod.
“I’m in love with all of you,” I blurt out.
I guess we’re just fucking going for it.
I hold up my hand, silencing them before they can say anything in response.
“I’ve known for a while, but I can’t keep it in anymore. I love what we’ve built together.” I take a deep breath, needing a little courage to say the next part.
“But I want more. I need more. I don’t want to just be yours in secret. I want to be together for real, in front of everyone, in front of Mav and Oliver. I want all of us to be a family.” Tears start to well in my eyes. “I want a marriage and more kids. I want a family. I want forever.”
Kane and Wyatt both look like they’re about to speak, so I hold up my hand again. “Just let me get this out.”
They nod.
“I know that’s a lot to ask, but it’s what I want.
That isn’t going to change, so I’m here fighting for what I want our future to look like.
If that isn’t…” A tear falls down my cheek.
I don’t even try to swipe it away. “If that isn’t what you want, I would rather know now than down the line when I’m inevitably even more in love with you. ”
My eyes close for a second as I pull in a lungful of air. “Please don’t say anything right now. Think about this… really think about it. When you know for sure, I’ll be here.”
I give each of them a quick kiss, fighting the whole time to keep from crumpling to the floor in a puddle of my own tears. They’re all standing there, stunned and silent, when I walk out of the closet and down the hall.
I barely make it to my car before I break down into tears. Just the thought of them saying that isn’t what they want is enough to make my entire world feel like it’s crashing down around me.
I’m trying to hold onto the hope that we will get the future I’m dreaming up in my head, but I’m struggling to keep from getting lost in the fear of losing all of them.