Epilogue
Lauren
Jackson was still asking about the nursery when my water broke.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said.
“You think so, or you know so?”
“I can walk, Jackson.”
“Okay. Okay, good. Walking is good.”
Jackson grabbed my car keys and shoved my bag into the back seat before helping me into the front. He called Kevin on the way.
He glanced over as he started the car. “Are you okay?”
I choked out a laugh. “I’m about to have a baby. I have no idea.”
“Right. Stupid question.”
“Just drive.”
“Driving. I’m driving.”
“Hey, where’s Kevin?” Jackson demanded as he pulled into the medical center’s driveway.
A nurse hurried inside while Jackson ran around to open my door. A second later, Kevin rushed out, pushing a wheelchair toward us.
He reached me and cupped my face. “Baby, how are you?”
“Nervous,” I said, relief hitting hard at the sight of him.
“I’ve got you. You’re okay.” He kissed my forehead. “Everything’s going to be fine. Are you having contractions yet?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
“Good. That’s good.” He swallowed, his eyes searching my face. “We’re going to transfer you to the nearest hospital. Don’t worry.” He helped me into the chair. “The ambulance is almost ready.”
“How long?”
“Five minutes. Maybe less.”
Jackson grabbed my things from the car while Kevin wheeled me toward the ambulance.
“You’re doing great,” Kevin murmured.
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
“You’re here. You’re talking. That counts.”
“I’m not calm. I’m terrified.”
“Me too.” He squeezed my hand. “But I’m right here.”
Ten minutes later, both of them were beside me in the ambulance. Kevin held my hand while Jackson kept giving me a strained, encouraging look, like he might fall apart if I blinked wrong. They were my family, and soon there would be one more of us.
“You’re doing great, Lauren,” the nurse said. “Almost there.”
I squeezed Kevin’s hand on one side and Jackson’s on the other. Both of them were pale and looked scared out of their minds. And I loved them so much in that moment it hurt.
“One more push,” the doctor said.
I bore down, and then—
A cry filled the room.
“It’s a girl,” the doctor announced.
I fell back against the pillows, tears sliding down my face. Kevin was crying too, and when I looked at Jackson, his eyes were wet.
The nurse placed the baby on my chest, and everything else blurred around the tiny, furious person in my arms.
“Hi, sweetheart,” I whispered. “Hi, baby girl.”
Kevin’s hand came up to cup the baby’s head, impossibly gentle. “She’s perfect.”
“She’s ours,” Jackson said, his voice full of wonder.
The baby had dark hair and was screaming her displeasure at being born. I’d never heard anything more beautiful.
“Do we have a name?” the nurse asked.
Kevin and Jackson looked at me. We’d talked about this. Argued about it. Gone through a hundred options.
“Emma,” I said. “Emma Taylor-Thorpe.”
Jackson’s surname, Kevin’s surname, joined together the same way we were.
“Emma,” Kevin repeated, trying it out. “Perfect.”
The nurse took Emma to clean her up and run the necessary tests. I watched Kevin and Jackson track her every move, neither one willing to let her out of sight.
When the nurse brought Emma back, swaddled and clean and finally content, she looked between the three of us.
“Who wants to hold her first?”
“Jackson,” Kevin and I said together.
Jackson’s eyes widened. “What? No, Kevin should—”
“Jackson,” Kevin said firmly. “You’re her father just as much as I am. Hold your daughter.”
Jackson took Emma with shaking hands, cradling her so carefully it made my throat tighten. He stared down at her tiny face, undone in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“Hi, Emma,” Jackson whispered. “I’m your… I’m Jackson. And I’m going to love you so much, kiddo. We all are.”
Emma’s tiny hand curled around Jackson’s finger, and he looked up at Kevin and me with tears running down his face.
“Thank you,” he said. “For this. For her. For letting me be part of this family.”
“You don’t have to thank us,” Kevin said, moving to stand beside him. “You’re not part of this family. You’re the reason it exists. You and Emma both.”
I watched the two of them bent over our daughter. The nurse was asking something, Kevin was answering, and Jackson was still holding Emma like he couldn’t believe she was real. The room was noisy and warm and nothing like I’d pictured.
Three hundred and forty-seven dollars was Kevin’s bar tab that night.
Best money either of us ever spent.