Chapter 36
SAGE
“I can’t believe they’re just gonna let us walk out of here with her. What if we forget how to clean her umbilical cord? What if you can’t get her to nurse? What if—”
“Oh my God, stop,” I say, hiding my smile at Brady’s adorable panic spiral.
“It’s not like we can stay in the hospital forever, we have to go home sometime.
Wouldn’t you rather sleep in your own bed tonight?
Besides, we still have Enid on call, and she’ll be checking on us tomorrow.
Everything will be fine. Parents have been doing this for millennia.
Hey, did you know, Ivy has more bones than us?
Babies are born with almost a hundred extra bones that will fuse together over time. ”
Brady glares at me from the floor, where he’s been crouched in front of the car seat, double and triple checking the straps. Why? I have no idea. But I’ve been busy nursing Ivy and letting him putter around.
“You can’t distract me with random facts right now, little mama. It doesn’t matter what other parents have done, what matters is that we do it right.”
“Brady,” I start gently, “if you think we’re never going to screw up parenting Ivy, then you’re in for a lot of disappointment. I’m pretty sure it’s the law that every parent messes up at least once a month.”
He straightens and immediately holds his lower back as he arches. Yeah, there’s not a chance I’m letting him sleep on the tiny couch they have in here for another night.
“Why do you have to be so logical, it makes me feel like I’m crazy,” he grumbles as he moves to sit on the bed beside me. His finger gently strokes Ivy’s cheek. “You’re the hormonal one, shouldn’t you be freaking out?”
I lift my hand to smack him, careful not to jostle the sleeping baby. “Watch it, Dixon.”
He chuckles, bending over to kiss our daughter and then me. “Yeah, yeah.”
We sit in a peaceful silence, staring down at our precious, beautiful girl. She’s been a dream so far, but it’s only been twenty-four hours.
I wince as something pinches in my stomach. The lingering aches and pains from giving birth should fade over the next few days, and Brady has been so attentive and helpful, I’ve barely had to lift a finger.
A soft knock on the door has our nurse for today coming in with a packet of paperwork.
“Hi, sorry to interrupt, but there’s a few things to go over before we let you go.”
From then on, it’s a whirlwind of changing and feeding Ivy again, getting everything packed up, and getting her settled into the car seat.
Then finally, we’re able to leave. Brady walks beside me, his Thunder baseball cap on backward, the car seat in one hand, and our hospital bag slung over his other shoulder.
Letting anything happen between my legs is the last thing on my mind, but damn, the man is sexy as hell.
I, on the other hand, am a disaster. Waddling in my mesh panties, wearing oversized sweats, and in desperate need of a shower. Yet, when Brady looks over at me, his expression makes it clear he thinks I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
When we get home, Brady fixes me with a stare. “Stay right there, little mama.” He hops out of the car, jogs around to my side, and opens my door before reaching in as if to lift me out.
“I can get out of a car.” I laugh, swatting him away. He huffs, but steps back and just watches as I carefully and slowly climb out. I only wince in pain once. Okay, twice.
“See?” I say, giving him a pert smile.
“You just gave birth yesterday. What’s wrong with wanting to take care of you?” he grumbles good-naturedly.
“Absolutely nothing, but I’m not an invalid. Now come on, let’s take our baby girl inside.”
We make our way up to the apartment, and I push open the door to find pink and purple streamers and balloons everywhere.
Fiona, Blair, and Barrett are standing right in the entryway with big smiles on their faces.
“Surprise!” they say in a quiet cheer.
Brady steps up beside me, and when I look over, his eyes are shining. “What are you two doing here? What about school?”
“It’s not the end of the world if we miss one day, don’t go bro-dad on us. You’re a real dad now,” Blair teases, stepping forward to pull me into a hug. “Besides, did you really think we wouldn’t want to meet our niece immediately?”
Ignoring Brady, she drops into a crouch in front of the car seat he’s still holding. “Oh my God, look at her!”
Barrett’s next, also giving me a gentle hug. “Hey Sage, congrats.”
“Thanks, you two, I’m really happy you’re here to meet her,” I say, feeling my eyes well up.
Fiona takes my arm and leads me away from the three Dixon siblings, who are now cooing over Ivy. “Okay, that’s my cue to get you into the shower so you can have a minute to yourself.”
I meet Brady’s gaze, and he gives me a nod. “I’ve got her, little mama.”
With that, I let my best friend lead me down the hall to my bedroom. I eye the bed longingly, but Fiona laughs and drags me into the bathroom. “Nope, no sleep. Did you or did you not text me at five in the morning today, complaining about how desperately you wanted a shower?”
I wince. “Right. Sorry about that, In my defense, I was sweaty and sticky.”
“And you still are. So get in the shower, missy. Then you can go back out and visit with the twins before I take them to the ferry terminal in a couple of hours.”
I give her a grateful hug. “Thank you, Fi. You’re incredible. For organizing this with the twins, and just, well, everything.”
“Just cementing my place as best auntie ever. Although, I might be generous and share the title with Blair, she’s cool.”
I laugh. “She is. They’re both great.”
Fiona pushes me toward the shower. “I know. Now, shower.”
Twenty glorious minutes later, I walk back out into the living area to see Brady gently bouncing up and down, Ivy cuddled in his arms.
“Oh thank God! We didn’t want to bother you, but Miss Ivy is about to blow,” Blair says dramatically. “She’s starving and so are we, so we ordered some pizza.”
I hurry into the living room and sit down on the couch, pulling a pillow over before gesturing to Brady. He walks over and hands me my infant daughter like he’s transferring a ticking time bomb.
“Sorry, Hurricane, we wanted to give you longer, but I didn’t want her to start really crying, either.”
“It’s fine. Can you pass me one of the thin muslin blankets?”
I drape it over my shoulder, then get Ivy latched on.
“Damn, you’re a pro already,” Fiona remarks, sitting down next to me.
“Not every time,” I say with a shake of my head. “But sometimes.” Looking up at the twins, I give them a smile. “She won’t take too long, and then you can cuddle with her if you want, she tends to fall asleep after feeding.”
Poor Barrett looks terrified by the idea, but Blair drops down on the floor by my feet. “She’s so tiny. Like, so tiny.”
“Yeah, but she’s not breakable,” Brady comments, coming over next to Barrett. He drapes his arm over his brother’s shoulders and continues, “You can hold her. It’s pretty hard to screw that up.” He winks at me.
When Ivy finishes nursing, as I predicted, she’s back asleep. With Brady’s help, I manage to pull up my bra before handing her to Blair, who’s still seated in front of me.
“Here, in case she spits up.” I drape the blanket over her shirt. “Keep her upright a bit. Yeah, like that.”
Blair looks at me, a mixture of horror and wonder on her face. “It’s kind of wild to think she was inside of you yesterday. But also? If she barfs on me, I’m not gonna be happy.” She looks down at Ivy, and then back at me. “I’ll still love her, but I won’t be happy.”
I hide my amusement and nod. “Got it.”
Barrett slides down to sit beside his twin, cautiously reaching a hand out to touch Ivy. “You sure I can’t hurt her if I hold her wrong?”
Brady sits next to him, and the sight of the three siblings in a row warms my heart. “Yeah. Some smart lady told me that we’re definitely going to screw up parenting more than once. But I promise, I’ll help you hold her safely if you want to try.”
Barrett nods, and Blair gingerly hands him my baby girl.
Brady helps adjust her slightly, and from beside me, I catch Fiona with her phone out, snapping some photos of them all.
I lean into her side when she lowers the phone and whisper, “Thank you.” I know we’ll be incredibly grateful to have these moments captured.
She squeezes my thigh in response. “You did good, Sage. Really good.”
All too soon, it’s time for the twins to get going, so they can catch the ferry home to the mainland. Brady offers to drive them, but Fiona insists.
“You need to stay here and have some quiet time, just the three of you.”
Reluctantly, he nods. “Thanks, Fiona.”
I step away to change Ivy’s diaper, and when I come back to the living room, everyone is standing, ready to go.
There’s a round of hugs for everyone, Fiona included, and then the three of them move to leave.
But at the door, Blair stops and whirls back around before throwing her arms around me and squeezing tightly.
“I just realized we’re a family of five again,” she mumbles into my shoulder.
I feel my shirt grow damp and realize she’s crying. “That’s just really cool.”
I hold her tighter and let my own tears fall. “Thank you for letting me be a part of your family. Ivy and I are really lucky.”
She pulls back and glances at her two brothers. Taking a step closer to Brady, who’s holding Ivy, she gives him a shaky smile before leaning in to kiss Ivy’s head.
“Love you five-ever, Ivy.”