Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
I’m gonna make her love me as much as I love her.
Thirteen
Baylor
* * *
My knee is bouncing, and it’s annoying me, so I know it has to be annoying everyone else. However, when I glance around the hospital waiting room, no one seems to be paying me any attention.
The room is packed with me, my two younger sisters, Copeland’s mom, Mary, his brother, Chandler, his wife, Macie, and Kinzie, Macklin, Bowen, and Dixon. We’re all awaiting the arrival of my niece… well, our niece. The guys might not be related to any of us by blood, but Bowen, Dixon, and Macklin are going to love that little girl just as if it were their blood in her veins.
Our grandparents aren’t here, but they’re sitting by the phone, waiting for a call. Gramps wasn’t feeling well, and Ellison insisted that they stay home. Besides, they’re getting up there in age, and these hospital chairs are not comfortable at all. They don’t need to sit in them for hours, as we have been.
It’s Thursday, early morning, a little after 4:00 a.m. We’ve been here since about ten last night, and none of us are willing to leave, not until we know Ellison and baby girl are okay.
“Here.” Macklin hands me a cup of coffee from the vending machine, then takes the seat next to me with his own cup.
“Is that as bad as I imagine it to be?” Dixon asks, covering a yawn.
“Pretty much,” Macklin and I reply at the same time. I turn to glance at him, and he smiles, as if he knows what I’m thinking. How are we already finishing each other’s sentences?
It’s been nine days since we slept together, and we haven’t talked about it. There has been no more sex, unfortunately, but he did kiss me two days ago in the stables. I was brushing the horses when he got there, and he stalked over to me, kissed me hello, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, as if he did it every day, and went on about his day. He’s asked me to dinner twice since that day I begged him to ravish me in the stables, and I’ve been too busy making sure I know where Ellison is with everything to take over while she’s on leave.
While I can just call her and ask, I want her to enjoy these few weeks off with the baby and not have to worry about the inn or the estate at all. She deserves this bonding time with her daughter.
“That’s going to take some getting used to,” Bowen says, pointing at us.
“What? Seeing me with my girl?” Macklin asks, and I don’t have to look at him to hear the smirk in his voice.
“Oh, is she yours now?” Dixon asks him.
“Working on it,” Macklin tells him.
“What can we do to help?” Courtlynn asks.
“Stay out of it, brat,” Bowen tells her. His voice is calm, and there’s no heat behind his words. It’s just their normal sparring.
Before Courtlynn can bite back, Copeland steps into the waiting room. His smile could light up the entire county, and the tears coating his cheeks warm my heart. Immediately, emotion clogs my throat.
“She’s here,” he says, clearing his throat. “Momma and baby girl are both perfect,” he says, as his mom rushes him, pulling him into a hug. Mary battled breast cancer last year and beat it like the warrior she is.
Copeland’s brother and his wife are next, then my sisters, and the guys all rush to him, taking their turns. Finally, it’s just me and Macklin left. Tears well in my eyes, and I can’t fight them. Copeland wraps his arms around me in a hug.
“Congrats, Daddy,” I croak. When he releases me, it’s Macklin’s arms that take over, while he leans in and gives one of his best friends a one-armed hug, leaving the other around me, making sure that I know he’s here.
“Congrats, brother,” Macklin tells him.
“We’re allowed two visitors at a time. Ells is exhausted, but she’s insistent that she sees each of you. However, we need to make this quick. There are a lot of us, and my wife needs to rest. There will be more time for visiting once she’s gotten some sleep.” He swallows hard, wiping at his eyes, fighting off more tears. “She was incredible. Just… incredible,” he says, at a loss for words.
“Mary, you go first,” Leighton speaks up.
“Oh.” Mary smiles. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, you go, and Kinzie can go with you. Chandler and Macie can go, me and Courtlynn, Bowen and Dixon, and then Baylor and Macklin.”
“Sounds like the perfect plan,” Courtlynn says, wiping at her eyes.
“Come on, let’s go meet your granddaughter and your niece,” Copeland tells them. Kinzie is not blood-related, but as I said, we’re all family here.