“Okay, Everly,” the doctor calls out as she enters the room. “It’s time to push. Are you ready?”
Everly doesn’t answer, she just turns to me with pleading eyes.
“She’s ready,” I tell the doctor as I squeeze Everly’s hand and give her a weak smile. “You’ve got this.”
I never would have thought that I would be standing here, offering my strength to a woman I didn’t know a year ago as she delivers her baby, but here I am.I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Sophie is in active labor for forty-five minutes before her baby arrives. A beautiful little girl with her mama’s black hair. When they clean the baby up and hand her to her mother, I can’t help but smile. Everly has never looked more stunning than at this moment. Her hair is in a messy bun with tendrils hanging around her face, her eyes are tired from exerting herself and she’s covered in a thin layer of sweat, but she’s the most beautiful woman in the world as she smiles down at her little girl.
In that moment, I realize that I’m fucked.
15
EVERLY
I’m exhausted.
I never knew that it was possible to feel so exhausted, but I am. It’s completely worth it, though. I have a beautiful newborn daughter.
Hazel Marie Kincaid was eight pounds, four ounces and nineteen inches long. She has a head full of black hair and has been waking me up every hour since she was born.
Rowan has been an immense help. He held Hazel and helped me eat my food. He’s told me to take a nap if I need to because he can watch over Hazel for me. He hasn’t left the hospital once. He brought a bag of clothes and toiletries of his own and hasn’t left our sides.This man shocks me at every turn.
Sophie and Grayson came up to meet Hazel before they went back to the clubhouse to get some sleep. Levi and Noah are stationed at the entrance of the hospital and the entrance to the labor and delivery floor, but honestly, I feel safe enough with Rowan watching over us.
Rowan snoozes on the uncomfortable couch in the corner of the room, but any time one of the nurses enters the room, he jolts awake. I look over at Hazel in her bassinet between Rowanand I and reach over to grab my phone. I snap a few pictures of the two of them sleeping and then decide to watch some tv.
I must fall asleep, because I wake to the sound of a murmured voice. I crack open an eye and find Rowan holding Hazel as he looks out the window. It’s daylight, so I must have had a few hours of sleep. My heart clenches as I watch him murmur softly to my little girl. He’s a huge man carrying a tiny baby and it’s the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen.
Rowan coos as he walks over to his bag and leans down to dig inside, expertly supporting Hazel’s head as he does. I watch as he pulls out a small, tan, plush rabbit.
“This is for you sweet girl,” Rowan murmurs making tears fill my vision. “I saw it the other day and thought of you. Your first stuffed animal.” He softly tucks the rabbit next to Hazel in his arms. The soft material is a huge contrast to the leather cut he’s wearing. He turns and faces me, a smile crossing his face when he sees I’m awake. “Did you sleep okay?” He asks as he brings Hazel over to me.
I nod my head as I push myself to a sitting position. “I did, thank you for watching her and for the rabbit,” I say with a smile.
“It’s my pleasure,” he says with a wink.
The next few hours fly by. Hazel sleeps a lot, so we have time to take a nap and eat some food. Then my doctor comes in and tells me I’m being discharged and I’m having a minor panic attack because I actually have to leave the hospital and figure out how to parent alone.
I’m not truly alone, though. Rowan asks the prospects to take our bags down and bring up the car seat. He puts Hazel inside and then leads me out of the room as the nurse pushes me in a wheelchair to the exit.
We get loaded into the SUV and pull out of the hospital parking lot. Rowan drives so slowly that I think it’s going to take us an hour to drive the five miles back to the clubhouse.
The parking lot is full of bikes and vehicles, and I look at Rowan with my brows furrowed, but he looks as confused as me. We stop and Rowan helps me from the vehicle before pulling Hazel’s car seat out. I follow him into the clubhouse and almost jump out of my skin when everyone cheers.
Every member of the Silver Springs charter and their close family and friends are here to greet us. Everyone that I’ve come to think of as family. Everyone who has welcomed me so warmly. I don’t even realize that I’m crying until Rowan swipes the tears from under my eyes.
“Welcome home, darlin’,” he murmurs, and that night, I take off my engagement ring and put it away for Hazel to have someday. I don’t need it anymore.
16
ROWAN
One Week Later
So, the clubhouse isn’t really a great place for a baby.
Hazel isn’t the issue, it’s my brothers. They don’t know how to shut the fuck up and Hazel has the best hearing I’ve ever seen. My brothers aren’t exactly quiet, so the combination just doesn’t work.
