“My mother sort of dropped her off.” I’m quick to point to the ceiling in the event there was any confusion about which mother would do such a thing. “Leave it to her to take away the element of surprise.” My shoulders bounce once again. “Surprise! You have a girl.Wehave agirl.”
“You have a daughter?” Laken gasps because, let’s face it, things couldn’t get any more gasp-worthy.
Coop leans into my line of vision. “WithLogan?”
“Well—” Honestly, I’m at a loss for words. The baby struggles to reach Logan’s neck so I carefully place her in her father’sarms.
“Oh God,” he whispers as he takes her from me, stiff at first before he molds his body to hers. His eyes close, and he lands a loving kiss over the top of her head and lingers. “I love you,” he whispers. And those, right there, are the sweetest words Logan Oliver says to his precious little girl in this, the hour of their meeting. It’s all moving so fast, at such dizzying speeds, and yet I demand to record every sweet moment in my memory, etching this portrait of the two of them over my heart like the treasure itis.
“Skyla”—Laken shakes her head—“how? Why? How long? What will happennext?”
“I was sort of hoping you’d have those answers for me. That’s exactly why I hunted youdown.”
“Skyla?” the high-pitched, happy-to-see-me voice of my mother bellows from behind, and I freeze. Not the heavenly body that birthed me, but the far more practical earthly body that rearedme.
I turn slowly, only to find she’s already diving past me and playing with the baby’s chubby littlefeet.
“Oh my God! What a beautiful baby! Look at this face! Why, that’s the face of anangel.”
Tad pops up and grunts at the sight. “Don’t tell me she’s added another one to the collection. See this, Lizbeth? She’s scooping up strays off the street just like I predicted. Well, too bad. There’s no room at the inn. Load up her diaper bag and send the kid packing. We’re at capacity with rugrunts.”
Mom swats him over the shoulder. “Oh, wow. Those eyes! They’re so pale with a blue heart with little freckles in them—and so light and clear, and they’re a sweet water blue. Why, they’retourmaline. But that face! I’ve never seen anything like her. No offense to Misty or Ember, but this one looks like an angel that fell right out of heaven. What’s her name?” She looks to Logan as do the rest ofus.
“Name?” He ticks his head my way before stealing a kiss off her cheek, and I melt all over again. This right here is a moment the two of us should be having in private, not at the Gas Lab—for sure not in front of my gawking baby hungrymother.
“Oh, I just have to hold her.” She’s quick to pry her from Logan’s arms. “My sweet Lord! You are just too precious to live! You must really be heaven-sent.”
The baby giggles up a storm, her voice light and sweet with a trace of the boys’ husky nature, and my heart wrenches because, well, she really was heaven-sent.
“Her name?” Mom nods as if ushering along theconversation.
“Actually—” I’m pretty sure child services will intervene if I don’t come up with a good explanation. I turn slightly and note a man at the counter openly staring in this direction. He’s got a pair of dark sunglasses sitting on the top of his head, and he’s wearing the requisite pressed buttoned-down shirt. Crap. I’ll be damned if he’s taking my baby back to D.C. to poke and prod her with needles. “She’s Laken’s niece. Her name is Angel.” I grimace at my friend who’s suddenly at a loss forwords.
“Right.” She shrugs. “Only my sister Jen is out of town, and well, Skyla and Logan said they’d help me watch her.” Her dark brows point down into a hard V, letting me know she’s more than unhappy to be dragged intothis.
“Angel.” My mother bounces the happy little babe in her arms. “It sure is fitting. If you ever need a sitter, I’d be thrilled to lend a helpinghand.”
“That would be great.” Laken nods, scooping up her bag while Tad scoffs himself into an early grave. “Because I just so happen to be on my way to my last final.” She offers me a quick hug. “God help you, Skyla, because I sure can’t,” she whispers, pulling back. “I’ll callyou.”
“Great.” I wave as she and a hesitant Coop head for thedoor.
Tad squawks like a bird who just had its beak chopped off. “See that? They just stuck you with the kid! Dump the little river rat, Lizbeth, before these two take off aswell!”
Logan reaches over and takes our little angel back into his arms. “That won’t happen on mywatch.”
“Oh”—Mom clasps onto my wrist—“just so you know, we’ll be back in the house tonight. It’s all wrapped up. Not a living thing survived. I was assured those pumps released enough toxins to destroy the nervous system of every living creature within those walls. Feel free to come home tonight with the boys. Demetri sent a crew to wash every bit of clothing and bedding. Can you imagine? He’s instructed them to scrub the carpets and dry clean the drapes. He’s such agentleman.”
“That’s because he’s relatively sane and understands the fact that nerve gas and infants don’t mesh well together. I’ll be at Whitehorse at least another night.” Ortwelve.
The baby bounces against Logan’s chest, her beautiful eyes still latched onto my mother’s. “Mee-Maw!”
“Oh my God!” Mom staggers backward as if someone just pumped a bullet into her chest. “It’s like she knows who Iam!”
“That’s it.” Tad yanks my mother clear across the restaurant until they come upon an empty table. “No job and no home equals no more stealing other people’sbabies!”
Mom turns around and mouths, “I loveher!”
“Great.” I lean against Logan, and the baby tries her best to rip my lips right off my face. Her happy limbs all twitch with glee at once. She’s so happy it’s infectious, and I can’t help but smile. “I’m sorry,Logan.”
