“We have a girl,” he adds.
“We do.” I squeeze his hand.
“We made a human.”
“I know. Isn’t it amazing?”
“I’ve never been more scared in my entire life, and that’s saying something because I’ve been through some crazy shit,” he whispers.
I chuckle as I look at the totally rattled hulk of a man. “It’ll be fine.”
“Someone’s going to hurt her someday, and I’m going to have to murder him and thenspend the rest of my life in jail. You’ll be alone. She’ll be alone. I’ll miss everything.”
“Baby.” I can’t hide my smile. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Men are shitheads. It’ll happen.” He reaches for the baby, and I give her over willingly. “Hey, baby girl.”
I thought my husband was sexy before, but nothing beats seeing him holding our child. She’s a tiny thing, but she looks like a peanut in his arms.
He palms her head, laying her body down the inside of his arm. “We need to talk, kid,” he says, looking so damn serious. “I’m your daddy, and I’m the one who’s going to protect you from the world.”
“Don’t scare her already.”
“She needs to be prepared.”
“She’s an hour old.”
“No time like the present.”
I drop my head back onto the pillow and smile. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”
“You’re learning,” he says to me before he gives his undivided attention back to our new baby. “Now, where was I?” He sits on the edge of the bed, resting one hand on my leg while he holds our little girl. “I want you to be a book girl. You’re going to stay home and read instead of going out with boys.”
“Baby,” I say, shaking my head. “You can’t tell her that. It doesn’t work that way.”
“It will.” He looks so sure of himself. He is in for aworld of hurt, but it is something he’ll have to find out on his own.
If our daughter is anything like me or Zoey, he is going to have a very stressful few decades.
“I’ll build you a library.”
“Stop it, Oliver. I want her to have so many friends.”
“Only girls.”
“All kids.”
“No,” he says, his gaze moving to me for a moment. “Boys are off-limits until she’s thirty.”
“Ridiculous,” I mutter. “You’re going to be a problem.”
“Daddy’s not the problem. Other boys are.”
I roll my eyes. “She’ll have to kiss a few frogs to find her prince.”
“No. No frogs for you.”
“This should be fun.”
