Maeve looked around, everyone staring at her expectantly. She relented with a dramatic sigh. “Oh, fine. I guess if no one else is going to use it.”
Wyatt chuckled, rubbing his hand along her arm.
Seb stood behind me, his fingers threading through my hair.
Reid had his hand on Claire’s leg, drawing lazy circles on her bare skin below the cut of her skirt.
Wes… we were going to need to find a lady friend for Wes Winters to spend some time with. I wondered if Maeve had any friends from the high school where she worked who would be interested in a six-foot-six, long-haired, thick-bearded, silent-type guy? Or maybe Scarlett could find him someone after she went back to work at Daisy Days Flower Shop. There had to be a large female clientele who went in there.
Oh no. I was becoming one of those people who found love and forced it onto the (presumably) lonely souls around her. I had heard of that happening, but I always thought it was ridiculous and meddlesome. And now, here I was, trying to plan a meet-cute at a florist for someone who never asked for it.
After a few hours of waiting for word from Luke, I was starting to get antsy. I hadn’t thought to bring my good camera with me when I ran out of the house this morning, but it was amazing what a simple cell phone camera could capture with a couple of settings tweaks.
I started to walk around the waiting room, capturing moments between our close-knit group as everyone waited for the big news to come. Dad and Wyatt were grinning, looking more alike every day. Claire, Wes, and Maeve talked animatedly, Claire’s hands gesturing in front of her, while Maeve had a look of shock, and Wes had one brow lifted in suspicion. Seb and Reid were deep in conversation. Seb was standing with his back against the wall, his muscular biceps pulling at the seams of his shirt as he crossed his arms over his chest, and Reid had an intense look on his face, his hand still placed on Claire’s leg.
I couldn’t believe that I missed out on eleven years of this, yet here I was, fully accepted and integrated into the group like no time had passed at all. Even the newer members,Maeve, Scarlett, and Claire, had become my family. When I was younger, I’d thought I wanted to cut ties and spread my wings. I thought I needed to get out of this suffocating small town life in order to achieve anything that would matter. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Working with Seb, developing relationships with Lisa and Brenda, Lauren and Amy, rebuilding my relationships with my brothers, my nieces… with Sebastian… that was what mattered.
I clicked through the photos I had captured on my phone, smiling to myself at the camaraderie between everyone. I felt Seb come up behind me. He wrapped his arm around me, putting his chin on my shoulder to peek at my phone.
“How are you doing? You seem awfully quiet,” he whispered in my ear.
Placing a soft kiss to his lips, I smiled at him. “I’m perfect. Just thinking about how much family matters and that I might just have the best family there is.”
“You do,” Seb said, getting cut off when the ward doors opened and Luke came out.
Everyone was on their feet in an instant, crowding around the new father.
He passed his phone around with the very first pictures of his brand-new baby boy. “Colton Lucas has arrived. Eight pounds, two ounces. Healthy and, by the sounds of his cries, less than happy to be here,” Luke laughed.
“How’s Scarlett?” I asked.
“Mama is doing great. She was an absolutely rock star in there. You should have seen it,” Luke gushed.
Wyatt nodded emphatically. “It’s incredible, isn’t it. Terrifying, but fucking awesome.”
“Congratulations, Luke.” I hugged my brother tightlyas everyone else joined in with their congratulations and back slaps. I stepped back for others to have their turn, and Seb stepped in. Tears fell from Luke’s eyes as his emotions overcame him, wrapping Seb in a true embrace. Seb whispered something in his ear, and Luke grinned. Maeve bounced on her feet, waiting for her turn, so Seb let go and moved a few steps back toward me.
“What did you say to him?” I asked quietly.
“Just that I’m proud of him, and he’s going to make a great dad.”
I leaned into Seb, throwing my arms around his waist and tilting my head up to him for a kiss. “I’m really glad you two worked things out. I would have hated to come between a twenty-plus-year friendship,” I said. I peppered small, quick kisses on his lips. “I mean, I would have, but I would have hated it.”
Seb laughed, his gaze locking on mine. “I would have blown it all up for you, little wild. But I’m glad I don’t have to too.”
“Lyds, Seb. Do you want to come in and meet your nephew first?” Luke called.
I snapped my head to him, my eyes rounded in disbelief. “What? I can’t go first. Wyatt and Maeve or Reid and Claire should go in before me.”
“Why? Besides, you’re the one Scarlett asked for.”
I might as well have been the Grinch with the way my heart grew three sizes. Seb and I followed Luke past the ward doors and into Labor and Delivery.
Scarlett was talking to a nurse about latching techniques when we walked in, the smallest blue bundle I had ever seen in her arms.
She looked absolutely drained, yet radiant in a new motherglow.
“Scarlett! How are you feeling?” I asked.
