"Oh, my God, Kinsley."
I couldn't stop stroking his little round cheek. "I know."
Burke ran his hand over the inky black tufts of hair, so much like his own. "I don't even have the words to describe how I feel."
"He's everything."
"Yes, he is."
Feeling Burke shift, I saw at the last minute that he was moving in and lifted my face to his. He kissed me tenderly, framing my face in his hands. Our gazes met, and there was a deep tenderness in his expression.
A few tears slipped from my eyes, and he wiped them away. "You were amazing. Thank you so much for giving my son to me."
The nurse approached the bed. "We'll need to take him for just a few minutes, Mom."
"Oh, do you have to?"
She smiled. "Yes, but we'll be quick."
I fell back on the pillows, exhausted, wrung out, and still crying.
"Do you need anything?" Burke asked, and I shook my head.
"Nothing but Finn."
"Yeah."
We watched the nurses doing their thing and, finally, one of them brought him back swaddled in a blanket. "Here you go."
I held my arms out, already missing the feel of his weight in them.
Finn blinked open shocking blue eyes, and I couldn't help noticing they were exactly like his father's.
"He looks like me," Burke said in awe.
"He does, doesn't he?"
A not so small part of me was happy he looked like Burke and not me. Carson might have convinced others the baby wasn't Burke's, but there was no denying it. It only took one look at him to know the truth.
"I want to tell the whole wide world about him, but I also want to sit here and stare at him all day."
"Oh, God, do you want to hold him? I've hogged him."
Without hesitation, Burke took Finn in his arms and sat in the chair by the bed. I pushed myself up to watch them; Finn made a snuffling noise, and Burke gazed down at him.
"Is breá liom tú níos mó ná mo shaol féin, little man. I couldn't wait to meet you, and now here you are."
Though I didn’t understand the words, his tone was tender. I didn't think my tears had really stopped, but they came fresh and hard after that. There were two different sides to Burke, and the one he'd shown me all day was the man I loved so much it hurt.
19
Kinsley
Burke remained by my side in the hospital, not leaving even once. It embarrassed me to have him in the room when the nurse went over the instructions for the mesh underwear and the pad as thick as my leg, but he stayed. With his help, I washed my face and brushed my hair before anyone came in to meet Finn.
Daisy and Wyatt came first, quickly followed by Maddie and Caden. Burke told them that was enough visitors and instructed the four of them to wash their hands before touching the baby. His strict orders made me smile.
"How are you feeling?" Maddie asked.
