He sighed, and I reached for his hand, tracing my fingers over his knuckles. “Look at me.”
He hesitated, but when he did, I squeezed his hand.
“Of course it’s nice not to have to worry about money,” I admitted. “But that life came with a price. And I don’t want to pay it anymore. I’d rather have a smaller house, a smaller budget, and a bigger peace of mind. I didn’t even realize how much trauma I was carrying. It was like a warzone in my head, and now… it’s like I finally won.”
A ghost of a smile flickered across his face. He squeezed my hand back. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Before I could say anything else, the hospital doors burst open.
“Holy shit!” Colt’s voice boomed through the waiting room. His hair was a mess, his expression wild. “Doc said the baby is crowning. She’s about to push. Oh my God, Chloe is about to be here. Holy shit.”
A loud scream echoed from the hallway behind him. Colt’s eyes widened in horror.
“I never thought a vagina could get that big. I mean, I don’t know how the hell Abigail is doing this right now because she has a tight?—”
“Colt!” Abigail’s voice, hoarse but full of rage, cut through the air.
Colt winced. “Right. Yeah. Okay.” Then he grinned, pure excitement lighting up his face. “It’s go time, baby.”
And with that, he turned and sprinted back inside, ready to meet his daughter.
“Hi, Chloe. I’m Auntie Mel.”
I gazed down at the impossibly tiny human in my arms, my breath catching in my throat. Her delicate fingers curled into a soft fist, her pink lips parted slightly as she slept, completely oblivious to the world around her. I had never been so utterly captivated by a person before. She was innocent, perfect—a miracle wrapped in a warm hospital blanket. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I swallowed hard, trying to process the overwhelming wave of emotion washing over me. This little girl had only been on thisearth for a few minutes, and already, she had stolen a piece of my heart.
“They announced her birth at 1:10 a.m.,” I murmured, brushing a finger along her tiny cheek.
“February nineteenth, instead of the eighteenth,” Abigail says in a sluggish tone.
“Abigail couldn’t be happier,” Colt said, sitting beside his wife. He held her hand in both of his, brushing damp hair strands from her forehead. Abigail looked exhausted—her eyes drooping, her body drained—but she glowed with something deeper than mere happiness. A mother’s love. A newfound purpose.
Nick hovered behind me, peering over my shoulder. “Good job, guys,” he said, his voice softer than usual. “She really is beautiful.”
Colt smirked, his signature cocky attitude never far from reach. “You know you can’t go wrong with the Killian genes.”
Abigail let out a weak laugh, squeezing his hand. “I’m just so happy she’s a Pisces,” she mumbled, still groggy from the epidural. “I was worried about her being an Aquarius. Air signs and water signs don’t always mix well, and I really want us to be best friends.”
I shook my head, biting back a smile. Of course, even after giving birth, Abigail was still obsessing over zodiac signs.
Colt raised an eyebrow. “You married an Aquarius.”
Abigail patted his hand as if he were a child. “I know, baby. But you’re special. There’s no zodiac sign that fits you.”
Colt’s eyes softened as he looked at her, and in that moment, I saw it—the kind of love that people spend their whole lives searching for. The kind that didn’t need grand gestures or poetic words. It was in the way he touched her, the way he looked at her, as if she were his whole world.
I shifted, suddenly aware of the weight in my own chest. As much as the idea of motherhood scared me, the fear was starting to feel… smaller. Less consuming.
I turned to Nick and whispered, “We should probably go. Let them get some rest.”
But before I could move, he spoke. “Can I hold her?”
I froze.
Something about the way he asked—hesitant, almost reverent—made my heart ache in the best way.
Colt grinned. “Of course. Just make sure you support her head—newborns can’t hold their heads up at all. And you should probably sit down. You don’t wanna?—”
Nick shot him a glare. “I’m not going to drop her.”
