"Deal."
Epilogue
Alicia
Two Weeks Later
Dom's hand tightens around mine as he drags me through the hallways of the hospital, rounding corners so fast I almost skid across the squeaky clean floor as we hurriedly make our way to the waiting room.
He bursts through the double doors, pulling me along with him, and everyone's eyes rise to meet ours.
Michael and Louise are sitting together, wrapped in each other's arms with Jess at their side.
Rory and Jaylen are behind them in a second row of plastic chairs, worried expressions painted across their faces.
My eyes dart over to Leo, who's standing in the back corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest, brows drawn low.
Dom moves towards the seat beside Jess, tugging me along with him, and pulling me down onto his lap as he sits in the uncomfortable looking chair.
"Any news yet?" he asks, eyes darting around to everyone in the room as they all shake their heads.
Sighing, I wrap my arm around his shoulders, pulling his head against my chest.
"She's going to be fine, Dom."
Minutes pass, every second feeling like hours as we sit in silence. We glance at the clock, getting ready to stand every time a nurse walks through the doors, only to settle back into our chairs when they continue walking past us.
Finally, after who knows how long, Kaleb bursts into the waiting room and we all stand up, eagerly staring at him, waiting for him to speak.
A smile splits across his face, and he claps his hands together in front of him.
"It's a girl," he announces.
Cheers break out across the room, Jaylen's being the loudest as he moves towards Kaleb, clapping him on the back.
"How's Sophia?" Louise asks as she wraps her arms around Kaleb's frame. "Is she okay?"
He nods, the smile never dropping from his face.
"She's perfect. Tired, but beyond happy, and she's waiting to see everyone."
We all follow after him as he leads us through a set of double doors into the labour ward. Walking to the end, he pauses outside the door.
"Before you enter, you all need to scrub your hands with some sanitiser," he says, gesturing towards the dispenser on the wall.
Each of us squirts sanitiser into our hands before piling into the room, where Sophia is lying in bed with a pink blanket covering the small squirming bundle in her arms.
She glances up at us all, lazily smiling, before her loving gaze immediately moves back to her new-born daughter.
Kaleb moves to her side, stroking his hand over her head, dipping down to press a kiss against her cheek.
Her parents move to her side, giving her a loose hug and peering down at the baby in her arms, asking how they both are and if she's decided on a name yet.
Hushed conversation from behind me has me peering over my shoulder, and I see Leo lead Rory out of the room and back into the hallway.
Directing my attention back to Sophia, she nods her head, teary eyes meeting her mother's.
"We've named her Hayley Valentina King."
