Then she woke up, and that went to hell.
How the hell did she turn into a single mom between then and now?
Finn gently sets the gray baby carrier on the floor, and I watch as Ashton bends down and unbuckles a baby girl, whispering quiet words as the tiny thing startles. She lifts her out awkwardly, like she’s never held a kid before, and by the time she straightens, the baby wailing in her arms, Ashton looks like she’s ready to cry too.
“You guys remember Ashton?”Finn asks, but his eyes are shooting fucking daggers at me like he has to protect this girl,who’s clearly on the verge of a breakdown, and I’m the one he’s protecting her from.
“Hey, Ashton,”Ryker says and signs as Gus makes it to the room and sniffs a circle around Ashton before flopping at Finn’s feet.
The baby cries louder, and I move closer to this woman I now know might put up an icy front but melts the minute she lets herself relax. “And who’s the pissed-off princess?” I ask, smiling. She reminds me immediately of Rosie. That kid cried whenever one of us would put her down. As a baby, she wanted all the attention all the time. This one just looks like she wants someone who has a clue how to hold her. I reach for her, but Ashton takes a step back, forcing me to reconsider my stance. “Can I?”
“Can you what?” Ashton snaps, and Finn groans.
“Do you think the two of you could try to play nice?” He looks from Ashton to me. “Her name is Kyrie.”
“Kyrie?” I question, wanting to know what’s changed since this morning but unable to ask.
“Yes, Kir-ree,” she sounds it out for me. “Like Valkyrie,” Ashton answers as if reading my mind. “She’s my sister.” Her eyes soften, and she nibbles her lip, I’m pretty sure begging me not to say anything about last night.
No problem there. I don’t need Finn taking a scalpel to my balls while I sleep because I ruined his perfect little best friend. “My mom was in an accident.” She angles herself so Ryker can read her lips since her hands are occupied, and my respect for this woman who has spent barely any time in this town in ten years grows. Even with whatever fucked up family shit she’s been dealt today, she’s still aware of the people in the room and their needs. Maybe she’s not always a brat. “She’s been arrested and is being detained. Kyrie needed someone to take care of her, and I’m her only family.”
Kyrie’s cries grow more shrill by the minute, and I slowly reach for her again, giving Ashton plenty of time to say no. “I’m pretty good with babies. Can I try?”
Ashton drags her teeth over her bottom lip, debating, before finally giving in and nodding her head.
And like an old habit you never forget, I scoop the tiny baby out of her big sister’s arms and turn her against my chest. My palm covers her entire back as I sway. “Hello, princess,” I coo softly as big blue eyes blink up at me, giant tears tracking down her cheeks as her stuttered breathing begins to slow. “That’s better, baby girl. I’ve got you.”
When your best friend has a kid right out of college, you learn about babies pretty fast. Most twenty-two-year-olds wouldn’t embrace fatherhood the way Mav did, but he jumped in with both feet, which meant as his best friend, so did I.
“What. The. Hell?” Ashton whispers, and I preen like the fucking peacock Maverick likes to bust my balls about being.
Kyrie’s cries stop altogether, and her little Kewpie doll lips purse like she’s deep in thought.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Finn laughs. “Jamie’s the baby whisperer.”
“Did they give you a binky?” I ask Ashton, and she just stares back at me blankly, like she’s hit her breaking point.
“A what?”
I look around for the rest of Kyrie’s stuff but come up blank. It looks like it’s the baby carrier and the two bags Ashton had with her this morning. That’s it. “A pacifier...”
“Maybe,” she murmurs and looks at the bags on the floor. “There’s a diaper bag they sent with us. I must have...” She turns toward the door. “I must have left it in the car.”
“I’ll get it,” Finn tells her. “Why don’t you go sit down, and we’ll figure out the next steps.” He walks back through the front door, and Ashton looks up at me, blinking like her sister just did.
“How did you do that?” she whispers, lifting a hand to stroke Kyrie’s back but stopping before she can touch her. “She’s cried all day.”
I shrug. “Babies like me.”
“Babies sense fear and stress and anger. They’re like little ticking time bombs, waiting for anything to upset their happy little bubble,”Ryker adds.“Live with one long enough, and you’ll get used to it.”
I drag my finger over Kyrie’s round face and smile when she wrinkles her nose. “Ryker and I lived with Mav when his daughter Rosie was little. We’re pretty good with babies and toddlers.”
“I’m sorry to be bothering you with this.” She shakes her head in disbelief, and I can’t help but think this woman has no idea what she’s in for. “They just... gave her to me, and I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Finn offered this?—”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to, Ace.”
Her cheeks flush the prettiest shade of pink, and I remember exactly what we were doing the last time that happened.Fuck.
