Declan knocks on the door frame and pushes us into the room. Wren’s sitting in a chair next to her sister and gives us a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“We’re headed out,” I tell her. “We just wanted to see if you needed anything before we go.”
She shakes her head. “No. We’re okay.”
I look at her sister, who is hooked up to multiple machines and tubes.
“Are you sure there isn’t someone we can call for you?” Declan asks.
Her eyes dim even further, and she turns her head back towards her sister. “No,” she whispers.
Declan and I look at each other, and the worry etched in his brows mirrors mine. Wren is naturally quiet, but this is different. She’s barely said anything to anyone since she arrived. The only reason we know her mother is gone is because Jordan was with her when the doctor told her as much. My parents came by and visited her and told her to take as much time off as she needed. I’ve never seen her this resigned before, though, and if there isn’t anyone else we can call, that means Wren is all alone.
I get to my feet and wrap my uninjured arm around her shoulder, letting her know that I’m here, that she has a support system. It takes her a moment, but she wraps her arms around my waist and then starts to cry. That’s when I know we’re going to have to keep an eye on her. She’s going to have tomake preparations for her mother, and also take care of her sister, when and if she comes out of the coma.
It’s too much for one person to take on, and I refuse to let her do this by herself.
We take care of our own in Daybreak, and Wren is about to find out just hownotalone she really is.
Chapter 36
Penny
‘Ican’t believe you moved here,” I tell Kate as a group of us walk through the San Diego Zoo.
It’s been a month since the shooting, and I’m all healed up. To say the last four weeks have been a whirlwind would be an understatement. I’ve had numerous doctor's appointments for both my shoulder and pregnancy, and we’ve been dealing with the fallout from Brad’s crimes.
“I’m so happy to be near my nieces. I can’t wait to spoil the shit out of them,”Kate says.
After everything that happened, Kate told us she didn’t want to be across the country anymore. She wanted to be near family. She pulled the trigger on moving a few towns over just a couple of weeks ago and decided that she’s going to start her own event planning business here, straying away from the family hotel chain. Her father was extremely supportive of her decision, instantly bragging that both of his children were entrepreneurs in their own right. A far cry from how he used to treat Declan and Kate in their youth, according to them. I call it a win, though. You can’t fault a man who is willing to change, who is evolving into someone better, and that’s exactly what Phillip is doing with his kids.
“Who says this is a girl?” I ask, rubbing my stomach.
“Oh, it’s a girl alright. Trust me. I know these things.” She winks at me.
I’m giving her shit, but my gut says the same thing.
Declan and I decided to wait until the twenty-week mark to find out the gender of our baby, and although I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, I wouldn’t mind watching Declan become a full-blown girl dad.
“How are you doing, baby?” Declan sidles up next to me and wraps his arm around my waist, cradling my now-visible baby bump.
“Are you talking to the bean or me?” I ask with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
“Both,” he says as he plants a chaste kiss on my lips and rubs his hand over the swell of my stomach.
“God, could you two be any sweeter?” Kate asks, her tone laced with mock disgust. “It’s seriously annoying.”
“Just wait until we find you a man,” Jordan tells her.
Kate scoffs. “Oh no no no. I don’t do love.”
I blink a few times at her admission because, what? Kate is one of the most beautiful people on the inside and out, and she doesn’t do love? That doesn’t seem possible.
“Anyways,” Kate continues, “I’m helping my little pink princess with her wedding, but I think you and Declan should do one too. Or at least a vowel renewal. Because I can’t believe you denied my niece the chance to be a flower girl.” She shakes her head and looks at where Autumn is pulling Phillip through a crowd of people, talking animatedly while showing him the lions.
Kate is helping Jordan plan her wedding, which is set for the middle of September. In fact, Lucas and Jordan decided to make it for the one-year anniversary of when they first met at the coffee shop.
Talk about disgustingly sweet.
