Royal didn’t stiffen at the wordfamilieslike he once had. Maybe Franny wasn’t his family, but he liked where they were going. And luckily, in the moment, he could focus more on other people’s babies than his own stuff.
Zeke led them down a hall and into a room. Royal immediately crossed to his sister sitting in the hospital bed, a little bundle wrapped in her arms.
Everything that had been stacked against them from the start didn’t matter now. She’d brought life into this world. His sister was a mother, and he knew she’d be the best one in the world.
Brooke smiled at him, tears in her eyes. “Well, hello, Uncle Royal.”
“Heya, Chick.” He pressed an uncharacteristic kiss to her forehead, relieved she looked happy and whole. He peered down at the little baby and its—his—red and scrunched-up face.
“Royal.”
He looked back at Franny’s tight voice. She was looking at some little card on the bassinet thingy. He squinted at the card.It readIt’s A Boy, and then underneath had all the pertinent details written out.
Like name. “Campbell Royal Daniels.” He looked back at his sister, emotion clogging his throat. “Hell, Chick. What did you do that for?”
“Because our names mean something. Something good now. Because we fought for it. And I hope he never has to fight foranything,” she said, looking down at the tiny baby in her arms. “But if he does, he’ll have some fine examples.” She smiled up at him, tears glimmering in her eyes. “Now sit down so you can hold him.”
“I told you she’d make me,” Royal muttered to Franny as they moved over to a little bench under the window. He was unsteady, unmoored and so…damn happy.
Yeah, their names meant something now. Something good. Something brave.
Zeke brought the bundle over and Franny instructed Royal how to hold his arms. The baby was so tiny. A little fluff of nothing. And yet the biggest, brightest thing in the world. His little nephew.
“Oh, Brooke, isn’t he just the handsomest little thing?” Franny said, running a finger along one of the little wrinkles on his forehead.
“Yes,” Brooke said emphatically.
They stayed a little while. Royal was happy to hand the baby back to Brooke. He was determined to be a damn good uncle and involved as hell, but…maybe a little less hands on until the baby firmed up a little bit.
He walked out of the hospital hand in hand with Franny. “Thanks for coming with me. The moral support was appreciated. But now you have to be there every time I’m forced to hold him before he gets old enough for that not to be terrifying.”
She smiled at him. “Anytime.”
They reached his car, but he didn’t let her go. In the fading autumn light, he kept her hand in his. She looked up at him quizzically.
There were better ways to do it, to say it, but it was this moment that gave him the courage he’d been lacking for a while now. That his sister had built a family. That he’d…come to this moment. Where he had a life and some peace and too much good to deserve.
But that just meant he had to take it. “Franny, I love you.”
She looked up at him, didn’t say anything right away. Sometimes he thought he knew exactly what was going on in her head, and sometimes he didn’t have a clue.
As the silence stretched out, he didn’t have a damn clue. Especially when a little nervous flutter started up in his chest.
“Well?” he finally demanded, because what the hell? Why had he done this in a hospital parking lot? He should have planned it out. He should have… Made sure she was going to say somethingback.
But she just stared at him. “Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
She inhaled, then slowly let the breath out, still staring at him with all that vibrant green. “I was trying to think of…the right thing to say.”
“It’s pretty damn simple, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and no.” She reached up, put her hands on his cheeks, like she was about to let him down gently, and he didn’t know what the hell to do withthat.
Well, he’d… He’d figure out a way to fix it. He could be patient. Maybe she wasn’t ready yet, and that was okay. It would be okay. He’dmakeit okay.
“You are my hero,” she said very seriously.
