“Which will take you no more than a day if you’re thinking of your time recording and file management,” Jackson, who Payton had said was the second oldest and the managing partner, said.
Before she could argue back the door opened and Marie and Grant came in with a nurse who was smiling. “Is everybody here?” the nurse said.
I looked at Payton and mouthed to her to ask if I should go. She shook her head.
“Mother and baby are doing well. There were no complications and everything went as well as we could’ve hoped. I believe Dad will be out soon to let you know the name.”
“Do I have a niece or a nephew?” Payton said and I wondered if she was about to pin the nurse down until he told her.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Dad asked me not to say. He said you deserved to wait a bit longer after he had to put up with your sister’s verbal aggression. Those are his words.”
“Joy. Freaking joy,” Payton said. “Killian used to be so pleasant until he ended up with Claire.”
“Seph, have you got the spreadsheet with the guesses for weight and gender?” Jackson said. “Owen, care to join in the bet?”
Seph pulled out his phone. “It’s unfair if you don’t know that Killian is as tall as you and all males in our family were over nine pounds.”
“Apart from you,” Max said. “Because you were born needing to catch up.”
“Fuck off, Max. I was big for a twin.”
“Yeah, you always did try to get my share of the food,” Payton said.
“Because he had to work extra hard to catch up,” Max added, his girlfriend still in his arms.
“I’d respond but we’ve company. Want to have a guess, Owen? It’s a straightforward twenty,” Seph said, glancing at his phone.
I dug out my wallet and passed him a note. “Eight pounds five and a girl,” I said.
“Done.” Seph pocketed the cash. There was no resemblance between him and Payton apart from the eyes.
It was another five minutes of arguing and debating about names and weights before a fair-haired man walked in, blocking the doorway until everyone noticed him. A loud cheer broke out and I figured this was the baby’s father. Hugs and handshakes and slaps on the back happened, and he hugged me without blinking twice.
“Well?” Marie said. “Do I have a granddaughter or a grandson?”
There was a laugh, almost of disbelief. “You have a granddaughter. The rest of you have a niece.” His words sounded choked. “Both she and Claire are doing amazing—both are fine. The doctors did what they needed to in time.”
“Does she have a name?” Marie asked. Everyone else looked shocked. I put a hand on Payton’s back, noticing she’d lost colour.
“Elizabeth Rose,” he said. “And I know about the bet. She weighed eight pounds three and if Seph’s won it, Claire’s demanding it be spent on a bottle of Champagne.”
There was more noise, except from Payton who was still quiet.
“Not me,” Seph said. “We shouldn’t have asked Owen to join in. He was the closest with the right gender. Well done.” He dug in his wallet and handed a wad of notes over to me.
I shook my head. “Use it for wetting the baby’s head. Are you the best person to keep hold of it though?” There was a laugh from the room, including Payton which made me feel stupidly proud.
There was more noise in the room, most of it from Marie who was asking Killian multiple questions and Ava who was chirping in. Payton was still quiet. “You want to get some air then come back when it’s your turn to see your niece?”
Large blue eyes fixed onto mine. “That’d be great. You sure you don’t mind? I can get a lift back from one of my brothers—you don’t need to hang around.”
“I don’t need to get back soon,” I said, following her out of the waiting room. “There are no gigs tonight and I haven’t had any messages about staffing crises so I’m good for a few more hours, but I don’t want to be in the way.”
She laughed and shook her head. “My family are used to having people around other than us. My niece will have a photo of you holding her in her baby photo album by the end of the day. I think Marie brought a polaroid camera and there’s no way you’ll get out of that.”
“Is your family obsessed with photos?”
We headed outdoors into the rain that was now falling, fine drops rather than a chuck-it-down. We’d left our coats in the waiting room, but although it was wet and April, it wasn’t cold. “My mum is. Callum too.”
