It’s a small concession, but I nod back, letting him know that whatever temporary truce this is, I’m grateful for it. Imake my way over to where Sarah is standing. She looks up and meets my gaze. “You want to hold her?”
“I don’t—I don’t know how.”
Sarah chuckles. “You’ll be fine. Here.” She tilts her head toward a wide bench that runs underneath the window. “Sit. That’ll make it easier.”
I do as she says, then she very gently lowers the bundled baby into my waiting arms.
Fiona is asleep, swaddled so tightly, the only part of her I can see is her tiny little face. She isn’t much bigger than a football, but holding her isnothinglike holding a football. She’s warm and malleable, a living, breathing thing, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed with the thought of having to keep something this tiny alive.
Maybe I’m not ready to be a dad after all.
“She’s so small,” I say, and Sarah drops down beside me, tucking one leg under her as her arm rests on my shoulder. She leans close so she can look at Fiona, and I breathe in her familiar scent.
“Look!” Sarah whispers softly. “She’s opening her eyes.”
I shift my gaze back to Fiona’s face and sure enough, she’s looking up at me with wide, brown eyes that remind me of Sarah.
“She’s got your eyes,” I say.
“She’s gotMiles’seyes.”
“They’re your eyes, too,” I say. “Besides, she’s already prettier than Miles is ever going to be.”
Fiona starts to fuss a few minutes later, and Sarah takes her back to Anna. I notice Miles watching me, the temporary compassion I saw in his eyes when I first came in already replaced with the stony glare I’ve come to expect.
“Hey, congrats, man,” I say, stepping close enough to offerhim a handshake. For a long moment, he doesn’t take it, and I almost pull my hand back. But I don’t do it. He doesn’t have to shake my hand, but I won’t make it easy on him.
Finally, he grunts and takes my hand. “Thanks,” he says, gripping my hand so tightly it takes a concerted effort not to react. I don’t know what he’s trying to prove, but it triggers my ire, and when I step back to Sarah’s side, I look pointedly at Miles, then I lift my hands to his sister’s face and kiss her right on the mouth.
“You ready?” I ask.
Her eyes are wide, slightly stunned. “Yeah,” she says slowly.
I reach down and take her hand, eyes on Miles the entire time Sarah is making plans to relieve the babysitter and be with Poppy and Olive tomorrow. Then we say our goodbyes and head out to my truck.
“I just realized we left your car at the gallery,” I say once we’re pulling out of the hospital parking garage.
“We can pick it up tomorrow,” she says through a yawn. Then she looks over at me. “Do you want to tell me what that was about? Right before we left?”
I glance over at her, suddenly feeling a little sheepish. “The kiss?”
She nods. “And all the glaring.”
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” she says. “You never do. I just wasn’t sure what triggered it. Was it Miles?”
I nod. “I’m getting really tired of him looking at me like I’m doing something wrong.”
She grimaces. “I was wondering if you’d noticed anything different. Was it bad in the hospital room? I didn’t notice.”
“Not at first,” I say. “But then…” I’m not sure I want to tell her the details of everything that went down. I’m not sure she noticed, since she was talking to Anna, but I’m not entirely proud of how I acted. Miles was in the wrong first, but I probably didn’t have to intentionally provoke him. “It wasn’t great,” I say.
“Is it messing with the team dynamic?” Sarah asks.
“Not yet. But the other guys are starting to notice something is up. Any idea why he’s upset? Or…annoyed? I don’t even know what he is. I just know he only glares at me now.”
She’s quiet for a long moment before she says, “Idoknow why Miles is mad. But I don’t want to say it out loud because it’s going to make you hate him.”
