“Jacob?”
Now it’s Maddox’s turn to cry, which I expected. My man is not afraid to show his emotion. “I know I wasn’t a fan of juniors, or two-point-ohs, but maybe one day it will become a family name that he can pass down.”
“Fuck I love you,” he says, taking his fingers to my chin and bringing me in for a kiss. “But can we take him home before you think about marrying him off? We have a lot of years left with this guy.”
“Absolutely.”
“It’s my turn to hold him!”
Beau turns away from Shelby, covering Ace’s head like he’s shielding him from an attack. “You’ve had plenty of time. And I’m his blood, remember?”
“How could I forget. You only remind us every day!”
“Because it’s true,” he looks down at Ace, his face gentler than the looks he was giving Shelby. “Don’t listen to mean Aunt Shelby. Whatever she tells you about me is a lie.”
Shelby starts to fire back some sort of insult before she, and this fight, are gladly interrupted.
“Actually, I’m going to take him.” Phyllis walks right between Beau and Shelby and takes Ace out of his arms. “He needs time with his great auntie Phyllis. And you two need to go bang it out.”
“Phyllis!” Shelby cries out. “How could you say that? You know I hate him, right?”
“There’s a thin line,” Kitty says as she sits next to Phyllis and Ace. “And you two are walking a damn tight rope.”
Beau and Shelby share a look before each turning on their heels, storming off in separate directions of the bakery. Beau charges back to the kitchen. Unfortunately for Shelby, she doesn’t have very far to go, but instead of admitting defeat, she decides to walk out of the bakery.
She’ll be back. I think. I hope. We made her favorite dessert—carrot cake—and we haven’t even cut into it yet.
“Thank you for inviting us,” Kitty says as I step behind her, because apparently, I’m incapable of being out of reach of my child for more than five minutes. “We already love this little guy.”
“He’s easy to love. And like I could have a baby welcome party without you two.”
“You really couldn’t,” Phyllis says. “Oh! And let us know when you’re going to be back to work. We have booties for him.”
“You two already got us gifts. You didn’t need to do that.”
“We would’ve brought them today, but they aren’t ready.”
I’m confused. “What do you mean they aren’t ready?”
“It’s a hundred pairs of booties,” Kitty says. “Oh! And some blankets.”
I had to have heard them wrong. “A hundred?”
“We asked the girls at the assisted living facility to start knitting. They got a little carried away. The last sewing meeting is next week to finish them all up.”
I laugh because that’s too sweet. But also, what the hell am I going to do with all of those? “Thank you. I’ll make sure we send you guys back with treats for everyone.”
“See! I told you!” Phyllis says as she smacks Kitty’s arm. “She didn’t believe me that I thought we could work on trade. Booties for bear claws.”
“Now that sounds like something I can get behind,” Maddox says as he steps behind me, wrapping his arms around my midsection. “I hate to interrupt, but the little guy is being requested. Asher’s daughter really wants to hold him.”
“Oh absolutely,” Phyllis says as she gives Ace to Maddox. “Now, let’s talk about this trade deal.”
“Never mind her,” Kitty says. “You go enjoy your party. And thank you again for inviting us.”
I give each of them a hug before stepping back and looking around my bakery, and inside it is every single person I love.
Mom and Dad flew to Nashville the day after Ace was born and were able to come back now three weeks later for the official welcome party for Ace Jacob Gallagher. Maddox’s mom, sister, and niece were also able to fly down from Iowa, and even Hannah got away for a day to be here. I believe her words were: “The kids and husband can fend for themselves. I need to meet my nephew.”
