“Yeah. Of Mia. I mean, if you have pictures of something else you want to show me, I’m all eyes. But I would like to see your daughter.”
I chuckle. “Yes. I have some.”
I pull out my phone. “How are we doing this? Is it anI want to see a current photosituation? Or do you want the tour of her life in picture form, because I’m going to warn you, I love my daughter and I could talk about her forever.”
“Do I look like I’m going anywhere?” Dustin asks, waving his hand around the room. “Unless the alarm rings, I’m here. Give me the tour.”
He takes a seat at the table—the same one I sat in when Greyson and I had our midnight snack together. I sit adjacentto him. I think Grey is going to tuck into one of the recliners, but he surprises me by sitting next to me. And then, Patrick surprises me most by grabbing the seat across from me.
“Hey, Cap!” Dustin shouts. Then he looks at me with a sheepish expression. “Sorry. Does he know about Mia? I just assumed.”
“He knows.”
Dustin smiles wide. “Cap!” Then he adds. “Wait. Greyson knew and Cody knew. Man. That’s rough.”
“Sorry. I just wanted to wait until I was really one of the guys.”
Awareness dawns across Dustin’s face. His tone softens. “I get that.” Then he pauses. “You’re still the rookie, though. No escaping that.”
“I hadn’t thought I would.”
Cody sticks his head out of the office. “What’s up?”
“Hallie’s about to show us a bunch of pics of her daughter. Want to see them?”
“You don’t have to …” I start to say.
“Yeah,” Cody says. “I’d love to see them.”
We spend the next hour or so scrolling from image to image while I relay stories from Mia’s birth to her first T-ball game. The guys pass my cell around during each story, admiring the photos and listening attentively. Greyson seems to hold the phone a little longer at times, studying me or Mia in a picture. We go through holidays, school events, pictures of us goofing off around the house, her with Henry Cavill and a few of the four of us women together.
“She looks just like you,” Dustin says. “If I’d’ve seen her before you told me you had a daughter, I’d’ve been like, Hey! That’s Hallie’s daughter. I didn’t know Hallie had a daughter!”
Greyson says, “You would not.”
“Sure would. Look at them. They’re identical twins at different ages.”
“That’s not even a thing,” Greyson growls.
I chuckle softly. He’s probably just sore because he didn’t recognize the connection sooner. Or maybe he doesn’t like me sharing with the guys. Though I think he does. He just doesn’t show his emotions when he’s in a group.
I put my cell away. Patrick picks up his book.
I’m about to suggest a run or a card game when the alarm rings. We head out on a medical call.
Afterward, around a late dinner, Dustin says, “Emberleigh and I want four kids.”
Patrick says, “You already know how many kids you want?”
“Yeah, don’t you?”
“We aren’t set on a number. We just know we want children.”
I swallow the bite of food in my mouth. “Mia is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I look across the table at Greyson. His eyes practically sparkle in this light. He’s smiling—about Mia.
“She did not come when we had planned. It was actually not the timing I would have chosen. But now? I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
