I shook my head. “No dice.”
“Maybe you should try waking her up in a couple of hours,” Mom suggested. “She might be more willing to try if she’s not starving.”
“That’s a great idea.”
She winked with a smile. “I had to get two stubborn boys to take a bottle. I know a few tricks.”
“She’s going to need help while I’m gone. I read it should be someone else offering the bottle, since she might be able to smell Jess’s milk and be confused why she’s being given a bottle instead.”
My mother immediately spoke up. “We are happy to help.”
Carol responded, “Of course. It will be easy for me to help since they’re living here.”
Ah, let the Grandma Games begin.
Point—Carol.
Denise evened the score after dinner when we woke Ruthie, and she took a bottle from me.
I felt ten feet tall as I fed my baby girl. I couldn’t stop staring at her perfect face as she made little noises while she ate.
My mother clasped my shoulder and whispered, “You’re going to be an amazing dad.”
Damn right I am.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Alan
While Adam drove me to the airport the next morning, he remarked, “So, Mom and Dad seem to really like Jessica.”
“And Lainey.”
“And being grandparents.”
I chuckled, thinking about how Mom had practically arm wrestled Carol last night over who got to hold Ruthie after she was done with the bottle. “I love that biology doesn’t matter to them.”
“Why should it? It doesn’t matter to me. Lainey and I will always honor Shawn’s legacy—but Conor is my son now, too.”
“I know. And Ruthie’s going to be my daughter.”
“What’s the deal with her biological dad?”
“He’s not in the picture, by his own choice.”
“Wow, what a fucker. But Jess is better off.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what she said.”
“So, are you going to adopt Ruthie?”
“Um… I don’t know? We haven’t talked about that.”
“But you would.”
“In a heartbeat. What about you? Are you going to adopt Conor after you marry Lainey?”
My brother made a face. “Welllll… that’s a little more complicated. We have the O’Briens to consider. With Conor, they still have a piece of Shawn. I think they’d view it as an insult if we changed his last name, and neither of us want to upset them. They’ve been really good to Lainey—and me.”
