“Sir, sir?” a lady called from the front desk.
He ignored her. She was sitting down and halfway across the room. He could beat her to the elevator.
All four elevators showed stopped on upper floors. Stairs? His ankle said,“Oh, hell no!”
A small group of people stepped back at his approach. He didn’t smell that bad, did he? Oh, the bullet hole in his jacket and fake blood. He might have to use those in the future, maybe to open up a checkout line while shopping this coming Christmas. The hand he jabbed again and again at the elevator buttons was shy a couple of fingers.
Yeah, so he looked like a horror movie extra.
Well, if they weren’t that interested in the elevator, he’d grab the next one. No one stepped on with him. He punched the button five times before the doors closed.
One floor, two floors. C’mon, c’mon. Finally, the doors opened. He remembered this floor. He’d been here often enough with Andro.
He charged down the corridors. If anyone spoke to him, he didn’t hear, not with places to go and babies to see.
No sign of Bo, Rett, or Charlotte. Oh, of course, no Charlotte. She’d be in a room somewhere, doing all the work. Who’d made the trip back there with her? Bo? Rett?
At last he shoved his way through the double doors leading to the glassed enclosure separating oohing and aahing family members from recent additions.
A small crowd gathered around one end of the room. He spotted a familiar dark head. “Bo?”
Bo spun, confusion turning to a grin. “Lucky!” He wrapped his arms around Lucky. Everyone else stepped back, leaving an opening for Lucky and Bo to slip into.
“Look!” Bo exclaimed, turning Lucky and leading him forward with a firm hand on his back. In the front bassinet lay a sleeping form wrapped in pink, with tiny little fingers, a shock of dark hair standing up like a troll doll’s, and a tiny, tiny nose.
Pink. A little girl.Hislittle girl.
Oh, God. She looked like Bo. “Is… is…” Words wouldn’t come from Lucky’s dry mouth. She was… beautiful.
Bo grinned. “That’s her. Our daughter.”
“Our… our…” Daughter. A little girl. Hairbows and ribbons. Dolls and stuffed bears. Or trucks. Whatever baby girl wanted; baby girl would get.
Sitting on the front porch with a shotgun to keep boys away when she got older.
She was… she was…
The most beautiful baby girl to ever live. Her brother claimed the most beautiful baby boy honors.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. “Oh, my God! She’s gorgeous!”
He turned to face Rett, grinning so hard his face ached. “Rett…” His eyes went wide. “Rett?” He turned to Bo. “Bo? Who the hell is with Charlotte?”
“That’d be me.” All three spun to face the newcomer.
Jimmy.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jimmy gave an “I know something you don’t” smile. “Charlotte couldn’t reach you three, so she called me. I’ve got three sisters, three nephews, and two nieces. Not my first rodeo.” He smiled at the glass. “Isn’t she amazing? Looks just like Charlotte, don’t you think?”
Were they looking at the same kid? Little Bo lay in the bassinet.
Time enough to deal with Jimmy later. At least when Lucky hadn’t been there for his sister, she hadn’t been alone. Jimmy had his uses after all. Andro was a big brother. Lucky was a father.
Again.
“What’s her name?” Jimmy asked.
