Numbly, I followed him, realizing too late that I hadn’t even thanked Gabe for talking me from the ledge.
Hands shaking, I reached into my tight jeans pocket for another piece of taffy and popped it onto my mouth.
We rounded the corner, and Alec pushed a red button that opened the doors to the labor-and-delivery area.
“Room 222. I’ll wait out here,” he whispered then pulled me in for a hug. “Take your time.”
My body had decided in that moment to betray me again as the shaking continued the whole way down the hall. When I finally reached my destination, my palms were sweating, and I felt like puking. I just needed to see with my own eyes that everything was fine.
“Demetri?” Nat’s voice called from the inside.
Something snapped inside me, like a rubber band finally getting stretched to its fullest. I stumbled toward the bed. She was radiant, her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and in her arms was the smallest bundle of joy I’d ever seen in my entire life.
“My God…” I breathed, itching to pull the baby close. but needing to hug Nat at the same time. “She’s beautiful...” My eyes filled with tears. “I was so scared, Nat. So worried I—”
With one arm, Nat held the baby while she reached around me and pulled me in for a tight hug. Fresh tears fell from her face, pressing against my hot cheeks.
My tears met hers like a kiss.
“What’s wrong with me?” I said in a hoarse voice. “It was like my heart was getting operated on the entire time you were in here.”
Nat smiled. “You and me, Demetri.” Her voice was light, happy. “It’s been us since the beginning, even before Alec you and I were friends. We’ve known each other a while now, and that friendship has grown into this weird brother-sister-fierce-protective-ninja-mode that frankly, I don’t even think Alec can explain.”
“Let him try.” I chuckled, my eyes still forming those damn tears.
“You love me,” she said simply. “You’re my family, closer than a brother, more than a friend.”
“Nat…” I touched my forehead to hers. “…I swear to you… I will always be here for you and Alec, for your little girl. My life simply doesn’t make sense without you in it.”
“Good...” She sniffled as the baby let out a loud breath beneath her. “…because you and Lyss are going to be the godparents.”
“WHAT?” I shrieked.
The baby’s eyes blinked open.
And I was freaking owned.
Lost to the clear look that Baby Daniels had just given me.
“You want to hold Ella?”
I groaned. “That name… you may as well get her a crown right now and just be done with it.”
Laughing softly, Nat held out Ella. The shaking stopped as I pulled the little girl into my arms and kissed her forehead. “How can I love her so much already?”
Nat’s answer was to smile.
Funny how I’d been afraid of hospitals. Up until this moment they’d been places you went when bad things happened.
Last time I was at a hospital it had been because of all the drama with Alec, and before that, it was because I’d nearly killed myself.
But life… life has a way of coming back to you in the craziest of ways.
The first day I’d stepped foot in Seaside, Oregon, I had no idea that my third visit to the hospital would end up like this, with a tiny miracle in my arms.
“Full circle, little princess,” I whispered.
Nat’s eyes filled with tears again. “Full circle. Demetri.”
CHAPTER TEN
Alyssa
I TWISTED MY HANDS together in a nervous frenzy then finally succumbed to the stupid toe-tapping while I waited for Demetri to get back from the hospital room. I knew he was stressed, and I was hoping that this would be one less thing he’d be freaked out about.
Wes looked down at my tapping foot then up at me then back down at my foot, finally putting his hand on my knee and causing me to stop. “You’re gonna freak him out.”
I groaned and leaned over. “He’s been in there for an hour!”
The minute we’d gotten back from coffee, Gabe had let us know the news. Baby Ella had been born, happy, healthy, beautiful, and currently, no doubt, seducing young Demetri as we spoke.
My stomach felt unsettled.
I was happy for Nat.
Ecstatic.
So why did I feel… jealous?
Not of the baby. I really really did not need a baby to complicate what was already a complicated relationship between me and my famous soon-to-be-husband.
But Demetri’s attention had been so unfocused lately, and now that the baby was born, I kind of hoped it would be back on me — on us.
Instead, I was afraid that baby would steal every bit of emotion he had left, right before the wedding.
Holy crap, I was jealous of a newborn.
Seriously, who’s jealous of a two-hour-old baby?
Me.
This girl.
I exhaled while Wes and Gabe started talking in the corner, both of them giving me a glance every few minutes as if to make sure I hadn’t checked out and started rocking in the corner.
Saylor and Kiersten peppered me with questions about the wedding. I tried to answer as cheerfully as I could.
And Jaymeson, my one rock, considering he could make any situation seem funny and stress-free, had left to go take Pris home.
“So what’s your dress look like?” Kiersten asked.
“White,” I wanted to shout and then huddle into myself. “It’s, um... lacy.” I chewed my fingernail. “It has a sweetheart neckline and—”