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“Yes. I’ve got my first appointment with her on Wednesday.”
“She’s wonderful. You’ll love her.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as the four of them watched over me as if I were a fragile doll who would break at any moment. It was equally unnerving and endearing.
“This is weird, right?” River broke through the quiet.
“God, yes,” I snorted.
“Have I ever told you girls how Javi and I met?”
Gabriella began telling us their incredible love story. Javier, an officer in the Army, had been stationed in Italy for a short time. By chance, they met one afternoon and had an instantaneous connection. When it was time for him to return to the States, he begged her to come with him. She agreed not only to the move, but to a lifetime.
“So you see? My boys take after their father.”
Miller, who’d been playing quietly in the corner of the room, chose that moment to pull himself up onto the couch and crawled into my lap. I didn’t have experience with kids outside of a few interactions here or there. When he laid his head on my chest, though, sucking on his little thumb, my heart melted.
I’d been frozen at first, not knowing what to do, but my instincts kicked in rather quickly. Handing the bottle of water off to Cate, who I waved off when she tried to move him, I settled back farther and gently wrapped my arms around his tiny body. Within seconds, his eyes drifted shut.
“You’re gonna be a phenomenal mom.”
Alec’s soft voice startled me, though not bad enough to wake up Miller. Peering over my shoulder, I mouthed, “Thank you,” before returning my attention to the bundle in my arms.
The noise level in the room raised a few notches when the rest of the men joined us, yet Miller slept through it all without so much as a twitch. He was comfortable, warm, and safe.
A virtual tsunami of emotions crashed into me all at once. My chest burned with the effort it took to hold back the sob trying to work its way up my throat, but there was nothing I could do about the river of tears flowing down my cheeks.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
Alec’s worried face appeared in front of me. I tried to speak, to tell him I was fine, but the only thing that came out was a whimper. The next thing I knew, Miller was pulled from my hold and I was suddenly cradled in Alec’s lap. His strong arms surrounded me, holding me tight while I cried.
“You’re killing me, Firefly. Tell me what’s wrong, so I can fix it.”
That was the kicker. Nothing was wrong, in fact, just the opposite. My outburst had everything to do with the fact I’d realized how much I was looking forward to being a mother. Well, that and the outrageous influx of hormones coursing through my blood.
A few minutes went by and I was able to calm down enough to hiccup, “I’m happy.”
“Jesus, Quin. If this is you happy, I don’t ever want to see you sad.”
He held me a while longer, then announced we were calling it a night. The forgotten dinner was packaged up into containers and after two rounds of hugs and a promise to call Gabriella after my appointment, we left.
“I wish you’d reconsider staying with me tonight,” he sighed as he made the turn into my driveway.
“I’ve got work in the morning, Alec.”
“You scared me half to death. Promise you’ll call if something doesn’t feel right.”
“I’ll call.”
“Or if you can’t sleep and just want to talk.”
“Okay.”
“Or if you change your mind. I’ll come back—”
“Alec?” I broke in.
“Yeah, baby?”
