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Cane spilled his as he rushed to put it down.
I was on my feet and heading to the door, my heart pounding like a drum.
Button opened the door first, clutching her stomach in a loose dress. Her hair was still wet from the shower. “My water just broke.”
Fuck, it was happening. I stared at her blankly for three seconds before I finally moved into action. “Alright, let’s get you to the hospital.” I took her by the hand and pulled her into the hallway.
“I can’t believe he’s coming.” She walked with me, breathing hard. “He’s coming.”
“Cane?”
Cane jogged until he caught up to me. “Have Lars get the bags and meet us at the hospital. Got it?”
“I’m on it.” Cane darted away.
“Alright, Button. It’s time.”
Instantly, she started crying. “I’m so sorry I’ve been so mean to you lately. I just—”
“You’re carrying my son. You have the right to be as mean as you want. Forget about it.”
“Crow…”
“I don’t care, Button. All I care about is us meeting our son. Now let’s go get him.”
* * *
Several hours later, Conway Barsetti arrived.
He had my eyes. Her nose. My lips. Her hair.
A perfect blend of the two of us.
He was seven pounds of perfection, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He fit in just a single palm because he was so small. I loved my wife with all my heart, and it was hard to believe I could love anything more than her.
But I did.
My son.
I stared at him for ten minutes, holding in my crook of my arm while Button drifted off to sleep. It was just the two of us. He looked me in the eye, his blue-green eyes shaped exactly like mine. He seemed just as interested in me as I was in him.
I didn’t view my father as a role model. He had a lot of issues, a lot of sins.
But I wanted it to be different with my own son. I wanted him to look up to me, to admire me, and to be proud of the Barsetti name. I wanted to protect him, to push him into becoming a man stronger than me. I wanted to teach him everything about the world, including the dark and twisted shit no one wanted to mention.
I wanted him to be prepared for the hatred, the fear, the terror.
So he could overcome it.
I was already proud of him for just sitting in my arms.
This was love in a whole new way.
The door cracked open, and Cane poked his head inside. He noticed Pearl was asleep, so he motioned with his hands to ask if he could come inside.
I nodded.
He and Adelina walked inside, her stomach round the way Pearl’s had been six months ago. They took the seat beside me and tried to be quiet as they looked into my son’s face.
“Aww…” Adelina covered her mouth as she gasped.
Cane grinned. “That’s one handsome Barsetti.”
I was already a proud father. “I know.”
“He has your eyes,” Cane said. “But he looks like Pearl too.”
“He’s so beautiful,” Adelina whispered. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Now I couldn’t stop smiling.
Cane looked up at Pearl. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s exhausted,” I said. “Four hours of hard labor. She saw Conway and then drifted off to sleep.”
“I’m not looking forward to that part,” Adelina whispered.
Cane moved his hand to her thigh. “You’ll be great, Bellissima.”
I hardly ever saw Cane without Adelina in tow. They were a pair, just the way Pearl and I were.
“Anything we can do for you?” Cane asked. “I was going to bring flowers, but you guys don’t strike me as flower people.”
“Because we aren’t,” I said with a laugh. “All we need right now is rest.”
“You want us to watch the baby so you can take a nap?” Adelina asked.
The last thing I wanted to do was let go of Conway. “No…I’m wide awake.”
* * *
Button breastfed Conway for the first time in the hospital room. She was still in bed, but she’d showered and changed her gown. She got a full night of rest because I took care of Conway until he started crying at dawn.
I sat beside her and watched.
Conway latched on and started sucking.
“He already knows what he’s doing,” Pearl said with a chuckle.
I grinned. “He’s just like me.”
She chuckled then swatted my arm. “Conway will be a lot more sensitive than you.”
“With a mother like you, I’m sure he will be.”
Button seemed to forget I was there because she was too absorbed in looking at her son. She still looked radiant even though she was no longer pregnant. She still had a beautiful glow that surrounded her at all times. Her smile could light up an abandoned fireplace. “I got really uncomfortable at the end…but it was totally worth it.”
“Yeah, it was.”
She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead then returned to feeding him. She was a mother in love. I used to be the only recipient of that gaze, but now I’d been replaced.
