I hadn’t even registered that he was here, didn’t even have the words to speak now. So, I just nodded. He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly and tilted his chin toward the bathroom. “Go.”
I washed my hands for a full two minutes, trying to rid anywhere that would touch her of so much as a speck of dirt. After changing into new clothes, I stared in the mirror.
This was it.
Blowing out a deep breath, I made my way back into the room. Cheyenne smiled at me once more as I moved to the edge of the bed.
“Come on, don’t be shy. She’s been dying to meet her daddy for the last hour.”
An hour. She’d had her an hour ago. Guilt niggled at me, but as she handed me the most beautiful treasure I’d ever beheld, all that doubt washed away.
My hands shook as I held her before me, studying her, committing every tiny detail of her to memory. Forever ingraining this moment in my soul.
Dear Lord, she was beautiful. A soft dusting of light brown hair. The smallest, most perfect little button nose. Tiny fingers and perfect little toes. And eyes blue as her mother’s. I hoped they never changed. Never dulled or darkened, but shone like turquoise pools for the rest of forever.
“Hello, there Oakleigh M—”
“Oh, I wanted to talk to you about that.” Cheyenne’s voice held a timid note to it. I frowned, meeting her worried gaze. “I was thinkin…Oakleigh doesn’t fit her.”
“You don’t think?” I asked, curiosity drawing my attention back and forth between her and the baby.
She chewed her lip and shook her head, her brows knitting together. “No. I just… I love the name, but it isn’ther.”
“What’re you thinkin’?”
“What about Stormie Mae? I thought you know, with her spectacular entrance and all…” Her words trailed off.
A smile tugged on my lips as I eased myself onto the bed beside Cheyenne, careful not to disrupt the most precious little gift I’d ever gotten to hold. “Stormie Mae…” I nodded, bringing her up before me so that I could press the softest whisper of a kiss to her forehead. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Cheyenne leaned into me. “Little storm cloud, this here’s your daddy. He’s the most amazin’ man you’ll ever meet. He’s gonnalove you and cherish and take care of you for the rest of your life. You’re the luckiest girl in the world.”
Daddy.
The warmth and love in her voice broke me. Tears welled in my eyes, my throat closing as my heart clenched so tightly, I thought it might stop entirely. And when I glanced up at Cheyenne, tears streaming down her cheeks, I knew as long as I had her and this baby… Well, it didn’t matter how dark life ever got, because I had the brightest lights to guide me through it.
Bad had made surenot to cut the umbilical cord, so I had something to do with the birth. Getting to have him, Cash, Ryder, and Chey all there in the same room to see…well, it felt almost surreal.
The next few hours, the next few days really passed in a blur. Feedings, changings, doctor’s appointments—for both me and Stormie Mae. She was healthy as can be, my hand though… Well, let’s just say I’d gotten an earful from the doctor. She’d been equally as furious as impressed that I’d managed to even attempt to mend a fence with my hand in the state it was in. I’d done a bit of damage though, so another surgery was in the works for the following week. The splint they had me in now was bulky, and prevented me from doing much, but it gave me an excellent excuse to be stuck on baby duty.
Stormie’s cries carried through the room from the bedside bassinet Cash and Ryder had set up in the room for us. Cheyenne stirred beside me, but with a kiss to her forehead, I murmured quietly, “It’s okay. I got this.”
I’d gotten pretty good at managing to change diapers one-handed so that I could help in any way I could. And heating up bottles. Chey struggled to produce much breast milk, but it didn’t stop her from trying relentlessly. She had an appointment with one of the nurses at the hospital later on in the morning to see what they could help her with. But in the meantime, we were supplementing with formula.
I eased out of bed and moved to Stormie’s bassinet, drawing her up into my arms as I went through the motions that had become so instinctual, so natural, in just a few short days. Deep down—subconsciously—I think a part of me feared that I wouldn’t have a connection with her, but I’d never been so wrong. She might not share my blood, but this little girl was mine, through and through.
After changing her and heating up a bottle, I settled into the rocking chair I’d made in her room, rocking gently back and forth as I fed her. “And how are you this mornin’little storm cloud?”
I watched her in quiet awe as she fed, in pure disbelief that this was my life now. She was mine. I’d always assumed I never deserved love. Like I’d done something to deserve Ashleigh… and I was so starved for just a shred of her affection that had Cheyenne not come into my life, I’d have continued down that dark, endless road of unhappiness.
But now, I had Chey. I had Stormie. I had a family. Everything I could ever want. And I’d never been so grateful. My life was whole. It was good. It was full of love. And I would fight like hell to keep it like this for the rest of forever.
As the sky began to lighten slowly outside an idea came to my mind. Fuck, I needed to hurry. Clutching Stormie in my arms, I made my way to our room, lightly rousing Cheyenne.
“Hey…hey wake up, Chey.”
She blinked away sleep and squinted at me. “Hm?”
“Come on, I wanna do somethin’, but I need y’all there with me.”
