Page 113 of Make it a Double

One of the nurses came up and peered down at the wiggling worm on my chest. “Looks like he’s hungry. Why don’t we try to feed?”

“Oh,” I said, glancing down. “Can we do that already?”

I was almost positive the question was stupid, but I asked anyway. Blame it on the chaos of giving birth. Thankfully, she was patient with me. “Oh yes. But don’t worry if he doesn’t eat much. His stomach isn’t much bigger than a marble.” She helped get him into position as he rooted around my breast. “It can take a bit for him to get used to feeding, so don’t get discouraged if he doesn’t latch right away.”

I nodded, helping support his head while guiding my nipple toward his mouth. He cried and cried long enough for me to wonder if I could really do this when I felt an intense tug and looked down. His chin was tucked against my breast, mouth open wide as he sucked for the first time.

“There we go,” she said, stepping back to give us space. “You’re both naturals.”

The room quieted again, leaving Beckett and me to stare down at the miracle in my arms. I could only focus on the soft sound of his suckling and the occasional coo. Beckett leaned in, resting his head on my shoulder. “I know I’ve said this a million times, but I’m so damn proud of you, sugar.”

“I doubted myself there for a minute,” I confessed. “I wasn’t sure I could do it before you climbed up here.”

“No, you had it in you all along,” he said, reaching forward to place his finger in our boy’s open palm. “Isn’t that right? Your momma is so strong.”

I turned and stared at Beckett, who wore an expression of absolute awe as he stared down at our son. It was hard to imagine a time when this wouldn’t have been a possibility. Liv would’ve held my hand and talked me through it. Duke would’ve sat patiently out in the waiting room, eager for news. But even though Beckett had unwavering faith in my ability, I didn’t know if I could’ve done this without him. Nor would I have wanted to. Going through this experience alone would’ve taken a toll on me eventually.

Thankfully, I never had to find out.

“I know we haven’t been able to decide on a name, but I think I have a suggestion,” Beckett said. “For the middle name, at least.”

I smiled. “Let’s hear it.”

BECKETT

TWO DAYS LATER

“I can’t believe you named your baby after a bar,” Lukas said, opening a fresh beer and taking a swig. “I mean, it’s cute, but you couldn’t think of anything else?”

“Franklin’s his middle name,” Sawyer said, peering over Liv’s shoulder as she fussed over how cute he was. Olivia and Cleo were the only ones we decided to let hold our son, and only after rigorous handwashing. “We thought it was fitting, given the bar was the whole reason we got together in the first place.”

“I think it’s adorable,” Cleo said from Olivia’s other side. “It’s sentimental.”

Sawyer and I went back and forth for weeks before having to make a decision in the hospital. I’d tried to tiptoe around the subject as much as I could, hesitant to make any suggestions in case she felt like she had to say yes. But sitting there in the delivery room while she fed our son, I couldn’t resist making a simple suggestion.

In the end, we settled on Oliver Franklin Montgomery.

Franklin might have been my contribution, but Sawyer had come up with Oliver on her own. Said it was a nod to someone she couldn’t have made it through the pregnancy without, and I damn sure wasn’t opposed. We kept the name quiet from everyone until they visited us in the hospital. I still remembered the look of disbelief on Olivia’s face when she heard the name for the first time. She’d gone from glancing at the nametag on Oliver’s hospital bassinet with tears in her eyes to a teary hug with Sawyer as they cried together.

“Better hope they never rebrand or it’s not gonna make sense,” Lukas murmured.

Tate came up behind him and smacked him across the back of his head. Hard, if his grumblings were to be believed.

“Ow! Shit!” he hissed, flinching away. “What was that for?”

“For being an ass to my nephew on his first day home. Duh,” Tate said. She reached across the counter, grabbing his beer and bringing it to her lips. The two exchanged a long look before he broke away and grumbled something beneath his breath. “That’s what I thought.”

Sawyer left Olivia’s side, leaving the girls to coo and fuss over our son. I opened my arms as she drew close, and she tucked herself into my side, leaning her head on my chest. The last few days had taken a lot out of her, between the labor and preparing to come home. Our friends had worked tirelessly while we were in the hospital to make sure everything was ready for us when we got back.

Our fridge and freezer were overflowing with quick, hearty, reheatable meals and the pantry was filled with all the snacks you could dream of. They even cleaned from top to bottom, making sure every surface sparkled and our laundry was done.

I’d never had a support system like this before, but goddamn… It was a relief not to come home and worry about what had or hadn’t been done. We’d barely slept two nights in this house before we hurried off to the hospital for Sawyer to be induced. It’d all happened so fast, but standing in our new home surrounded by the people we loved was a heady feeling.

Every single person in this room had taken me in and shown me kindness before I ever deserved it. Well, everyone save for Duke, who put me through the wringer before deciding I’d earn his trust.

“Are you happy, sugar?” I asked, pulling her tighter against me.

“Very,” she sighed. I could feel the curve of her lips through the fabric of my shirt. “I didn’t even know it was possible to be this happy.”