Page 49 of Trying Not to Need You

Copeland’s brother and his wife are next, then my sisters, and the guys all rush to him, taking their turns. Finally, it’s just me and Macklin left. Tears well in my eyes, and I can’t fight them. Copeland wraps his arms around me in a hug.

“Congrats, Daddy,” I croak. When he releases me, it’s Macklin’s arms that take over, while he leans in and gives one of his best friends a one-armed hug, leaving the other around me, making sure that I know he’s here.

“Congrats, brother,” Macklin tells him.

“We’re allowed two visitors at a time. Ells is exhausted, but she’s insistent that she sees each of you. However, we need to make this quick. There are a lot of us, and my wife needs to rest. There will be more time for visiting once she’s gotten some sleep.” He swallows hard, wiping at his eyes, fighting off more tears. “She was incredible. Just… incredible,” he says, at a loss for words.

“Mary, you go first,” Leighton speaks up.

“Oh.” Mary smiles. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you go, and Kinzie can go with you. Chandler and Macie can go, me and Courtlynn, Bowen and Dixon, and then Baylor and Macklin.”

“Sounds like the perfect plan,” Courtlynn says, wiping at her eyes.

“Come on, let’s go meet your granddaughter and your niece,” Copeland tells them. Kinzie is not blood-related, but as I said, we’re all family here.

“Wait!” Courtlynn stops him. “What’s her name? The two of you have been holding out on us.”

Copeland smiles. “Her name is Lainey Mae James.” You can hear the pride and the love in his voice.

“Aww,” comes from all the ladies at once, and we all laugh.

The next hour or so, the waiting room seems to perk up as each new team of two takes their turn, quickly, per Copeland’s orders, so his wife can get some rest. The room starts to clear as everyone heads home to get some sleep themselves.

Finally, it’s our turn. I don’t know why, but I wanted to go in last. Bowen and Dixon come walking out. Their visit was the shortest so far, but they both are wearing wide, tired grins.

“She’s a cutie,” Dixon says.

“She’s so damn tiny,” Bowen adds.

“We were afraid to hold her.” Dixon laughs. “She’s too new.”

“We’ll catch you later,” Bowen says, covering a yawn.

We watch them leave, and Macklin turns to me. “You ready for this?”

“I am. I wish that our parents were here to see this, but Cope, Ellie, and baby Lainey are surrounded by love. It’s just hitting me, I guess,” I say, smiling through the tears that are burning the backs of my eyes. “I think it’s a little of being home, because I was sure I wouldn’t be here when Ellison delivered, and now that I am, I hate myself for staying away as long as I did.”

“Hey.” Macklin pulls me into his arms, wrapping me in a tight embrace. “Your sisters love you, Bay. They wanted you to be happy.”

“I know, and now that I’m home, I realize how unhappy I was, and I’m mad at myself for that, too.”

Macklin eases back and places his hands on my cheeks, guiding my eyes to his. “You’re human, Baylor. We all make choices we think we want and change our minds. All that Ellison cares about is that you’re here. You get to meet her daughter the day she was born. The rest of that is just noise, baby. You’re here, home where you belong, and that’s what matters.”

I sniff and fight back more tears. “Were you on some kind of cowboy inspiration team or something on the circuit? You’re really good at this ‘giving advice’ thing,” I say, pulling back and wiping at my eyes.

He grins at me. “No, I’m on team Baylor, the only team that matters.”

“I’m trying not to need you, remember? You’re making it really hard for me.”

“Good.” He leans in and presses his lips to my forehead. “Come. We have a niece to meet.” He laces his fingers through mine and leads me down the hall to Ellison’s room.

After a round of hugs, I manage to steal my niece. I can’t stop staring at her. Baby Lainey is asleep in my arms, and she’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. “She has your nose, Ellie, and Cope, she has your chin,” I tell them.

“Well, let’s hope she grows out of that and looks just like her momma,” Copeland says, kissing the top of Ellison’s head. He’s lying next to her on the bed, and they’re snuggled close.

“Are you going to keep hogging her, or are you going to give Macklin a chance to hold her?”