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“It is empty.” Caitie grinned. “You haven’t got a baby in there any more. Talking of which…” She looked around. “Where’s Alyssa?”
“They took her to the nursery while I showered. They’ll bring her back in a minute.”
“Are you keeping her with you all the time while you’re here?” Caitie asked.
“Yep. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t.” Harper swallowed a mouthful of coffee.
“I hate to break it to you, but sleep isn’t going to be on your agenda for the next few months if what Ember tells me is true.”
Harper laughed. “So I hear. But I’m hoping Alyssa turns out to be the perfect baby. A really quiet one at night.” She sat on the bed, Caitie beside her.
“I can’t believe you’re a mom,” Caitie told her. “Sometimes I feel like I’m still in college, and here’s you, responsible for another life.”
“It feels weird,” Harper agreed. “But right, too. I’m not scared of the responsibility. I’m glad I’ve got her. I’m so happy to be her mom. It’s like I’ve been waiting for this all my life.”
“You’re a natural.” Caitie smiled. “James is, too. I just saw him in the waiting room showing Alyssa’s picture to everybody.”
“I think he’s fallen for her as much as I have.” Harper traced the pattern on her gown with the pad of her finger. “He told me he loved me. That he wants us to be a couple.”
Caitie caught her eye. “Of course he did. He’d be a fool not to. You should see the way he looks at you every time he thinks nobody’s looking. I know love when I see it.”
“You think he loves me?” Harper grinned widely. “Do you?”
“Yes I do. It’s in his eyes, that’s where you see it. There’s a soft look he only gets when he looks at you.” She pulled her lip between her teeth, remembering. “And I saw it again when Alyssa was born and he was staring at her. He’s got it bad, even if he keeps messing things up.”
“I keep messing them up, too.”
“You just need to believe. Not just in him but in yourself. It’s weird because you’re so certain of yourself in every other aspect than relationships. I’ve never seen anybody more confident about their work than you. But when it comes to love it’s like you have an Achilles’ heel. As if you feel you don’t deserve it or something.”
Harper swallowed at her friend’s words – Caitie had hit the nail on the head. “I don’t feel like that anymore,” she told her. “Or at least I’m trying not to. I’m going to keep working until I never feel like it again. I want Alyssa to grow up being confident in everything, and I’m going to show her how.”
Caitie smiled. “I know you will. She’s going to love you as much as I do. More, maybe. If that’s possible.”
Was it? Harper had no idea, but she couldn’t wait to find out. All she knew was that here in the hospital, with her body full of exhaustion and pain, she’d never felt happier in her life. And she was determined to make it last.
* * *
“Look at her,” Louise said, cradling Alyssa in her arms. “She’s such a beautiful baby.” She looked up at Harper, her face beaming. “You must be so proud.”
Proud didn’t begin to cover it. In awe was closer. Every time she looked at Alyssa she fell even more in love. With her pink skin and blue eyes, and tiny hands that gripped so tightly, she was perfect in every way.
“I am,” Harper said, grinning. “Having her here almost makes up for the painful labor. And the morning sickness. And the cravings…”
James’s mom laughed. “Oh, you’ve got a lifetime of excitement ahead of you. One thing’s for sure, your life will never be the same again.”
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” James said, sitting next to Harper on the bed and sliding his arm around her waist. “I kind of like this new life.”
Harper turned to look at him, her gaze soft. “I do, too,” she whispered. Every word was true. It was already impossible to imagine life without this tiny little human in it. And though she was patiently letting everybody have a cuddle with her baby, Harper was already happiest when Alyssa was in her arms. Asleep and safe, her tiny mouth opening and closing like a sleeping fish.
She was everything.
Louise’s phone buzzed and she rolled her eyes. “I keep getting messages congratulating me, as though I had anything to do with this little angel comi
ng into the world.” She kissed the tip of Alyssa’s nose. “I told them they should be congratulating you, Harper. You did the hard work.” She pulled her lip between her teeth. “Have you heard from your mom?”
Harper swallowed and shook her head. “No. I haven’t told her.” She hadn’t told her grandmother either. Neither of them deserved to know, and she wasn’t ready to spoil this day by talking to them and letting them make her feel small. Better to send a birth announcement the old fashioned way.
“I’m so sorry about your family,” Louise said, carrying Alyssa back over to where Harper was sitting. Louise slid her back into Harper’s waiting arms, and immediately she felt better. “I can’t understand how they could treat you that way.”
