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5
LYNDI
“Have you heard anything?” Layla asked Zac and Paul as soon as we made it through the sliding doors.
Zac took her hand and shook his head. “Not yet, but—”
The doors behind us burst open, cutting off whatever Zac had been about to say. Will strode through with his arms in the air, fists clenched, a triumphant smile on his face. “It’s a boy!”
Cheers rang out around us, not only from our group of friends but from the other people in the waiting room and the women behind the desk.
“It’s a boy,” he said again, softer now, as he let his hands fall to his sides. “And he’s fine. They’re both great, actually.”
We took turns hugging and congratulating Will, but then after he finished with each of us, his face took on an ashen quality. With a sharp intake of breath, he pitched forward and put his hands on his knees.
I glanced up at my sister, who was peering over at him with the corners of her mouth turned down.
Sensing the need to do something—though I wasn’t surewhat—I started to step forward. But then Paul beat me to it and went to Will’s side, placing one hand on his brother-in-law’s upper back, making small circles over his shoulder blade.
Will’s face was angled toward his knees, but even though I couldn’t see the tears, I knew he was crying. Silent sobs racked his body, making his biceps shake under his weight as he held himself up.
No one spoke. No one tried to remind him that his sweet little family was okay. He knew it. But apparently, the man just needed a second to collect himself. In a safe space. Surrounded by his people.
My chest burned as I stood there watching him, wishing more than anything that I knew what to do or say. I couldn’t imagine how scary it was for Will to hear that his wife was in labor five weeks early, and he’d probably been a total wreck throughout the entire delivery.
A wreck who would never let himselfbea wreck on the outside. Because he didn’t love anyone or anything as much as he loved Aria, and I knew he’d never let her see him fall apart when she needed him the most.
But now, it was over.
And in the comfort of this otherwise cold and monochromatic lobby, he could fall apart for as long as he needed to.
But then he straightened, wiping his reddened face with both hands. “Sorry about that.”
“Hey, man,” Zac said, patting his shoulder, “don’t apologize. We got you.”
My heart cracked at the truth of his sentiment. It was the same thing I’d said to Aria before I’d brought her here, and a lump formed in my throat just thinking about it.
Will’s head bobbed back and forth as he looked around the lobby with a furrowed brow. “Where’s Beau? Did he leave?”
My eyes widened. “Shoot. He’s outside. I’ll go get him.”
“Oh, no you won’t,” Will surprised me by saying. “I’ll go tell him myself.”
“Are you sure? If you want to go be with Aria—” I started, but he shook his head.
“I would, but we had to send the little guy off to the NICU for some tests, and Aria wants her girls.” He chuckled and hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the labor and delivery rooms. “I should have sent you in there right away, but I got a little…you know. Anyway, hurry it up. She’ll kill me if I don’t send you three in there within the next thirty seconds or so.”
I considered asking him again if the baby was okay, but I held back. He said he was, so he was.
And knowing Aria, she was probably steaming over the fact that she couldn’t come out here and see us on her own two feet. If there was one thing she hated, it was not being able to do something herself.
“Struggling with delegation already?” Shelby asked him with a shake of her head. “It’s gonna be a long maternity leave.”
“Ah, I don’t know,” Will mused, his eyes shining when he looked over at us. “Wait till you see the way she looks at the little dude. He might turn out to be the one thing that gets her to slow her roll.”
I patted his shoulder as we passed him on the way to the doors. “Don’t feel too bad, Will. He’s probably just a lot cuter than you.”
Will grunted something that sounded like an agreement and headed outside with the guys while us girls took off for the wide double doors. I led Layla and Shelby to Aria’s room as they chatted excitedly behind me, chest tight with the potent emotional overwhelm that threatened to burst forth.
