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"My parents met us here and picked her up. They're going to bring her back up in the morning."
"And who is this little guy?" I ask, gently stroking his cheek with the back of my hand. He looks a lot like Lola did as a newborn. It's the nose I think. Or the long eyelashes. Or it could be the way he's making his momma smile.
"This is Ryley Adam Beech."
The inflection in her voice when she shares his middle name isn't lost on me. It brings tears to my eyes, and as I wipe them away, I wonder if Wyatt's shared the news with Adam yet.
"Ryley, huh? That's one of the names Wyatt picked out, isn't it?"
"Yep."
"And when is the next little Beech coming along?" I ask, nudging her in the side.
"Wyatt seems to think we need to get started on that already. The doctor warned him it would be easy to get pregnant again in the next six weeks while my body healed, and I swear his face lit up like a Christmas tree."
Through laughter, Chloe tells me all about Wyatt's antics from when her water broke to the moment he came down the hall to tell us the good news. Mr. Calm and Collected was anything but when it came time to man up. He freaked out on her, panicked for a few minutes, and then drove like a crazy person to get them to the hospital.
What really made me laugh, though, was when he cut the umbilical cord. Chloe said he got really excited when the doctor asked if he wanted to do it, then turned ghostly white when he realized what he had to do. Chloe's imitating the look on Wyatt's face when the boys walk in the room, startling us and waking up baby Ryley.
"I did not look like that," Wyatt's voice booms over the tiny screams from his son.
Chloe adjusts Ryley on her chest, and he calms instantly, closing his eyes and falling back asleep.
"Baby, you looked like you were about to faint."
"I was staring at your goods, wondering how in the hell my son came out of there." Per usual, their banter is friendly and lighthearted. They could pick on each other all day and never get angry.
"So basically, you were scared he stretched me out too far." Wyatt grins and nods. "Don't worry. Lola came out of there, too, and she was three ounces bigger than this guy."
Adam slides up behind me and massages my shoulder as we watch the Chloe and Wyatt show continue.
She picks on him for freaking out. He claims it's because he loves her so much. She points out his driving, and he argues that he was safe, only speeding because it was necessary.
My lower back begins to cramp, so I stand and stretch. Adam looks concerned when I groan, but I brush him off with a smile and sit back down. I'd rather be standing, walking, anything other than sitting in this uncomfortable metal chair, but it's a compromise.
Either my feet can hurt or my back can hurt. Right now, both are in pain. I'm ready to go home and get in bed. The nurse shuffling into the room moments later is my saving grace. She’s here to take Ryley down to the nursery for the night and kick us out so Chloe can rest.
Visiting hours are over. We can come back in the morning.
"I'm sorry I can't ride to Denver with you tomorrow," Chloe says as I hug her.
Shit. I completely forgot about that.
"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out."
"We should put her on the bus instead," Adam remarks from beside me.
"What'd she do now?" Chloe asks as I pull away.
"She didn't tell you?" Adam asks, shock evident in his voice. Before I can turn to stop him, he's already said his name. "Liam showed up at the house tonight."
Closing my eyes, I suck in a deep breath, and as I let it out, I open my eyes to find Chloe staring at me, waiting for me to say something.
There's nothing to say. It's a fact. It's my current hell, and as soon as we leave here, I have to deal with it, no matter if I want to or not.
