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There’s a long pause before Lo finally speaks. “She’s in the waiting room.”
It takes me a second to comprehend what my sister just told me before I’m out of my seat, heading toward the door.
“No, E! Wait,” Sloan says, abruptly standing as she does. “You’ll just go out there and spook her. Let me, I’ll tell her you and the girls are in your own room.”
I stare at the door for a few seconds, contemplating, but I know Sloan’s right.I just can’t believe she came.
Taking Addison from my sister’s arms, her cute little face calms my racing heart rate… a little.
Wes stands and puts Sophie in the rolling bassinet right beside me. “We will give you guys some space.”
He gives both girls a little kiss on the forehead, but all I can do is stare at the door and hope to God that Cami doesn’t wake up. I don’t want that for Quinn. “She’ll be okay, E.” Wes says, drawing my attention. “You know she’s tough as nails, always has been.”
I nod, trying to believe what he’s saying. But that’s the thing… to everyone else, Quinn is unbreakable, not showing her weaknesses to many people. Wes and Lo may get a glimpse of it today, but she won’t let them see her crumble.
I know this is going to hurt… but she’s here for me and that means more to me than she’ll ever truly comprehend. Reaching into the bassinet, I tuck the special blanket around Sophie’s little body.
Even though Quinn couldn’t make it to the shower, she ripped my heart open again with the sentimental gift she sent for the twins.
Two little blankets printed with pictures of my baseball career all the way from my little league days. Their names embroidered—One in pink, the other in purple. My mom gushed over how amazing they turned out and how thoughtful it was of Quinn to reach out to fill in the blanks from some of the years she didn’t have clips of.
Apparently, she had a box of clippings from my career highlights. Talk about taking a ninety-mile-per-hour pitch hit right back at you in the gut. That’s what it felt like… just one more reminder of how perfect she is, and how much she had always loved me.
The night after the baby shower, when I was back at my practically empty new house, I went into the nursery—picking the blankets up, I held them to my nose. Maybe I had imagined the smell of Quinn earlier when I opened the gift.I hadn’t. Those blankets laid on my bed beside me until it was time to pack my bag for the hospital. I let Cami plan their cute first outfit pictures as long as they got to use the blankets that Quinn had given them. She probably thought it was because I was full of myself, and they were filled with my highlights from a young age, but that just showed how little Cami actually knew me.
The creak of the big wooden door draws me out of the memory. And in walks the most beautiful woman in the world. The girl who has kept me on my toes, never taking it easy on me, the teen who had pushed me more than anyone else to follow my dreams, and the woman I’m so helplessly in love with.
Her dark hair is a little lighter than the last time I saw her. Her perfect, athletic curves are on display in yoga pants and a simple tee. She’s effortlessly gorgeous… always has been. That and her competitive nature have always made other women extremely jealous and not as accepting of her. If they had just given her a chance, she would have been the best friend they ever had. No one else’s loyalty and dedication compare to Quinn’s for the people she loved.
Prime example—she’s here right now, even though it’s probably killing her inside.
I swallow the thick lump in my throat at the emotion swirling in her green eyes.
“Hi, Queenie, we’re glad you’re here.”
I want to be upset with her for leaving me, for barely talking to me over the past six months, but seeing the brokenness written all over her pretty face… I only hate myself for putting her through this.
* * *
Quinn
Two steps in their direction and tears are already streaming down my face.
He has the girls wrapped in the blankets I had made for them. My gut twists with a mix of anguish and elation.
When our eyes meet again, I see a lone tear roll off his chin and fall onto his daughter’s cheek. Pain sears through me. Why can’t I be strong enough to endure this with him?
But I know why, and according to Lo,she’sasleep through the cracked door behind Eli.
I have never seen anything more breathtaking. Eli with his precious baby girl in one of his big muscular-tattooed arms while his free hand rests on top of another little one in the bassinet beside him.
“They both have your nose.” I smile through my tears.
“Perfect for Eskimo kisses,” he says, and hundreds of tender moments between the two of us flash through my mind. The last bit of anger I was holding on to toward this man and our situation completely slips away.
I run my finger lightly over one rosy little cheek. “Can I hold her?”
“Q, of course. You never have to ask.”
