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“Oh!” The women all gave him a hug, welcoming him into their family and asking him rapid-fire questions about his brother, if he’d talked to him, how Laura had been when he’d left her.
He calmly answered all of their questions about Laura and Knox, but when they turned more personal about how long he would be in town and if he was seeing anyone, he started to look a little uncomfortable. Kennedy was devising a plan to save him when the elevator doors opened again and Ford and Chrissy walked out with Iris and Ivy, Ford’s twin daughters, and Fiona and Conner, Chrissy’s oldest two kids. Moments later Laura’s father, brothers-in-law with their broods of kids stepped off the elevators. Keaton was the last to arrive and within just a few minutes the entire group had taken over the large waiting room on the fifth floor. Even with what should be ample seating, they were still overflowing. Kids were camped out on the floor. Couples were doubled up, two to a chair.
Mrs. Lopez, Laura’s mom, was allowed back to see her. Every half hour or so she would text Laura’s oldest sister Lori with updates.
Kennedy was busy coloring with Laura’s youngest nieces who were four and six, Penelope and Pricilla. Seb was across the room sitting between his nieces Ivy and Iris, who he was clearly close to. She kept sneaking glances at him. Seeing him relaxed, joking around with his family, and interacting with Laura’s nephews Samuel and Sergio who were both fascinated by his tattoos warmed Kennedy from the inside out.
“Can I brush your hair, Tia?” Penelope asked once she’d finished coloring her picture.
“Of course.”
Penelope climbed on the seat beside Kennedy and began brushing her hair with her Barbie brush that she’d brought in her pink Barbie purse.
“I want to help!” Priscilla exclaimed as she hopped up on the other side of Kennedy and started pulling out tiny barrettes from her pockets and clipping them in Kennedy’s hair.
As the girls worked on her hair, Kennedy looked around the room and felt herself getting emotional again. This was exactly what her dream was. To have a big family like this. Except, this wasn’t her family. They made her feel like she was part of them. Laura’s family had welcomed her with open arms and hearts. But she still felt like an outsider looking in.
“Kennedy?”
At the sound of her name, Kennedy glanced over her shoulder and saw her grandma’s cardiologist. Nana had always called him Zac because he was the spitting image of Zac Efron. Her grandma used to flirt with him and threaten that if she was just forty years younger, he’d be in trouble. Kennedy actually thought he was even better looking than the actor. He had a little bit of gray at his temple and his square jaw was peppered with salt and pepper scruff. She’d developed a little, okay big, crush on him during her grandma’s stay in Mercy General. He’d been the one bright spot in an otherwise harrowing time.
She stood and smiled widely. “Hi, Dr. Parker.”
He put his hand on his chest. “Please, call me Zac.”
Kennedy’s eyes widened in shock. “Your name is Zac?”
The corners of his lips curled. “No, my name is Aiden. How is yourgrandmadoing?” he asked with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes.
Kennedy’s head fell back as she laughed. She had no idea he’d heard her grandma calling him that. “She’s good. She’s at Well Brook.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure they’re taking good care of her.”
They were, but Kennedy still felt guilty that she wasn’t the one who was looking after her.
“How haveyoubeen?” he asked with a flirty emphasis on you.
“Um, yeah, good.” Kennedy still thought that Dr. Parker or Aiden was attractive, but she didn’t feel the same butterflies she had before. It wasn’t that his appearance had changed. If anything, in the past six months he’d gotten better looking. But for some reason, she just wasn’t feeling about him the same way she had been.
“They’re here!” Lori shouted and the entire room exploded in cheers, and everyone started hugging each other. Kennedy picked up Penelope and spun her around. “Laura’s doing great! Babies are doing great! Baby boy is six pounds two ounces and baby girl is five pounds four ounces! Mom says they’ll bring them to the window so everyone can see them.”
The group started to migrate down the hallway to the nursery viewing area. Kennedy looked back to say goodbye to Aiden, but saw that he must have left in the commotion. On the way down the hall, Laura’s youngest sister Leti, and her middle sister Luci flanked Kennedy on both sides.
“Okay who is McDreamy!” Leti asked.
“I think he’s more McSteamy than McDreamy,” Luci corrected her sister.
Kennedy definitely saw the comparisons that the women were making to the sexy rival doctors onGrey’s Anatomyplayed by Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane. She actually thought Aiden was more attractive than both those men…and none of them held a candle to Sebastian Savage.
13
Seb glancedbeside him and saw Kennedy staring out the window. They left the hospital a little over ten minutes ago and she hadn’t said a word. He’d seen her tear up when they got to see the babies. He wondered if that was just because she was happy for her friend, or if there was something more. He knew that she wanted someone who wanted kids. He wondered if that was part of what she was feeling.
She was clearly lost in her own thoughts, and he wanted to know what was going on in that pretty head of hers. Typically, he didn’t wonder what people were thinking. But he desperately wanted to know what her thoughts were.
The console lit up and he saw Genesis’s name come up on the screen. He quickly sent it to voicemail. He knew that he couldn’t ignore her calls forever, and he knew that she would just keep calling back until he finally picked up, but he wasn’t going to do that until he had answers to her questions. Until he knew that he could deliver a show for her.
Right now, he didn’t. Yes, he’d worked today, and he’d been working all week. But he had no idea when he sat down tomorrow if anything would come out.
