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Part of me whispers that I should let her go. Let her suffer just a little longer. She’s earned it, after all. But fuck, she’s still my mother, and despite her many, many flaws, I’ve got to believe she didn’t intend to hurt me. Or any of her children.
Would it be rational to withhold access to her grandchild? Or just plain-old vindictive?
“Sage.” Lacy beats me to the punch, and I hold my breath, waiting to hear the verdict. “Come meet your granddaughter.”
“It’s a girl?” Mama practically swoons, and I’m not convinced she’s acting.
She swishes into the room, hands clasped under her chin as though in prayer, and fawns over the sweetest baby on the planet. “Does she have a name?”
“Not yet,” Lacy says, all smiles. “But I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon.”
“Don’t let Ridge boss his way into a name you don’t like. Devlin did that.” Despite the difficult topic, Mama’s voice is soft, and a smile plays on her lips.
Lacy’s eyes grow round. “He did?”
Mama’s smile widens, and through a low laugh she says, “Ridge was meant to be named Walker, but Devlin changed it at the last minute. I was too tired to argue.”
Lacy’s laughter is bright and melodic, and my throat tightens as I watch the wall between two of the most important women in my life begin to crumble. Not that I expect it to come falling down in a single day, and not that I forgive Mama or plan to let her back in any time soon. Hell, that wall may never be eliminated completely, and I might be the one helping to hold it up, but at the very least, this moment has knocked a few bricks out of it.
Travis races into the room like his ass is on fire, the wild energy from earlier back in full force—or maybe it never wore off—but the second his eyes land on my mother, he halts, his back going ramrod straight.
“It’s a girl,” I tell him, hoping like hell he can play it cool. I’d hate to kick my future brother-in-law out of the room before he gets to meet his niece.
“Trav,” Lacy calls, capturing his attention away from my mother. “Get over here.”
He comes to the other side of the bed, eyeing Mama warily. She offers him a polite nod, and Travis finally relaxes, bending to murmur sweet nothings in my daughter’s ear.
Brooks and Addie are next to arrive, followed by Mack, with Laken trailing not far behind. Their joy for us is clear on their faces—even Brooks’s.
As Addie coos over the baby, and Laken so obviously moons over my best friend, Mama puts a hand on my shoulder. “Congratulations,” she says. “You deserve to be happy.” And with a final tight smile, she leaves.
The relationship will never be what it once was, but that’s probably a good thing. This is the start of something new. With some luck, something better. But at the very least, something I can decide the boundaries of.
The rest of my siblings come in on what seems like a rotation. I’m not sure if it’s planned or impromptu, but as happy as I am to have them all here with us, it’s nice not to have everyone in this claustrophobic-feeling hospital room all at once.
By the time they’ve all had a chance to offer their congratulations and ogle the beauty of our precious child, Lacy’s worn out. She’s a trooper and won’t admit it, but I can see it in the droop of her shoulders and the slow dip of her eyelids.
The baby starts fussing, her tiny mewl of hungry anger reminding me a lot of her mother.
“Okay.” I stand, ushering the stragglers out. “No one’s going to get a free show here. Lacy’s going to nurse the baby, so y’all need to leave. Now.”
Cole chuckles at my antics—like he isn’t the kind of perv who’d try to cop a peek—and Scarlett drags him out with a huge smile on her face, but Trey lingers at the door, motioning for me to join him in the hall.
“What’s up?” What’s so important that he’d drag me away from my woman and new baby only hours after birth?
“Just wanted to set your mind at ease.” His eyes dart to the room behind me, and he drops his voice to a near whisper. “They aren’t coming back.”
Despite the unbreakable cloud of joy I’m riding, a chill runs up my spine. “Who?”
“Her parents. The troublemakers.”
“Oh? And how would you know that?” But even as I’m asking the question, I realize, I don’t want to know.
Trey is many things—most of all a fucking mystery—and after the way he handled Mama… Yeah, I really don’t want to know.
“Don’t worry, I took care of it. Now you just need to go take care of them.” He nods back toward Lacy and the baby before leaving me with a knowing smirk.
No need to tell me twice.
