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I laugh, shaking my head and rolling my eyes as he continues to lather my hair. “Whatever you say, Thompson.Whatever. You. Say.”
Hunter’s love has filled a void inside of me that I never even knew existed. I thought love this big only happened in fairy tales. Turns out, I was wrong.
I’ve found my fairy tale. Hunterismy fairy tale.
31
Hunter
Three Years Later
Isit on the patio, holding my newborn, wondering if he’s too hot. Or maybe he’s cold. I don’t know. These things need to come with an instruction manual.
“Say good-bye to that baby face of yours.” Brody grins, looking down at our baby boy, Easton. “Now that you have yourself one of these little bastards, you won’t be getting much sleep. All that sleep deprivation is gonna lead to some wrinkles on that super-soft skin of yours.”
“Babe, shut up,” Bria hisses from the pool before smiling at me. “Hunter, don’t listen to your knuckleheaded brother-in-law. You know he’s just jealous that you still have a baby face at your age.”
Brody moves closer, poking his finger into the side of my face. “Yep, I see a wrinkle starting right there.”
I scowl. “Fuck off.”
The sound of a loud snore has all three of us turning our heads to the hammock, where Sutton’s mouth is hanging open while she sleeps. I’m pretty sure I see a line of drool. A few minutes before, she was part of the conversation. But given that, ten days ago, our lives completely changed and no one in this household is getting much sleep, she’s exhausted.
Brody smirks, pulling his phone out and snapping a picture. “I’ll get her back for that prank she played on me at Christmas. Took me days to get all that fucking Sharpie off my face.”
Iris, Bria and Brody’s oldest, jumps into the pool to her mother, and Brody shakes his head.
“That kid has no fear, I swear.”
“Wonder who she gets it from,” Bria deadpans. “Hopefully, our little man won’t be like that. But something tells me with that O’Brien blood in his veins…I’m doomed.”
Before anyone can answer, Isla runs around the corner, barreling toward me and the baby with Cam hot on her heels. Addison’s last to make an appearance with their son on her hip.
“Slow your roll, Isla girl,” she calls out. “We need to talk about rules before you hold the baby.”
Cam stops in front of me. “Yeah, like rule number one. Your dad gets to hold the baby first,” he says. Holding his arms out, he grins. “Come to Uncle Cam-Cam, little buddy!”
Handing him off, I shrug. “Yeah, I think he just shit his pants anyway, so that’s all you, big guy.”
“Seriously?” Cam groans. “Not cool.”
The baby stealer, also known as Cam, takes off inside with my smelly kid. Out of all of us guys, he’s the one who took to fatherhood so easily. It’s like he was made to do it, and I look up to him so much. I also ask him for advice more than I’ll ever admit.
In the midst of all the commotion, Sutton wakes up, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Oh shit. I dozed off.”
“You say it like it’s a surprise.” I laugh. “Babe, I found you asleep in the laundry room last week.”
Sutton rubs her eyes as Addison walks to her, giving her a hug.
“Congratulations, Mama. How are you doing?”
“Honestly, how the hell did you do this as a teenager?” She frowns. “I’m tired. My boobs are achy and leaking. He only sleeps during the daytime, like some sort of vampire. Oh, and my body looks like stretched-out pizza dough.”
“Truthfully, it wasn’t easy. But I had a lot of help from my parents. And as hard as the newborn stage is—and I don’t care what anyone says; it’s hard—it also goes by really fast.” She sighs. “Don’t sweat the small things. The laundry, the housework. Any of it. Just get through the days and try your best to snuggle that little nugget and soak it in.”
“It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be,” Sutton says, and I can hear the emotion in her voice. “I’m so scared all the time. And I’m tired. And then I get grumpy.” Patting her chest, she pouts. “And seriously, are my boobs ever going to look normal again?”
“You’re sexy as hell, Little Bird. And I love dem boobies,” I call out, winking. “Not me counting down the days till you get that six-week check.”
