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ChapterThirty-Nine
ALLEY
Noelle Nicole.
I stood staring at the name scrolled under the branches on the wall. Then I looked down into the crib at the precious sight below me. She looked so peaceful when she slept, just like her daddy. Her eyes and nose were shaped like him too.Lucky girl.Landon wasted no time before he placed our daughter's name above her crib as he said he would.
It had been a month since we brought Noelle into the world and at times it still felt unreal. But the beautiful princess laying so peacefully asleep below me was very much real.
I had to stay in the hospital for three days, but under the circumstances that honestly wasn’t too bad. Landon slept there the whole time and I could barely get him to leave the room to go get food. Usually, he would wait until one of our friends came by to visit and he let them grab him something and bring it in.
His protective instinct had not changed, and I doubt it ever would.
Then we came home, where I finished healing from surgery, got into a routine, and started living our lives as an amazing family of three. And since both Landon and I were our own bosses, we had all the time needed or that we wanted to be together.
We also seemed to have a revolving door.
Our friends were at the house all the time to check-in, help if needed and just visit. We hadn’t been over to their places, but that was about to change. We were heading back to Jurnee and Braxton’s to finish what we’d started on Christmas day.
“Hey, baby,” Landon said from behind me. His arms came around my sides and his hands rested on the crib. Laying his head on my shoulder, his breath tickled my ear and stirred up the desire and longing to be able to make love to my husband.
Something that was still a couple of weeks away according to my doctor. And it was killing us both.
“Are you going to stand there and watch her sleep the whole time?” he asked me in a soft teasing tone.
I’d caught him doing the same thing many times. “You’re one to talk, Daddy,” I sassed back.
Just then, Noelle stirred, letting out a tiny cry, but then fell right back asleep. It was too adorable for words and a sigh left both our lips.
Turning around to face Landon, his arms still on each side of me, I went up on my toes and planted a feather-light kiss on his lips. “The baby monitor is on so I guess I better go get my stuff together so we can go.”
“Are you ready to marry me again, Mrs. Abbott?” he asked.
Since I had a little bit of warning this time, I had picked out a cream colored-dress to wear. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it felt good to get to choose something and stand in front of our friends and share in something special.
“More than ready,” I responded.
* * *
When I had walkedinto my brother and Jurnee’s home, I was shocked.
She still had all her Christmas decorations up and everything looked the same as the night we had to rush out that evening to have Noelle. Landon had asked me to renew our vows on Christmas and we were seconds away from doing that, so Jurnee said she felt that was how it should be.
It was the sweetest damn thing.
The same small group was there, but there was one addition. Gyth and Summer’s son Dexter James Elliott, Dex for short. The little guy had only been with them a week, but they had brought him to our house. They had introduced him to the clan in small doses over that time, but today he was getting his first big taste of our crazy group altogether. Looking over at him playing with the other kids and climbing all over his new daddy, it looked to me like he was fitting right in.
Dex had been left a ward of the state at birth when his mother died having him. She was very young, there were complications, and he had no other family to take him. And while a newborn didn’t usually have as much trouble being adopted, Dex suffered from seizures and had been living in a medical foster home for the last five years. With his condition, he slipped through the cracks day by day.
Until Summer and Gyth found him.
He was right where he should be. Summer, his new mother, understood him since she had been having seizures since she was very young, Gyth was remarkable at dealing with them, and he had the most fabulous new emotional support dog that lived with him. Just then Ash barked playfully at Dex, and the child giggled.
And then I smiled as Embry took control and set out to prove she meant what she said about them being best friends, but never once did she leave her brother out. They looked like lifelong friends in the making. When she was old enough, I knew they would take Noelle under their wings too.
I looked over at Summer and Jurnee for a brief second before heading upstairs to get ready and smiled at my best friends. They were the best anyone could ask for, and there we were, with children of our own, following in our paths.
* * *
