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She snorted. “Make sure you tell him it’s after Dad, not him.”
Chuckling, I saw her lips tip at the corners, but her eyes stayed on Wyatt. “Do you want me to go get him?”
She inhaled and turned her head to face me. “Yeah. He’s probably getting anxious.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Probably?”
This time, she smiled, and my shoulders relaxed. I had no idea how tense I was wondering if she was feeling okay until that moment. “Definitely.”
I tapped the arm of her wheelchair. “You ready to go back to your room?”
“I think I’ll stay another minute. The nurse will take me back.” She shifted her attention back to Wyatt. “Thanks for being with me. I know Bear probably asked you to, but it still meant a lot that I wasn’t alone.”
I pushed to my feet and wrapped both hands around the arms of her chair before turning it to face me fully. Leaning down, I stared into her eyes. “Bear didn’t ask me to do anything. He called me, and I didn’t think about it. I didn’t have to.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Why?”
There were a million ways to answer that question, but none I wanted to do with an audience and right after she gave birth. She needed time to rest, and I needed time to figure out how I was going to move forward. That experience made me realize my feelings for her were too strong to ignore. I wanted to give her time to accept the changes in our relationship, but she needed to know that giving her up was not an option for me. She thought it was too late and too much had happened, but I was no longer willing to accept that. It wouldn’t be easy, and we had a lot to talk about, but not tonight.
“We’ll talk about it later, okay?” She nodded slowly, and I pointed at the door. “I’ll go tell everyone.”
“Okay.” She smiled softly. “Thanks for coming.”
“I’m coming back.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Know that. But I want to,” I admitted.
We stared at each other before I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. I didn’t meet her eyes again. I couldn’t, or I’d kiss her the way I really wanted to, and she wasn’t ready for that. Pushing off the chair, I stood and headed toward the door. I rode the elevator to the waiting room and hurried through, the excitement of telling everyone urging me on. I felt like I imagined a proud father would when walking toward the group waiting anxiously to hear news about the baby.
I watched everyone stand, one by one, and turn to face me when I approached. My eyes floated over all the familiar faces, knowing they had shut down a party they all needed because they were worried about Becs. They were a true family, although not one of them were related by blood. When my stare landed on Bear, I saw the same worry in his expression that I knew I’d had in mine when I ran in here and probably still did. We weren’t out of the woods yet, and that would weigh heavy until we were.
“Well?” Bear stepped forward.
I put my hands on my hips but couldn’t resist smiling when I made the announcement. “It’s a boy.”
When there should have been applause, a hush fell over the room, and I realized they needed to hear more, so I continued. “She was amazing. They said she was already dilated to eight centimeters, so it was too late to stop her labor.” I shrugged. “Guess he just wanted to be out in the world.” When everyone chuckled and the tension in the room subsided, I began to relax. “Becs is doing great and can have visitors in a little while. The baby is in the NICU.”
“How much does he weigh?” Kat asked.
“Three pounds, three ounces.”
“Christ.” Bear ran his hand through his hair. “How does someone that small survive?”
Kat stepped forward and laid her hand on his arm. “Babies survive that every day, Bear. And he’s lucky enough to be in a hospital known for treating premature babies successfully.”
“She give him a name?”
I smiled remembering the conversation we just had. “Wyatt.”
“Wyatt Pierce,” Bull repeated. “Good name.”
“Wyatt Jonathon Pierce.” I added his middle name and glanced at Bear. “She said to tell you he’s not named after you. He’s named after your dad.”
Bear snorted out a laugh, and almost all the members joined in when he spoke again. “Think I can go in?”
I nodded. “Probably. She’s in a room on the seventh floor. Told Becs I wasn’t leaving, so I’ll take you up.”
