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I lifted my head, and my eyes felt swollen and weird. Pushing forward, I held Phoebe’s head between my hands and poured a kiss of devotion into her. Leaning my forehead against hers, I whispered against her lips, “I’m so proud of you. God, I love you.”
She nodded in my hands as her tears continued to fall. “I love you too. Thank you for being here. I needed you.” As the cries got stronger, her lips curled into a smile, and I smiled against them.
“Okay, Dad, I’m guessing you would like to do the honors?” Still staring into her eyes, I continued smiling as the doctor repeated his question.
I quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Huh?”
Not even able to hide a chuckle, Phoebe ran a hand across my cheek. “Julian, he’s talking to you.”
A huge goofy grin plastered across my face as I quickly stood up. “Oh, yeah…Dad. That’s me.” Turning back to Phoebe, I winked. “That’s me!”
Holy shit, that’s me.
After cutting the cord, I took the opportunity to find Ryker. He’d been standing off in the corner, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were red and he sniffed, turning his head every time I glanced his way. I could never repay him for what he’d done. There weren’t enough thank yous to suffice.
“Ry…”
He immediately ran both hands over his face, and pulled me toward him. The force of our awkward hug knocked the air out of him as I whispered in his ear, “You saved me. I’ll never forget this.”
His voice drifted over my shoulder, tired and worn. “I didn’t do anything. Phoebe did it all.”
“You did more than you’ll ever know. I love you, Ry.” Releasing him, we both coughed in embarrassment.
Glancing away, he stared at his feet. “Yeah, you too.”
After birth scores had been declared, and the nurse blanket wrapped my kid like a burrito, the smallest thing I’d ever seen was placed in my arms. I didn’t know where to look or what to do, petrified I’d drop her. Finally, taking the side steps of an elderly man, I shifted back to Phoebe, cradling a pink blanket that seemed too big for what was nestled inside. Tearing my eyes away, I sat on the edge of the bed as a tiny hand emerged and brushed against my shirt.
“I’d like to introduce you two.” Tilting my arms, the tiny mouth opened and yawned before raising another fist toward my chin. “Phoebe, meet your daughter.”
***
The past few hours had been a whirlwind of stress and frantic movement. A few moments with our new daughter weren’t enough as the nurses whisked her off to the NICU. They said I could visit after a few minutes, but I didn’t want to leave Phoebe.
Zane and I had plowed through the airport like crazed men, dodging children and praying we could rent another car in fifteen minutes or less. We’d driven like fugitives down I-5 and made the normal three-hour drive in an unprecedented two hours and thirteen minutes. Idle hands turned into shaking arms as Zane dropped me off at the hospital.
I’d been trying to call Ryker for hours with no response, and the ambiguity of the situation almost drove me to the brink of insanity. What would I find when I got there? Would I have missed it by hours or seconds?
It staggered me to think of how far we’d come since that early morning I’d awoken in a hotel room to find her in the throes of a nightmare. A nightmare that still haunted us.
“Phoebe, you’re safe—you had a nightmare.”
“Where?”
“Hey…”
“I…it’s…I don’t…”
“Bad dream, huh?”
“Something like that.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not in the least.”
I shook my head as the conversation played out in my head like it’d done so many times over the past eight months. She’d had no response to my question and took the opportunity to start a deadly kiss that quickly ignited and sparked an out of control fire. I’d fallen in love that night. I didn’t stand a chance.
I needed to call Jaxon Hough and find out if we still stood as one against the nightmare that’d come back for her.
