AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He looks weird,” Sammy crinkles his nose, as if he’s looking at some curious bug in a terrarium. “Kinda wrinkly.”
“That’s because he was just born,” I laugh lightly. “You were kinda wrinkly, too. Both of you.”
Sammy gives me a startled look. “Like that?”
“Yes.”
“You’re still wrinkly when you get out of bed,” Luna dryly remarks, and the whole room bursts with laughter.
Marie and Steven come over to congratulate me, and I welcome their affection and their kindness with all the grace and excitement that I can muster in my exhaustion.
“You did phenomenal,” Marie says, gently squeezing my wrist while her eyes scan my face. “But you need to rest. So how about Steve and I take all three kids off your hands for a couple of hours?”
“Are you sure, Marie? You’ve already done so much,” I reply.
Somewhere behind her, I see the Danson brothers fidgeting and exchanging nervous glances next to the food table. It smells fantastic. I reckon they’re eager to dig in—likely more eager than me, somehow. Marie gives me a warm smile.
“Halle, you’ve made me a thrice-over grandma in record time,” she says. “The least I can do is give you a little bit of room to breathe, to sleep, to eat, to decompress. Imagine I had to knock out two boys at once. I know what you went through and then some.”
“I thought you said we were an easy birth and that Wyatt took forever to come out,” Chase mutters, prompting Wyatt to jokingly roll his eyes.
Steven laughs. “Your mother just didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“Oh, wow,” Wyatt scoffs. “But you were okay with hurting mine, calling me Mr. Tardy for the first five years of my life.”
“You were my first born and kept running my patience thin,” Marie jokes. “You had it coming since day one. Off we go, kiddos! Let’s let Momma get some sleep, and we’ll come back later, okay?”
Sammy and Luna both nod and get off the bed, letting Steven guide them out of the room. From what I can tell, Sammy is quick at learning how to tug at the old man’s heart strings. He even has his big puppy-dog eyes ready as he looks up.
“Grandpa Steven?” he asks.
“Yeah, kiddo?”
“Can we get ice cream?”
“Sure thing. There’s a cafeteria downstairs, I reckon we can score a cone or something.”
“Well, that takes care of that,” Marie says, then plants a kiss on my forehead and takes the baby from Wyatt. “I’ll bring up some ice cream for you later, Halle. Get some rest,” she adds with a wink. I imagine she will be happy to spend some quiet time with her new grandson in the nursery while Steven takes the older two for ice cream. “See you later, taters!”
Once they’re gone, I feel a sense of peace wash over me. For so long, I was the only one looking after myself and my children. Even when I was still part of the Nash family I was alone, though I was constantly surrounded by people.
I’m not alone anymore.
I take comfort in knowing that there are three men in this world who would do anything, including the unspeakable, to keep me safe, healthy, and happy. I have a family, a big family filled with people who are kind and patient, loving and giving, always ready to help. This right here… this is the rainbow I’ve been searching for.
“Halle,” Eric says as he closes the door to give us some privacy. “We need to talk.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask, a sense of alarm pricking the back of my neck.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he says.
I look at him, then at Chase and Wyatt with equal concern and confusion.
“We’ve been talking,” Chase sighs.
Wyatt fumbles through the back pocket of his jeans. “And we can’t seem to fall in agreement as to which of us should go on the birth certificate as the father.”
“Oh.” I can’t help but laugh. This has been an emotional rollercoaster from the moment I learned that I was pregnant, yet I never expected a moment where we’d get tangled in such logistics. “I forgot all about that part to be honest.”
