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Two hours after they arrived, John Heath Stratton came into the world. He weighed a whopping eight pounds, three ounces, and was twenty-one inches long. Ruby said Piper was a champ and Sawyer could not disagree.
As he held his son in his arms, he was reminded of yet another huge blessing that had been bestowed upon him this year.
“You look good holding that baby,” Piper said from her hospital bed.
“You look good, period.” He leaned over to kiss her.
“We did it,” she said. “We made a baby and he’s kinda perfect.”
“My dad would have been out in the waiting room doing backflips over this little guy.”
Big John would never get to hold little John in his arms, but Sawyer’s son would know everything there was to tell about his namesake.
“Thank you,” he said to Piper. “Thank you for not giving up on me even when I gave you so many reasons to.”
“Thank you for loving me.”
That was nothing. Once he got the hang of it, it was the easiest thing he’d ever done.
* * *
THREE MONTHS AFTER John was born, Piper and Sawyer were back on tour. Their wedding had been a lavish affair. There was a horse-drawn carriage and dove release. Fireworks at the end of the night and a dress with a ten-foot train that had been custom-made by Piper’s favorite designer. And if the wedding itself hadn’t been miracle enough, little Liam from North Carolina had been able to attend as the ring bearer. He beamed with pride as his father wheeled him down the aisle. Cancer would win eventually, but not until a few more of Liam’s dreams came true. It had been a day she would never forget.
“You want Mama? Is that what you want?” Sawyer held John over his head and had him giggling up a storm. “Well, let’s get her.”
Holding him like an airplane, Sawyer flew John right into Piper’s arms.
“Did you like that?” she asked him. “Daddy plays all the fun games, doesn’t he?”
“Are you ready for tonight? I think the sleep deprivation could be a problem,” Sawyer said through a yawn. “I can’t remember any of the words in the second verse of ‘Out All Night.’”
Piper could top that. “At rehearsals, I sang the chorus of ‘Walk On’ even though they told me to sing a snippet of ‘Better Days.’”
“We’re both losing it,” Sawyer said with a laugh.
“Maybe it’s part of our new brand. The tired-and-incoherent-new-parents brand. Maybe we can pick up a diaper company as a sponsor.”
“I can see it now,” Sawyer said. “Piper Starling and Sawyer Stratton, brought to you by baby wipes.”
At least they could laugh about it. They had each other, and that was all Piper needed to get through.
“You two ready for the meet and greet?” Heath said, coming aboard. “Hello, my favorite little baby in the whole world.” Grandpa took his grandson away from Piper. “You are getting so big. Yes, you are.”
John thought Heath was even more hilarious than his own father, which really rubbed Sawyer the wrong way.
“How do you get him to laugh like that? He only does that for you. I don’t get it.”
“Babies love me,” Heath gloated. “I’ve got him. You two need to go to the meet and greet. Right after Piper changes her shirt, because you have spit-up on your right shoulder.”
Piper glanced down and, sure enough, she had been hit. “You little stinker,” she said, giving John’s nose a poke.
After a quick outfit change, security led them down to the meet-and-greet room, where Gretchen waited with the fans. Being a traveler at heart, she hadn’t been able to resist the temptation to join them on their cross-country trek. She refused to babysit anything other than the candy bar, but Sawyer had caught her making silly faces at John to get a laugh more than once.
As for mother and son, things were actually going better than expected. Sawyer didn’t always like to admit it, but he and Gretchen had quite a bit in common. They had similar taste in music and a love for zombie television shows. They both had contagious laughs and knew how to put together some pretty impressive pranks while on tour together.
Meet and greets were less stressful these days. People were always friendly. Piper and Sawyer didn’t have to hide anything or lie about their feelings. It was all sunshine and rainbows.
