Page 249 of Wait for Him

Michael’s voice cuts through the haze of the moment, and I lift my head from Jackson’s shoulder.

“Rosalie.”

He sobs my name as he rounds the corner, and the second I see his face, I’m moving. I’m off Jackson’s lap and running toward my brother before I even register standing up.

Michael meets me halfway and lifts me straight off the floor, wrapping both arms around me so tightly I can barely breathe. His face disappears into my hair, his entire body shaking against mine while I hold on just as hard.

“I have a daughter,” he gets out through wracking sobs. “She’s here, Rose. I’m a dad.”

And there goes whatever composure I had left.

My brother is a dad.

I bury my face against his shoulder as my own tears come harder, because suddenly I’m seeing every version of Michael at once. My little brother holding my hand when we buried our parents even though he was hurting just as badly as I was. The kid I spent years protecting, worrying over, threatening to murder at least twice a week. The one constant I had when our entire lives changed and neither of us knew what the fuck we were supposed to do next.

For so long, when Michael and I said family, we mostly meant each other.

Now he has a daughter.

“Oh my God.” A laugh breaks through my tears as I pull back enough to look at him. “Mikey, you have a daughter.”

“I have a fucking daughter.”

The wonder in his voice nearly takes me out all over again. His cheeks are soaked, his eyes are bloodshot, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother look this happy.

“Is she okay?”

He nods, wiping uselessly at his face. “She’s perfect. She’s so fucking tiny, Rose. I don’t even know how she’s that small.”

I laugh because I’m not entirely sure what size he expected a newborn to be. “And Blaire?”

His face changes immediately. Somehow the smile gets even bigger while fresh tears fill his eyes.

“She’s good. She did so fucking good.” He shakes his head and looks down for a second, searching for words that evidently don’t exist. “Fuck, Rose, you should’ve seen her. I don’t know how she did that. I don’t know how she fucking did that.”

The awe in his voice makes me smile through my tears.

“I’m so proud of you.”

He gives me a wet laugh. “I didn’t do shit.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.” He pulls me against him again. “I know.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and close my eyes, and for a few seconds we just stand there holding each other.

Then he says exactly what’s been breaking my heart all day. “I wish they were here.”

My throat closes immediately.

Naturally, he’d be thinking about them too.

“I know, Mikey.”

“I’ve been thinking about them all fucking night.” His voice breaks again. “But when they handed her to me... fuck. I wanted Dad. I wanted to tell him to meet her. I wanted him to pat me on the back the way he used to and tell me I did good.”

Fuck.