Page 6 of We Drank the Dawn

That made Tag laugh. “I didn’t wanna have a baby on the side of the highway.”

“Well, I’m starting to think you missed your calling to NASCAR.” Mom patted his shoulder.

Bea chimed in from the bed. “I had no idea he could drive like that.”

We all looked her direction and when my sister’s brown eyes met mine, I left my brother-in-law behind. Sidling up to the bed, I peered into a scrunched, pink face with some seriously droopy cheeks. An involuntary laugh lifted from my throat. “Oh my gosh, Bea! Those cheeks!”

Bea giggled. “I know! Aren’t they amazing?”

“Sis, she’s beautiful.”

Sarah thrust a container of hand sanitizer at me and I dutifully applied. Bea patted the edge of the bed, and the mattress bucked as I perched on it. “Do we finally get to learn her name?” I asked.

“It’s Wren Hope.”

Bea told us her birth story. How Wren wanted to arrive in the car. How there wasn’t time for an epidural. How Tag was white as a sheet, but the perfect support. Tag and Mom added their points of view a few times, and we laughed together. Both Sarah and I got a turn holding Wren. And even though Bea’s happiness was mesmerizing, I couldn’t take my eyes off my wife.

She held Wren like a natural, her smile radiating a level of joy I wondered if I’d ever feel while holding a baby. She ran the pads of her fingers over Wren’s cheeks and fussed with her hat and blanket. She hugged her close and kissed the top of her head, repeatedly tearing up.

Sarah was ready for this step.

I couldn’t deny that our future family had been rolling around my head more often than usual. Maybe I was ready, too. For her sake, I wanted to be. But, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that something terrible was going to happen. I hadn’t always been a pessimist, a better-safe-than-sorry type, but it was hard to be positive about the future when life had handed us so many blows.

For the most part, Sarah and I were used to rolling with the punches—but with our babies, each try would be costly. Physically and financially. That weighed heavy on me. I knew there wouldn’t be a stars-aligning moment to let us know the coast was clear, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted a sign written on the wall that it was time to try.

And that the outcomes would be everything we hoped for.

Because if they weren’t, I would be all she ever had. She said she was okay with that, but watching her cradle a baby made me doubt. She’d be okay, maybe, but she wouldn’t be happy.

And if anyone deserved happiness, it was Sarah.

Back at Meadowbrook, Sarah stood in front of the bathroom mirror, removing her make-up with a cotton ball. We were staying in Suite C at the bed and breakfast—for the second time in the same year. First when Bea got married, and now for my oldest sister Hollie’s wedding. I could only hope my remaining sisters would fall in love and settle down in Denver where they belonged. I didn’t think I could handle any more of my family moving so far away.

Lost in thought, I unbuttoned my shirt, planning to take a quick shower.

Sarah breathed a quiet laugh. “What are you thinking about?”

I caught her gaze in the mirror. “Nothing.”

“You have the line.” She smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “I do not.” According to Sarah, I got a particular crease in my forehead when I fretted about something. I looked at my face in the mirror. She was right—I had the line.

“You cannot hide your worry from me.”

“I didn’t realize I was worrying.”

“I know. What is it this time?”

She reached up to pull the bobby pins from her half-way-up hairstyle. But I stepped behind her, taking over the task. Pressing my fingers into her curls, I searched my thoughts. “I think I was imagining the rest of my sisters married off to Texas cowboys.”

She hummed. “Cowboys suit the Thompson girls.”

I scowled at her. “No, they don’t.” I started a pile of pins on the edge of the ceramic sink.

She giggled, completely unphased by my grumping. “Have you ever seen Hollie so happy? She was absolutely glowing today. And Jesse might be one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He’s perfect for her. She’s like a completely different person.”

I nodded. She was—no one in their right mind would deny it.