Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
“You’re incredible. I love you so fucking much.”
She turns her upper body toward me slightly, panting and moaning softly.
“Perfect, Stella,” the nurse says. “Keep breathing.”
“Okay, you can push,” Dr. Halverson says. “Get those shoulders out and the hard part will be over.”
Stella whimpers and takes a breath in and out.
“Come on, babe,” I say. “Keep pushing.”
She looks helplessly over at Mila, who gives her a steely look.
“I’d do it for you if I could,” Mila says. “But only you can do this for your baby. You’re strong, Stella. Now push with every fucking thing you’ve got. You’re almost there.”
Stella groans and finds a new strength, her whole upper body tensing as she pushes. Her expression is agonized. I hate that I can’t do anything but witness her pain.
She lets out a long cry and the nurse gives her a bright smile.
“That’s it, Stella! The shoulders are out!”
Sucking in a breath, Stella’s face lights up when she sees our baby in the doctor’s arms.
“You have a son,” Dr. Halverson says, giving us a quick peek at his face.
Stella bursts into tears and collapses back against the bed. She’s boneless, her hold on Mila’s hand relaxing.
“A boy.” Stella smiles at me. “We have a baby boy.”
“You were amazing.” My voice is choked with tears I can’t hold back.
The doctor quickly delivers the placenta while another doctor and another nurse hover over the baby off to the side.
When the nurse puts our son in my wife’s arms, she gets an expression that’s more peaceful and euphoric than I’ve ever seen. She was made for this moment.
Mila and Cam slipped out of the room, so it’s just the three of us. Stella cuddles our son and kisses his forehead, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You want to hold him?” she offers.
Slowly and gently, I take him from her. I’m flooded with love as I look at his perfect little nose, cheeks, eyes and lips.
“Joseph Benjamin,” Stella says softly. “He looks like a Joseph.”
She wants to name him after my dad’s father, and I’m overwhelmed by emotion as I hear her say the name, an ode to both my grandpa and me.
I look over at the woman I never dreamed would be mine until fate intervened. “I love you so much.”
“I love you.” Her eyelids flutter sleepily.
I kiss Joseph’s soft little forehead and he gives me a wide-eyed look.
“Hi,” I say softly. “I’m your dad.”
I pass him back to Stella so she can try nursing him. She looks up at me.
“I want Mila and Cam to hold him and take pictures for us.” She pauses.
“Quentin and some of the front office people are in the waiting room. I’m not letting them in here, but they’ll want to see Joseph when he goes to the nursery.”
She turns serious. “I know we didn’t decide on godparents for sure, but...I want Mila to be his godmother.”
I nod in agreement. I underestimated Mila. She came through for me and Stella today in a way I’ll never be able to repay.
“Let’s have a little bit longer of just the three of us before you get Mila and Cam,” Stella says.
I bend and kiss her on the forehead. “You did it, babe. We have a perfect son.”
She smiles at me and I reach for my phone. I need to capture the most perfect moment of my life in a picture so I can revisit every detail in the decades to come.
I could never forget this feeling, though. Stella and Joseph are my heart. There’s no me without them. I’m the luckiest man in the world.
CHAPTER THREE
EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER
Shelby
“Uncle Beau! Hey, Uncle Beau!”
My nephew Anderson is jumping and waving his arms in the air from a few seats over at the Coyotes’ home arena, trying to get my husband’s attention as the team warms up on the ice.
I can barely hear him over the roar of the crowd. Anderson idolizes Beau and wants to be a pro hockey player when he grows up. He said earlier today that it was the most exciting day of his life.
And honestly, same. The Coyotes are in the championship for the first time in sixteen years. They haven’t won it in franchise history, and with a series lead of three games to two, this could be the biggest night the team has ever had.
We were so lucky to score all the tickets we needed so the family could all be here together. The Fox den has grown a lot since I married into the family.
My two youngest kids, Sierra, three, and Jack, two, are sitting on either side of me, both wearing noise-blocking headphones. Charlie, now five, is next to Anderson, his nine-year-old cousin. Then there’s Beau’s brother Asher and his wife Chloe, Anderson’s parents, and their six-year-old daughter Amara. Beau’s parents, Henry and Claire, are trying to entertain Isaac, Beau’s younger brother, and his wife Jane’s three-year-old daughter Grace, while Isaac is gone changing his one-year-old daughter Ellie’s diaper. Grace is taking a photo of Beau’s sister Fiona and her four-year-old son Ryland. Fiona is a single mom now and she’s much better off without her deadbeat husband.