Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
When there’s no pain, I open both eyes and look at my husband, who is fully dressed. He points at the tray on the bed. “Breakfast… if you’re up for it.”
I sit up gingerly and nod my head. “I’m good as new.”
He helps me up nonetheless. Once I have the pillows stacked at my back, he hands me the cup of coffee, and I take a small sip. “Mmmm, this is perfect.”
He nods. “Do you feel like going to the hospital?”
I roll my eyes. “The hospital? Beau, I’m fine. I really am.”
He smiles gently at me. “I know. I just thought you may want to go see your new nephew.”
“New nephew…” I set the cup on the nightstand. “Beau, are you telling me that Issi and Lucas had the baby?”
He nods, his smile widening. “She was in labor all night. She had him around five this morning.”
I jump out of bed. “And you’re just telling me? Oh Beau, you missed it.”
He takes a bite of bacon off the plate. “I wasn’t going to leave you. It’s fine. We can go now.”
I race around the room, grabbing clothes. “You should have been there. It’s your family and—”
He comes up to me. “You’re my family, and I should have stayed with you to make sure you’re okay. Now that you’re better, you and I will go together.”
I put my hand to his chest. “Give me five minutes.” I go to my tiptoes and kiss him quickly. “Five minutes.”
I squeal as I race out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. I turn on the shower and pull off my clothes. I wrap my hair in a knot at the top of my head, and then I’m in and out of the shower in no time. I brush my teeth, put lotion on, and then after getting dressed in shorts and a blouse, I put some mascara and lip gloss on before going out to the bedroom.
Beau is sitting on the bed. “Wow, that has to be the quickest shower ever.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. My sandals are downstairs.”
He’s laughing as he follows me down the stairs. I slip on my sandals and make my way out to the garage. I get in the passenger side and impatiently tap my foot on the floorboard as I wait for Beau to come out.
Finally, he comes out of the house and gets in. “Here. You have to eat something.”
He hands me a yogurt and a banana with a bottle of water. “You are too good to me.”
He’s smiling as he looks at the rearview mirror and is backing out of the garage. We make the drive into Jasper, and after stopping at the gift shop, we find the maternity ward.
When we stop at the nurses’ station, I’m practically bouncing with excitement. “Hi, we’re here to see Lucas and Isabella Blaze.”
The nurse blushes from head to toe when she looks at Beau. I roll my eyes and smile up at him. He’s clueless, and I’m sure he missed it because he’s had his eyes on me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfect.”
The nurse looks up from the computer. “Room 318. It’s down the hall and around the corner.”
I grab Beau’s hand and take off down the hall. He’s carrying flowers, and I’m carrying a stuffed animal. “Did they pick a name?”
“Lucas Jr. My brother is so original.” Beau laughs.
“Aww. A boy! We can call him LJ. I love it.”
We get outside of room 318 and knock softly. Lucas comes to the door, smiling ear to ear. He pulls it open and holds his hand out. “Come on in. The party’s all here.”
We walk across the threshold, and for the number of people in the room, it’s remarkably quiet. We wave at everyone and whisper hello. Ollie comes right up to us, and I kneel at his feet. “Nat, are you okay? You scared me.”
I wrap the little boy up in my arms. “I am perfect because of you. Thank you for staying with me and sending your friend to go get Beau.”
He puts his little hand on my cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m perfect now because you were so quick to help me. Now how about you introduce me to your brand-new cousin?”
He grabs my hand, and I follow him to where Issi is in the bed, holding the cutest little baby ever. I set the stuffed animal on the windowsill, and Beau puts the flowers next to it. Walking over to the bed, I put my hand over my mouth and gasp. “Oh my God, Issi, he’s precious.”
Ollie is telling us all about LJ. “He cries when he’s hungry and he sleeps alllll the time.” He goes on and on, and I laugh softly at the way Ollie’s talking about his cousin. I press my finger to the end of his nose. “Well, I’m sure when you were younger, you did the exact same thing.”