Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
He handed me a cup. “Oh…the hot chick?”
Owen’s eyes widened. “You know her?”
“No, but I’ve seen her.”
Owen leaned in with great interest. “Who is she?”
Brayden peeled back the corner of his plastic coffee lid. “I don’t know if she’s visiting or what. Or maybe she’s their babysitter. But I’ve seen her coming in and out of the building a few times.”
“Aren’t those kids too old for a babysitter?” I asked.
“Believe me, they need more than a babysitter. They’re tyrants,” Owen said.
“I’m sure they’re no worse than us when we were their age.” I chuckled.
“Anyway, I saw her carrying a bunch of groceries in the other day,” Brayden explained. “I offered to help her, but she wouldn’t let me.”
Owen arched a brow. “I bet you offered to help her.”
Brayden shrugged. “Can you freaking blame me?”
I looked between them. “I’m not gonna have to break up a fight between you two over this new girl in town, am I?”
“Mr. Catalano?” A nurse turned my attention away from the conversation.
I turned. “Yep?”
“I just went in to check your wife’s vitals. She’s awake and looking for you.”
My wife. Except she wasn’t my wife—yet.
“Thank you.” I nodded. “I’ll be right back,” I told the crew before walking away.
Lala’s voice was groggy when I entered the room. “Hey.”
She held the baby to her breast. Her curly hair was disheveled, but she’d never looked more beautiful than she did lying there breastfeeding our child.
“Everyone’s here to see you guys,” I said, putting my coffee down on the table.
“Really?” She scooched up. “Tell them to come in.”
“Well, you just woke up. I figured I’d give you a few.”
My beautiful daughter was perfectly latched onto Lala’s breast, sucking away. She’d gotten the hang of it so quickly. I ran my thumb along the peach fuzz on the side of her soft little cheek.
“She’s such a good girl,” I whispered.
“She loves to eat. I was so worried I’d have trouble.”
Her tiny hand curled into a fist on Lala’s chest. I gently slid my fingers along her hospital bracelet and smiled at the name written on it: Hope Ryann Catalano. We’d decided to keep Ryan as a first-name option if we ended up having a boy someday.
“The nurse called you my wife, by the way. We need to make that happen for real,” I told Lala.
She smiled. “I know. I feel left out. My two favorite people in the world are Catalanos. I want to be one, too.”
Lala and I had decided to have a massive wedding in the near future and would start planning it once everything calmed down and we became acclimated to our new life as parents. Everything was up in the air in the best way. Lala would be taking some time off in between research projects to stay home with Hope and wasn’t entirely sure what she’d be doing in a few months. As for me? My music career was still up in the air, too.
The band hadn’t gotten any offers out of California, which gave me a bit of a reprieve from having to worry about letting the guys down. But from the moment my daughter was born, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle missing a single second of her growing up. That meant if the band ended up going on the road, they’d have to find another drummer, because I was more than likely going to quit. Personally, I didn’t look at that as a failure. It would be my choice. I knew Lala would never ask me to step away from the band, but it didn’t matter. There was only one place I wanted to be, and that was with my family. Music would always be a part of my life. It just would no longer be my life.
“Let me know if you’re ready for the storm of our friends to blow in,” I said.
She covered her breast a little. “I’m ready.”
A minute later, I went out to the hall and gave them the all clear.
Colby had taken his son out of the carrier. Little Maverick had a massive amount of black hair for a baby who was only a few months old. He looked like he was wearing a toupee.
“Look at the hair on Mav’s head!” I laughed.
Billie fluffed it. “I know, right? Where did it come from?”
The crew bustled into the room and spent the next several minutes oohing and ahhing over baby Hope. It was crazy to realize that there were now three children in the mix among us.
I looked down at my daughter and pointed to Colby’s son. “You know, these two are gonna grow up together. He’d better not get any ideas.”
“I think Ryan might find that pretty funny, actually.” Brayden laughed.
Owen nodded. “Yeah. He’d get a kick out of Holden having to protect his daughter from Colby’s son—since he couldn’t protect Lala from you. Sweet revenge, you know?”