Page 39 of Saving Their Forever

Joey counts her down, and by the end, Wren’s screaming. I’m so focused on West’s face, I know the moment the baby’s out. I’ve never seen him look so…awed.

“Got her,” he says softly. Raelynn crouches next to him and slides a gray blanket under our daughter. Joey walks West through how to cut and tie off the cord, and when he rubs the baby’s chest for a moment, she lets out a tiny little wail.

“Is she…?” Wren is so exhausted, she lets her head fall back against my shoulder.

“Meet your daughter,” the SEAL says. He lays the baby on Wren’s chest, and we stare down at her. All the books, all the articles I read online late at night while Wren slept…they all talked about how intensely you would love your kid only seconds after meeting them for the first time. But I didn’t understand until now.

The baby cries until Wren strokes her chin, then she suddenly stops and blinks bright blue eyes up at us.

She’s not afraid. Doesn’t recoil when I give her one of my fingers to hold. She’s so small. Fragile.

“She’s perfect,” I whisper. “You’re perfect, little bird.”

We’re dirty, exhausted, and bloody. But as the baby stares up at her mother, I sweep my gaze over the men and women standing around us. We’re surrounded by family, the sun setting in the distance, and I press a kiss to my wife’s cheek. “I love you, Wren.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ryker

Joey talks West through all the stuff that has to be done after birth, and halfway through some sort of belly massage torture, Wren begs him to stop so she can hand me the baby.

“You won’t hurt her,” Wren says. Tears swim in her eyes, and I don’t think she wants to let Harlow go. But the newborn can sense her distress and wails right along with her. “Support her head and…snuggle her. You have to keep her warm.”

In an instant, I’m back at the Fairmont in Boston three years ago. We’d only just met, and Wren was in shock after almost being kidnapped.

“Come here,” I say, stretching out on the bed.

“I just m-met you!”

“I’m not asking you to sleep with me, sweetheart. You need to get warm. You see anything else in this room as big as me? Until you can manage to get through a sentence without those teeth clicking like a pair of castanets, you’ll…snuggle.”

The memory soothes me enough to take our daughter in my arms. Or…arm, since she’s so small, my hand dwarfs her head. She quiets almost immediately, as if she can’t quite figure out who this big brute holding her is.

“I’ve got you, baby girl,” I whisper. She makes a little noise. Not a sob. More like a sigh. Her face is pinking up, and her fine red hair is lighter than Wren’s.

“Ryker?” Joey calls. “Take off your shirt and put her directly against your chest. Skin to skin is best. It’ll help her bond with you.”

Despite how close I am with this group of men and women I call a family, only West and Inara have ever seen my scars. But if this is what Harlow needs, I don’t care.

Except, I can’t take off my shirt without letting her go. For a full minute, I try to figure out how I can manage it until Rip steps forward. “For fuck’s—fudge’s sake,” he says. “Someone give me a knife.”

Inara hands him her multi-tool, and he kneels next to me, grabs my collar, and slices all the way through the shirt.

Harlow settles as soon as I cradle her to my chest. “Can she see me?” I ask.

“She can see you.” Wren reaches over and rests her hand on my thigh. “Just keep her in ‘cuddle range.’”

She’s not afraid of me.

“Hey there, little one. I’m…your dad.” As soon as the words leave my lips, my tears spill over.

* * *

Wren looks so tiny in the hospital bed. Her obstetrician was pissed that we took a helicopter back to Seattle, but after West informed her that one of her med techs had drugged Wren to help Ramin’s men kidnap her, the doc backed down. And gave the SEAL Bobby’s home address.

Harlow slept the whole flight, but she was pissed as hell when the nurse woke her up to run all the tests they normally run right after birth. Wren wasn’t much happier when she had to suffer through another round of painful belly massage.

But now, they’re both out. I should let myself rest too. Trev and Ronan are taking the first shift outside the hospital room, with Vasquez and Ella scheduled to relieve them a little after 2:00 a.m.

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