Page 7 of Luke

“If anything happens, that’s on you.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed. He’d never forgive himself if something happened.

The car stopped outside of Ryker’s, and Luke grabbed the bag and car seat, prepared to get out.

“I can’t go in there looking like this,” Paisley suddenly said.

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve met most of these people before. But I won’t be long so we can get you to the doctor.”

She opened her mouth to argue and was overtaken by coughing.

Luke shut the door and made his way up to Ryker’s porch. The door flung open before he got there, and eight faces stared back at him.

“Hi,” he said as he walked in.

The women focused on Garrett as the men stared him down.

“As much as I would love to do this with you, I need to get her to the doctor. I promise to do this after, though,” Luke rushed. “This is Garrett. His diaper was changed about half an hour ago, he was fed about two hours ago, and there are bottles in the bag that need to go in the fridge.”

April approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. It was only then that he noticed she was also carrying a baby. “Uncle Luke, this is Molly.”

Luke teared up as he took in the tiny baby girl. She made Garrett look huge. “Hi, Molly,” he cooed.

“Go. He’s in good hands, I promise,” April assured him.

Luke nodded and left the house without talking to anyone else. He felt better with other parents there. Being called Uncle Luke was wild though, considering they didn’t know how true it really was.

Paisley was still coughing when he made it back to the car. He slid in and immediately began to rub circles on her back.

“You’re going to be okay,” he whispered. It had to be true because he couldn’t imagine anything else.

Paisley blinked as she opened her eyes to a bright white light overhead. Confused, she tossed her head as she looked around. Machines beeped beside her, getting faster as she struggled to remember where she was.

“It’s okay,” came Luke’s voice. “You’ve been asleep for a while, but you’re okay.”

“What?” she tried, but her voice came out rough.

He handed her some water. “I took you to the hospital yesterday morning and they helped with your coughing and everything, and after that, you passed out.”

“Where’s Garrett?” she asked.

“He’s still with my friends. They’re dying to come up here or talk to us when we leave, but I’ve been holding them away.”

“Can we video chat with Garrett later?” She needed to see him.

“We can do it right now,” Luke said, pulling out his phone.

She tried to fix her hair, which was probably the worst rat’s nest ever, but Luke pulled her hands away.

“No one cares what you look like, least of all Garrett.”

Catherine’s face came on the screen as she answered before Paisley had a chance to. “Oh my, you’re awake. That’s great!”

“She wants to see Garrett,” Luke said from her side.

“Of course. He is the sweetest thing ever.” Catherine moved the phone to show Ryker holding their son on his chest, lying back on the sofa.

“Oh my gosh, I don’t want to wake either of them. Thank you so much for taking care of him. I don’t know when I’ll get to go home.” Paisley looked down and messed with the blanket.

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