Page 85 of Found By You

“You don’t even need to ask, brother. Just tell me where it is.”

Twenty-Five.

Maci

Nurse Debbie pushes a bassinet-like cart with my daughter—Olivia Grace—tucked soundly inside. She’s wrapped up like an itty-bitty burrito in a white and pink striped blanket and a pale pink hat.

“We’re ready to eat,” Debbie announces, wheeling her to my bedside with Duke following closely behind.

He strides to my other side, and I smile, reaching for him. He leans down to kiss me, his eyes suspiciously puffy. “She did great. Hated every second of it.” He grins.

The nurse hands me Olivia. “Hi, baby girl,” I beam, cradling her tiny frame in my arms.

“Five pounds, seven ounces. Twenty inches long,” Debbie tells me, helping me to position Olivia to latch onto my breast. She’s a natural, of course, and Debbie excuses herself with a promise to return in a bit to check on us.

“She’s so cute,” I coo. I can’t stop staring at her. She’s the most adorable baby in the world, and not just because I made her.

Duke brings his chair close to the bed, his hand finding mine as we watch Olivia snuggle into my chest. “She’s beautiful,” he says. “Just like her mother.”

We watch her for some time before Dr. Sanderson arrives with a clipboard in hand. “How are you feeling, Maci?”

“Sore,” I reply honestly.

She goes over a slew of things we can do to help with my level of discomfort. When she sets the clipboard on the table beside me, she says, “This is the formal paperwork for the birth certificate. Take your time filling it out for accuracy. Check all spelling, first and last names. And make sure to get all the parents’ information correctly before both parents sign.”

A slow smile spreads across my face at her choice of words, and she spares a glance at Duke who hasn’t taken his eyes off Olivia asleep on my chest.

She smiles, having to turn away when I catch the emotion welling in her eyes.

After she’s gone, I point to the clipboard. “Can you grab that for me?” I ask.

“Sure, babe,” he says, reaching over me, and as he goes to hand me the paperwork, I shake my head.

“I’ve listed you as my emergency contact since my first appointment here in Whitetail,” I confess. “When I got here, they had me sign something in case anything was to happen to me during the delivery. Who would take Olivia if I didn’t have the father of the child listed.”

Duke’s brow furrows.

I stare at her and start to cry. Duke takes my hand, and I smile. He fills my heart with so much love—the kind of love you want to keep for the rest of your life. And he’ll be my daughter’s first true love as well.

“I put your name down,” I say. “If something were to happen to me, you would be the sole caretaker of Olivia.”

He sucks in a breath. “Maci…”

“I know she’s not yours,” I choke out as tears fall from his strong dark eyes. “But she is. She’s yours. You were made to be her dad.”

His leg starts to jump as his chin quivers. He looks down at the paperwork in his hand. “I want to sign it,” he says, glancing between me and Olivia. “But I need to do something first.”

He sets the clipboard at my feet and stands. Pushing his chair back, he drops to one knee beside me.

“What are you—”

He pulls a little black box from his back pocket.

Duke takes my hand, clearing his throat. “From the second I saw you, stranded on the side of the road, I knew I was meant to find you,” he says, and I choke on a laugh before a smile splits my face. “You went from being a stranger to my best friend, to the one I want to spend the rest of my days with. I love you with everything I have, Maci Ann Baker. And I’d love nothing more than to be your husband.”

He opens the ring box to reveal a shimmering, oval-cut diamond sitting on a white gold band. “Angel, will you marry me?”

There isn’t a doubt in my mind. I nod vigorously. “Yes.”

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