Page 45 of Finding Hope

She scooped the baby up and held her close. “Hope, are you ready to meet your big brother and sister?” They decided to name her Hope because that’s what had brought them together.

Tessa and Cash were on their way up with Josie and Henry and they were supposed to call when they got there so Jonathon could go get them. They wanted Hope’s brother and sister to meet her first before everyone else did. “She’s so beautiful.” Jonathon looked down at their daughter with so much love in his eyes that it literally made her heart hurt.

“She is, isn’t she?”

Jonathon’s phone beeped and he looked down at it.

“Are they here?” Shannon asked. She couldn’t wait for Henry and Josie to meet the baby. Henry was too little to care or know what was going on, but still they didn’t want to leave him out of it.

“Yes, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He kissed her lips before leaving the room.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Josie came in with a bouquet of balloons and Henry was in Jonathon’s arms with pink roses in his hand.

“Hi, guys.” Josie rushed to her, giving her a big hug.

They’d had a little setback with Josie while Shannon was pregnant with Hope. She started acting out and being defiant, but after Shannon decided to take her to an OB appointment to make her feel included, the attitude slowly dissipated.

“Mommy.” Henry came running to her and Josie picked him up, sitting him on the bed next to Shannon.

“Hi, my big boy. Do you want to see your sissy?”

He pointed to Josie and threw himself at her.

“Not that sissy, you little stinker.”

Jonathon picked up Hope and sat down on the little sofa in the room. “Jos, bring him over here. Henry, can you say Hope?”

Henry said something that sounded more like Hop and then bent down to kiss his baby sister on the head.

“Daddy, can I hold her?”

He placed Hope in Josie’s arms.

“She’s so cute. Hope, I’m your big sister, and I’ll always protect you, even from Henry because boys are gross.”

Shannon choked out a laugh, especially at Jonathon’s response.

“Josie, I expect you to remember that. Boys are gross.”

Shannon watched her little family on the sofa and knew she was the luckiest girl on the planet.

Epilogue

Fifteen Years Later

Josie

Josie pulled into her parents’ driveway and took a deep breath. She had some news for them, but she didn’t know how they would take it. Checking her face in the rearview mirror, she took a deep breath and then climbed out of her car. The front door opened as she made it up to the steps and her baby sister, Hope, came running out to her. They looked like twins, except for the fact that Hope was short like their mother and Josie was tall like her dad, her aunt, and her brother, Henry.

She wrapped her arms around her fourteen-year-old sister, hugging her tight. “How are you, brat?”

“I’m good. Henry’s being an absolute asshole. He asked Kelly out, even though I told him no. I don’t want him dating my friends. She’ll end up hating me when he dumps her. Because you know he will. He’s a slut.” She said the last part in a whisper.

She wrapped an arm around Hope and they headed inside. Moving through her childhood home, Josie found her stepmom in the kitchen.

“Josie, you’re here.” Shannon wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tight. “How was the drive?”

As a traveling surgical nurse, Josie worked and lived in different cities temporarily. She had just returned from a ten-week contract in Atlanta and was home to tell her parents she’d been offered a full-time position at one of the hospitals there. A few weeks ago, she might’ve told them no, but she’d met someone—a guy who was different from anyone she’d ever dated. He was quiet, thoughtful, and sweet.

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