Page 54 of Unbroken

They all stood immediately, but Blake didn’t move, so neither did I.

Luke led them down the hallway, and I peered over at Blake, who was staring after them, unblinking and straight-faced.

“We don’t have to go?—”

“No,” she said, standing and looking back at me. “Let’s go.”

I scanned her face, searching for any hint of doubt, but I saw none. Then it was her leading me down the hallway and into the room halfway down. We squeezed in behind the rest of our friends and walked in just in time to see Josh scoop the new baby from Hazel’s arms. She looked tired, but she was glowing. And it was more than the sweat glistening on her forehead and upper lip.

Luke squeezed next to Hazel on the other side of the bed, and both of their smiles lit up the room. Love radiated off them as they watched Josh cradle their baby.

Josh turned so the rest of us could see her. She looked so tiny in his arms.

Luke wrapped an arm around his wife, and Hazel leaned her head on his shoulder. “This is our new baby girl,” Hazel said. “Josephine, or Josie, for short.”

We all collectively stopped. Josh turned to look at his brotherand sister-in-law, and everyone else ceased cooing over the new baby—Josie.

Blakely squeezed my hand tighter, and I glanced down to see new tears collecting in her eyes. I squeezed her hand back.

“You—” Josh began, but his voice broke over the word. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You named her after Mom?”

Luke nodded, and Hazel was crying. “Hope that’s okay,” Luke said.

Josh looked back down at Josie, and a tear fell on her little forehead just beneath the tiny yellow hat. He brushed it away as Reed massaged the back of Josh’s neck and Amanda rubbed his arm.

“It’s more than okay, Luke. It’s…it’s perfect.”

“She looks like a Josie,” Ivy murmured, and everyone jockeyed for a better position to meet new baby Josie.

Hazel laughed at all of us vying for a better position. “She’s not going anywhere,” she said, wiping away her tears. “She’s going to get to meet all her aunts and uncles. Hell, you should let Aunt Blakely have a turn. She’s the one that got me here when I was panicking.”

Everyone turned to look at us. She reached up with her free hand and wiped away the tears that were freely falling. A shaky smile graced her pink lips as she said, “Considering the circumstances”—she motioned to the baby, the hospital bed Hazel was lying in, and the room in general—“I think you did pretty well.”

“Fine, Aunt Blakely gets next, but then it’s my turn,” Amanda decided, which started a chorus of arguments that I didn’t participate in.

I was eager to meet Josie, but I was more preoccupied with the woman next to me and the little smile she couldn’t contain.

Suddenly, holding her hand didn’t feel like enough anymore. I let go of it abruptly enough that she looked at me in surprise but willingly curled into my side when I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Aunt Blakely,” she mused with a sigh. “I think I like the sound of that.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Blakely

Slippinginto my favorite pair of sweatpants, I pulled a T-shirt over my head and threw my hair up into a clip.

Tato was staring at me intently from my bedroom door.

“I know, I know. I’m coming. Hold your horses,” I muttered to my adorable, deaf dog.

After a long day of work, pushing out several completed projects and proposals, and a long therapy session that had me emotionally drained, Tato and I were scheduled to curl up on the couch and watch a new horror movie I’d been excited to see.

The microwave beeped, and I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. Tato excitedly trotted after me. That seemed like the only time he was actually excited—when he knew we were going to cuddle up on the couch.

I nearly dropped the steaming bag of popcorn but managed to dump it into the waiting bowl. Tato quickly took care of the few pieces that landed on the floor before I even considered picking them up.

I popped a piece into my mouth and grabbed a soda from thefridge. Tato impatiently stood at the end of my narrow alley kitchen and looked from me to the couch to his left.

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