Page 104 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

I shrug into my coat and swipe my keys and purse off the small table in the laundry room, then I’m out the door.

Walmart is on my way, and thankfully open, so I run in and get the formula, but once I’m back in the car, I freeze behind the wheel.

It hits me in intervals, what a big deal all of this is. Daire’s going to be Sammy’s sole guardian. Sammy’s mom is gone, just like that. It’s easy to forget how fragile life really is. We take it for granted—believing we’re destined to live until we’re old and gray and die peacefully in our sleep, but that isn’t always the case.

I take a deep breath.

Then another when that isn’t enough.

Before I pull out of the parking lot, I send a text to Daire that I’m headed his way. He sends back a thumbs-up.

Daire: We should be discharged by the time you get here.

We’re bringing a baby home with us.

A real-life, screaming, eating, and pooping baby.

Daire’sbaby.

“You can do this, Rosie. It’s a baby, not a snake. People keep them alive every day. You can do the same.”

Right?

I put on a playlist and crank the music up to drown out my thoughts as I drive.

When I arrive at the hospital, I have to circle the lot a few times before I find a parking spot.

I take out the car seat, along with a stuffed dinosaur from the nursery that I thought Sammy might like and the diaper bag that I definitely overpacked.

My heart pounds the entire trek through the hospital up to the room. By the time I step inside, I’m sweating. The doctor is just leaving, so I step to one side and give a polite smile as he passes.

“Hey, I’m here,” I say, still breathless from the walk.

Daire turns around to face me, Sammy cradled against his bare chest.

And just like that, my poor ovaries implode.

“Where’s your shirt?” I blurt.

He chuckles, kissing the top of Sammy’s downy soft blond hair. “The nurse suggested that even though he’s six months, skin to skin might help with bonding.”

“Bonding.” I swallow, taking in all six feet and four inches of a shirtless Daire holding a baby. “Bonding is fun.”

I set the car seat on the floor while Daire puts Sammy into the crib and picks up the diaper bag. He shuffles through the clothes I stuffed in there and settles on a cute pair of footie pajamas covered in a caterpillar print.

Sammy wiggles around, giving Daire a hard time as he tries to wrangle him into the sleeper. Finally he manages, and then it’s time to put him in the car seat. We’re both silent as we stare at the contraption.

“You put him in.” Daire holds the baby out to me.

“Me?” I practically shriek, holding my hands against my chest. “He’s yours.”

“I don’t know how all those straps and things works. What if I put him in wrong?” He frowns, his eyes pleading. “The only reason he’s still alive is because he was strapped into a good car seat properly.”

I take a deep breath. “We’re in a hospital. Surely a nurse could help us.”

“A nurse,” he practically shouts, his face lighting up. “Great idea.”

He all but shoves the infant into my arms and runs out of the room.

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