Page 96 of Fate

Kathleen puts her hand over his, which is cradling our son. Gigi puts hers on his back, silently crying what I can only believe are tears ofjoy.

“If you hadn’t risked your life that night, he wouldn’t be here. And neither would I. This is our gift to you for making such a sacrifice.” Kathleen struggles through what I know she’s practiced a hundred times over the past few months since we made the decision.

Chase shakes his head. “Not a sacrifice, Kathleen…Carson…” Again, his words are stilted and thick with emotion.

She places her hand on his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispers. His eyes fill with tears, and one spills over the edge. It’s the first time since Aunt Colleen’s funeral I’ve seen him shed a tear. To see this powerful man filled with such emotion and allowing it to be seen is something I’ll never forget as long as Ilive.

Chase swallows and clears his throat. “I’ll strive to be a good role model and show him and both of you how honored I am by this gesture. He’ll want for nothing,” he says with finality.

“Oh no!” Gigi shakes her head, and it falls forward against his back. “Another one bites the dust. Good luck, guys. He’ll be buying your kid every toy, car, house, whatever it is. It’s now his. You should have thought of that before you dropped this kind of bomb,” she jokes, lightening the situation.

Chase is not at all fazed by it. He lifts the baby toward his face, nuzzles his neck, inhales deeply, and kisses his forehead. “It will be me and you, Chase-ter. I’m going to teach you everything there is to know about money and how to control the universe with it. Isn’t that right?”

I roll my eyes but can’t suppress the smile as my cousin carrieson.

“And look at your Auntie Gigi. Later, you’ll understand how gorgeous she is. I’ll teach you how to secure your own babe. Yeah…”—he paces around the hospital room—“me and you, kid. My namesake. Not a more fitting name. Just me andyou…”

Gillian leans over and pulls Kathleen into her arms. “The gift that keeps on giving.” She laughs.

“Yeah, kind of the point.” Kat chuckles too and hugs her friend tighter.

“Nothing’s ever going to reach this level of awesome. You realize that, right?”

“Best sister ever!” Kat grins, and the three of us chuckle.

“He may never let you have your son back.” She hooks a thumb over her shoulder at Chase, who does not seem at all eager to bring the babyback.

I walk over to him. “That’s enough. Give me back myson.”

“He’s my namesake. We’re bonding,” Chase rumbles and holds the baby closer.

I put a hand out in a hand-him-over motion. He grumbles and carefully transfers the baby to myarms.

The door opens, and Bree and Phillip enter, all smiles. Maria and Eli are behind them. Chloe pulls up the rear with my dad. Cooper will be here soon, and Craig and Faith are flying in with the kids in a couple weeks when things are settled.

Everyone greets my son, Kathleen, and me with well wishes, hugs, and pats on the back. Each girl cries when they hear we’ve named the baby after Chase. The laughter ensues when Kathleen asks Maria what she’s having. She pets her four-month-alongbump.

“No lo sé,” she admits, and everyone stops laughing.

“Wait a minute. With every single one of us you could tell what we were having before we had it, but you can’t on yourself?”

Maria shrugs and Eli grins, putting his arm around her. “Guess it doesn’t work in reverse. We have an appointment to find out Monday.”

The rest of the group laughs and carries on until it’s clear Kathleen is tired and the baby needs to nurse. Plus, I want to spend time with my whole family alone.

Just as everyone is leaving, Chase and Gillian’s nanny brings Cora into the room. I hand off baby Chase to Kat before picking up Cora and settling her on the bed next to Kat. The nanny leaves silently.

“Mommy, dis my baby?” she asks Kathleen.

Once Misty had been out of the picture for a couple months, Cora instantly switched to calling Kathleen “Mommy.” Neither one of us asked her to do it. We never stopped her. And Kathleen has never shied away from the role, much to my heart’s content. She’s shown nothing but love for Cora since the minute she mether.

She runs her hand through Cora’s blond hair and taps her nose. “Yep, honey. This is your baby brother, Chase.”

Her nose crunches up. “But dat’s Uncle Chase’sname.”

“I know. We named the baby after him. Isn’t that great?”

She nods and leans forward and kisses his forehead. “Hi, Chasey. I your sister, Cora. Say Cooooorrrrrraaaa,” she drawls out. She waits a moment and looks up. “Nope, he no say ityet.”

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