Page 43 of Fall

“Oh . . . no news. They are letting the labour go naturally, and she is close, apparently,” she says, going to sit next to Luke. “Let me hold baby girl,” Izzy says, and Luke shakes his head.

“Nope, I got her to sleep after she woke up, so I’m holding her,” he says, and I smile at him. “A name yet?” Luke asks, and I shake my head.

“I have some time to decide,” I mutter, and Izzy laughs.

“Come on, you must have some idea for a name,” she tells me.

“Okay, there was this one name-“ I get cut off when Izzy’s phone starts buzzing, and she answers the call.

“Oh my god, congratulations, Seb, that’s amazing. Yes, I will tell them. Love you, bro, and I will be at the hospital in the morning. Jake is fine, I promise. Bye,” Izzy says all this so quickly that neither Luke nor I can say a word until she puts the phone down.

“A girl, she’s perfect, and Maisy is doing well. They decided to call her Isabelle,” Izzy says, and there are grins from all of us as we look at each other. Izzy’s phone starts ringing and she moves quickly to answer it.

“It’s Blake, he is at the hospital as he drove Seb and Elliot.” She tells us before walking out.

“Here, pass her to me. I’m taking her back to bed, and I will check Jake before I go to sleep, myself,” I say to Luke who offers me my baby girl, and I hold her close to my chest. I look down at her, seeing how her curly, red hair is growing already, and I love the little snores she makes as she sleeps. Harley makes a small, groaning noise, and I look over at him. I hate seeing him like this, in so much pain, but I’m happy it’s over. This is the first and only time I will have to see him suffer like this.

“I’m watching him for the night,” Luke tells me, seeing where I’m staring.

I look over at the youngest King brother. The tattoos he has lining his arms, the scruffy hair, and slight beard make him look older than all his brothers. I would say he is the more playful one out of them all, but there are still those shadows in his eyes. The same shadows they all have, but Harley has them the worst from what I know. His shadows are the most difficult to erase.

“I’m still going to check he is okay in a few hours, you don’t have to stay up all night,” I reply to Luke. I know I won’t be able to sleep well tonight, knowing Harley isn’t completely okay.

“He’s my brother, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him, and that includes watching movies on my phone down here until he wakes up in the morning,” he says.

“He feels the same about you and all your brothers. I know because I’ve always been protective of my brothers, too,” I say and mentally chuckle to myself about all the times I’ve helped them get out of trouble. There’s something about having close siblings, it has a way of making you feel loved and knowing you have someone protecting your back.

“It’s what Kings do, apparently Foxes are just the same,” he says, and I wink at him.

“You have that right.”

“Can I ask you something?” Luke asks, nervously moving on the sofa. I’ve never seen him nervous before.

“Sure,” I say, sitting on the edge of the sofa and moving my baby onto my shoulder. I pat her back gently as she stirs a little. I’m lucky she loves her sleep and is happy whenever someone is holding her.

“Okay, so there’s this girl . . .” he starts off, “that sounded more rehearsed than I wanted it to.”

“I’m listening,” I say with a little chuckle, and he groans.

“She is complicated as fuck, messes with my head, but I can’t stop thinking about her. We had a one-night stand and afterward, she just . . . .”

“Just?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just say I know she is hiding something from me, but I don’t know what it is. I can’t figure her out, but no other girl compares to her. Nothing compares to her,” Luke says, and I nod, looking at Harley.

“Then don’t give up, no matter how messed-up things are, how hard they get, you fight. That’s what your brother taught me, and it’s what he would tell you if you asked him. If you can’t stop thinking about her, there’s a reason for that,” I say, knowing that there’s a reason I can’t stop thinking about Harley.

“Thanks. Just . . . part of me wants to give up on her sometimes, but then even thinking of doing that . . . yeah, I can’t,” Luke says, looking down at his hands.

“Then she is worth it,” I say gently, and he smiles up at me.

“Thanks, Tills,” Luke smiles, looking down at his phone as he slips it in his hand.

“No problem. Night, Luke,” I reply.

“Night.” He waves a hand.

I gently shut the door behind me as I leave the room and go upstairs. When I get to my room, I put my baby in her cot and kiss her head. I check on Jake before getting into bed, and then I close my eyes, letting the small sound of my baby’s little snores lure me to sleep.

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