Page 92 of Storm

The man, I assume to be her father, looks me up and down. “Who are you?”

“Ezra. Who areyou?”

He puffs out his chest. “Miri’spapá. We’re here to see her.” He swallows hard, then adds, “And the baby.”

“I’ll be right back.” I shut the door on him, but not before I hear him argue. Richard can deal with him.Mi pétalohas her tits hanging out. No father needs to see that.

She’s looking curiously at me when I head back to her side. Looking over the woman I love and our son, who’s now my main focus, I mumble, “Your dad’s here.”

“Really?”

I nod and hold my hands out. “I’ll take him.”

She raises a brow. “I thought you were nervous about it?”

For the first time, I give her an incredulous look. “Iam. But I also would rather have him in my arms when forty-seven people walk in here.”

“Forty-seven people,” she repeats, snorting out a laugh.

Even though she thinks I’m being silly, she still places Gabriel in my arms. I head to the corner of the room and cover his ears before calling out, “You can come in!” I watch Gabriel’sface after raising my voice, and thankfully, it didn’t seem to bother him.

Shifting his body around, I pat his back after his feeding as Miriam’s dad and brothers file into the room. Every single one of her brothers head right in my direction and I turn my body to keep them from crowding my boy.

I ignore all of their questions, shielding him from their view as they try to get closer, but my eyes are on her father.

Ronaldo doesn’t look in my direction. Not once. I’m sure he’s interested in meeting his grandson, but both Richard and I follow him with our eyes as he heads directly toward his only daughter.

“Mi niña,” he murmurs as soon as he’s to her side.My daughterhe calls her and I watch her face as it crumples the moment he wraps his arms around her. She falls into his chest and he murmurs words in her ear, sitting at her side and holding her.

I glance at my son and can’t help but understand how her dad must be feeling right now. His priority wasn’t his grandson. He went straight for his daughter becauseshe’sthe one who’s most important to him and I feel my heart kick up in pace, realizing that I might just understand him a little more.

We aren’t perfect as parents, but our children will always be our main love and priority. I don’t think I ever would have understood that before Gabriel was born. Her dad is sitting at her side when she calls me to her. Pushing through her brothers, I carry Gabriel to her and try to set him back in her arms, but she shakes her head.

“Papá, this is Gabriel Delgado.”

When her voice cracks, her dad’s eyes fall on our son for the first time, and he gasps. Like a seasoned pro, he takes our baby from me and holds him to his chest.

“You did good,mi niña.”

Wiping at his tears with his shoulder, his grin is emotional as he meets his grandson. As much as her father pisses me off, leavingmi pétaloto raise his children and laying so much burden on her shoulders, he clearly has a deep love for her.

Her brothers crowd the bed and I tense, wanting to pull them away. Richard’s hand falls on my shoulder to keep me in my place. “They’ll be fine, Ez.”

“They’re so close,” I mumble, but force myself to not pull them all away. His answering chuckle calms me as I take a few quick breaths. “Where are Tate and Kevin?”

“They ran home to shower and change,” Miriam calls out. Her dad gently places Gabriel back on her lap when he starts fussing. The man next to me hurries to the table with all of Gabriel’s diapers and wipes, then throws a small blanket over his shoulder.

Heading to Miriam, he holds out his hands. “I’ll get him changed. If any of you’d like to hold him, just sit in the chairs and I’ll bring him over to you.”

There’s a rush to find empty seats, but all of her brothers are excitedly watching and chatting about all the things they can show our little guy when he gets older.

After an hour of visiting, Gabriel is back asleep, exhausted from meeting five uncles and his grandpa. Ronaldo presses a kiss to Miriam’s head, saying goodbye and that once they’re home, he’ll come visit again. By this time, both Kevin and Tatum have returned to the hospital with a fresh change of clothes for me.

Miriam is wearing a soft, tired smile as she watches all four of us move around the room, whispering to keep from waking the baby. The rest of the day passes without incident, the nurses popping in regularly to check both Gabriel’s and Miriam’s vitals, nodding with approval each time.

Her blood pressure almost immediately came back down, but they’re watching carefully. When night falls, Tatum is walking slowly through the room as he tries to burp Gabriel after another feeding, so I take the opportunity to curl up next to Miriam.

“How are you feeling about everything,mi soldado?”

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