Page 73 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

“Knox says you named her Quinn?” My mom asked.

I nodded, looking at my husband who was smiling at me as he held our baby. “We did. She’s our queen.”

The door suddenly opened, and a whirlwind of squeals came through. “Neens!” I was suddenly attacked by eager arms and a breathless laugh flew out of my lips as I hugged her back. “Fucking hell, you amazing woman,” Lindsay cried into my shoulder. “You absolutely amazing woman. You pushed a baby out of your coochie. Jesus.” She pulled back, revealing her tear-streaked face.

“I can’t believe you flew in just because of this. We could’ve FaceTimed.”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “And miss the birth of my niece?”

“You missed it anyway.”

“Yes, but I’m here now. That’s what counts.” She leaned in a bit like she wanted to spill a secret. “Did it hurt?”

“Like a fucking bitch. I would not recommend.”

Just then, I looked behind her to see a woman I’d seen just once since Knox and I got together. She walked straight to where Knox was standing and gestured for him to hand the baby over to her. With a smile, he did, and I watched, heart in my throat as Knox’s mother stared down at our baby. A few moments later, she burst into tears.

No one said anything but we were all thinking the same thing. For someone who never recovered from the grief of her husband’s death, this must have felt like nirvana. Tears welled in my eyes. Knox wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry. And boy, did she weep. It went on for a good five minutes (I counted) before she finally managed to compose herself enough to speak coherently.

“Thank you,” were the only two words she said to me. It felt like I’d healed something inside her and I didn’t know how to tell her that this was only the first of many. She deserved to be happy and if I had to do this again for that to happen, I would.

For the next hour, the six of us talked and laughed about everything and nothing in particular. Quinn was passed around, and the reluctance with which each person let her go did not go unnoticed by me. It gave me confidence that even if Knox and I weren’t here, our baby would be in safe hands, pun intended.

As the conversation progressed, my eyes connected with my husband’s. I’d never and would never love anyone the way I loved him. He was everything to me. He’d religiously kept his promise that he would love me every day of his life and I never had a reason to doubt him.

After everything we had been through in the past one year, we deserved everything good that was coming to us.

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