Page 173 of Altered

When my family finally clawed their way into the room later that morning, we were bombarded with questions, everyone as stunned as I had been to see Hunter in the flesh. Cameron was the only member of my family absent, but he had called earlier to check in.

Everyone wanted to cuddle Abigail, and she was the best little baby.

She was passed around between my parents, Teagan, Noah, and four of her uncles, and never once fussed. Thankfully, the nurse intervened by chasing them all out and then making my family take turns visiting.

I think she could see how overwhelmed I felt, and her empathy made me warm to her just that little bit more – even though Hunter continued to refer to her asWhiskers.

Naturally, Mom and Dad took the first turn, eager to coo and fawn over their first granddaughter.

While Dad talked to Hunter in the far corner of the room, Mom took the opportunity to get some cuddles in with Abigail, whose name I quickly learned had already shortened to Abi by everyone in the family.

When it was Dad's turn to hold her, I honestly didn’t think he would give her back.

"I love her," he said over and over as he rocked my tiny daughter in his arms. "Look at her, Lee."

"I see her, Kyle," Mom cooed dotingly.

"We have a granddaughter," he whispered, as if the thought had only just come to him. "A girl."

"It's about time we had a change from all these boys," Mom teased.

"And she'sblonde," Dad cooed, babbling down at my daughter. "Yes, you are. You are just the most beautiful little girl." He paused and looked to Hunter. "I hope you've enjoyed whatever sleep you've had before today, Luck," he told him before turning his gaze back to my baby. "Because you will never sleep a solid eight hours for the rest of your life…. No, he won't," Dad's voice transformed into a soft coo as he babbled lovingly. "You're going to break your Daddy's heart, aren’t you, Abi?"

"Thanks for the heads up," Hunter shot back dryly as he leaned back on the bed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"And when she's all grown up and headstrong like her mommy, and brings home a big, grizzly, tattooed punk?" Dad continued to tease.

"She's not going to do that," Hunter growled. "Because she'll know her daddy keeps a Glock in the house for occasions like that."

"Time's up, Carter," Teagan called out as she poked her head around the door and beamed. "You're holding up the line."

****

Colton, and Logan came in next, and they brought Cash and Casey with them.

Like I had predicted, the two younger boys had as much interest in their baby niece as they had in watching paint dry.

Their whole attention was fixated on the man who had come back from the dead.

Cash hooted and cheered when he saw for himself that Hunter was alive and home.

Poor Casey burst into tears, too overwhelmed to handle the emotions battering his tiny heart.

I think I fell even deeper in love with Hunter when I watched him pick Casey up and give him a huge hug.

Casey wasn’t an overly affectionate child as a rule, but his little hands were wrapped so tightly around Hunter's neck that I was sure he was choking him.

The bond between them, and how Hunter could be so compassionate and make my brother feel so important pushed me into an emotional overload.

Hunter knew he needed that little bit of extra support and patience, and he gave it to him – just the same as he always had.

Watching them interact broke a dam inside of me and I bawled like a baby for no reason, except that I washappy.

****

When Noah burst into the room a little while after, I had never seen such excitement on his face.

His brown eyes landed on Hunter, and he rubbed his chest, looking winded.

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