Page 174 of Altered

Looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"I spend a small fortune giving you a decent send off," Noah growled, eyes locked on Hunter as he slowly walked towards him. "I name my son in honor of you." A small smile crawled across his face. "And you don’t have the decency to be dead?"

Hunter smirked, closing the space between them. "You know what they say about killing a bad thing, Messina?"

"Yeah," Noah shot back gruffly, browns eyes burning with emotion. "Make damn sure he's dead."

And then they hugged.

"Fucking asshole," Noah grumbled, still hugging Hunter. He playfully shoved him away before embracing him one more time.

"Missed you, too, man," Hunter chuckled.

"I have a shit ton of questions that I need answering," Noah announced with a wry smile. "But first thing I really want to know is; who the fuck has been sitting on my mantel piece for the past six months?"

****

"Want to hear something seriously messed up?" Hunter chuckled as he handed Abigail over to Noah for a cuddle. "You're my daughter's great-uncle."

"Shut the fuck up," Noah growled as he swaddled the tiny pink bundle in his huge tattooed arms. "I'm twenty-six years old, dammit, and I've got a five-month-old son at home. That's too young to be a greatanything."

"Oh, Jesus," Teagan laughed. "Luck's right. Kyle's the grandpa, and you're his brother." Shaking her head in amusement, she added, "I never thought about it until now, but we're Abi's great uncle and aunt."

"Thorn," Noah grumbled, never taking his eyes off my baby. "Don’t encourage him."

"Where is Finn?" I asked, pulling myself into a sitting position.

"With Max," Noah replied, studying Abigail's face with great interest. "Shit," he grumbled, leaning closer to get a better look. "This kid is gorgeous." He turned to look at Hunter and smirked. "Thank god she takes after her great-uncle."

****

The phone call from Idaho came at nine o' clock that night.

"Congratulations," Jordan's raspy voice came down the line. "Your father emailed Dad a ton of pictures. She's incredible, Hope."

"Jordan," I whispered. "I didn’t think you'd call…I didn’t expect you to."

I looked over to where Hunter was lazing on the armchair with Abigail tucked in his arms.

His blue eyes landed on mine, and all I could see was calmness.

Relief washed over me.

"Thank you," I squeezed out. "For calling. I appreciate it."

"So, how does it feel to be a mother?"

"It's everything," I sighed in contentment "I know she's less than a day old, but I honestly don’t remember what life was like before her."

"I'm really happy for you, Hope."

"Areyouhappy?"

There was a long pause before he finally said, "I feel content. Like I'm at peace? Or at least, I'm getting there."

"Good." Another wave of relief washed over me, cleansing my heart from all the guilt I still held inside. "I'm glad."

And I was.

---