Page 10 of Make Your Save

“Ro, stop, you called the right people.” Nova smiles at him, pushing back her chair as she rises to her feet. She walks over to me, handing me the baby to burp her before she goes to rinse out the bottle. “I have all of Poe’s stuff in the basement. I was saving things in case we have a baby, but you can use them until you know what’s going on.”

Lincoln also rises to his feet, along with Rowan, and the three of them disappear into the basement as I hold the baby, gently patting her back until she lets out a few belches. After she’s apparently comfortable and all the gas bubbles are dissolved, I shift her back into my arms as the men begin to bring things up into the kitchen and out to Rowan’s car.

They manage to load a bassinet, a changing pad, and some other miscellaneous things in the trunk. Nova is the last to come up, setting a proper carry type car seat on the counter. Lincoln grabs the base, going out tothe car to secure it in the back seat with Rowan as I strap the baby in.

“I know you know what you’re doing with babies since you’re a nurse, but Rowan has no fucking clue,” Nova says softly, handing me a blanket to tuck around the baby. “He’s going to need as much help as he can get.”

Rowan and I haven’t discussed any specifics, but the last thing I planned on doing was leaving him to figure this all out on his own.

“I plan on doing whatever I can do to help him.”

Nova stares at me for a moment, her expression free of any negativity. “I don’t disagree with what you did and honestly, I probably would have done the same thing. However, we don’t know what kind of a mess this could potentially turn into and I just want to make sure Rowan has as much support as possible.”

“You have my word, Nova,” I promise her without a single ounce of hesitation. “I won’t leave him to do this alone.”

“No one wants to do it alone,” she says quietly, a tender smile drifting across her lips. “Trust me, I know from experience.”

The boys walk back in, Rowan stopping beside me as he glances down at the baby. His eyes are glazed over, almost as if he’s operating on fumes right now. “Are you ready to go?”

Guilt pricks at my spine as I know I’m the reason he’s disconnected and numb. His world has been turned upside down and he’s still struggling to process everything that’s going on around him.Nothing could have prepared him for a mindfuck quite like this one.

“If you are.”

He glances down at the baby, his jaw tightening as he grabs the carrier, lifting it from the counter. “As ready as I’m going to be.”

We say our goodbyes to Nova and Lincoln and they wait by the front door as Rowan and I get the baby secured in the back seat. He’s silent as I climb into the front, but he finally looks at me as he’s about to pull the car away from the curb.

“Will you come home with me?”

I turn to look at him, my breath catching in my throat. “Sure.”

“I just...I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and I’d feel better if you were there with me.”

I stare at him for a moment, emotion washing over me, but I quickly push it away. “Of course. Whatever you need.”

Rowan runs his tongue over his teeth. “Thanks.” He tips his chin, although his voice is distant and barely audible. He directs his attention back to the road, pulling the truck away from the curb as we head in the direction of his house.

Guilt washes over me as we ride silently through the night. All of this is my fault and I’m afraid when the dust settles, he might never forgive me for this.

CHAPTER FOUR

ROWAN

“What do we do now?”

Hadley looks my way, her eyes meeting my stare in an instant. “I’m not sure. I’m around babies all the time, but this is the first time I’ve ever brought one home.”

Home.

How fucking weird. This used to be my home and mine alone...how quickly that has changed.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I glance at the time, realizing we’re now approaching three o’clock in the morning. I have to be up in a few short hours for our morning skate since we have a game tomorrow night. Well, I guess technically it’s tonight now, considering we’re in the early hours of the next day.

“We’re supposed to take her out of the car seat, right?”

“That would be a good start.” Hadley stifles a laugh, biting back a grin as she tips her chin at me. “Why don’t you go get the bassinet and things from the car and I’llget her out and changed? Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll stay asleep, or at least go right back to sleep and then we can try and get some rest.”

I stare at her for a moment, anxiety washing over me as it mixes with a million other feelings I can’t possibly begin to dissect. The words tumble from my lips before I get a chance to even think about them. “You’re not going home, are you?”

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