Page 35 of Crazy In Love
“Or maybe you get the best of both worlds because you’re old enough that you get to help your mom raise her. You get to feed the baby if you want to and hold her while she sleeps. Regular brothers and sisters are usually younger when they get a new baby in the family, so they’re not big enough to help. You’re lucky because you’re old enough to remember the early days but young enough that you get to play with her, too. And when she’s two or three years old, running around and getting into all sorts of things, she’ll look for her Franky first. Even before she looks for your mom or Tommy.”
While Chris walks ahead of us, leading the way with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders bowed forward, Franky peeks up, sliding his glasses along his nose. “You think so?”
“Iknowso. Honestly, there’ll probably come a point when you think she’s a bit annoying, so try to rememberthismoment right now, where you’re excited to meet her and kinda nervous, too. Later, when you’recranky because she’s noisy or messy or whatever, remember how much you love her.”
“This way.” Chris strides through the hospital’s front doors and grabs the loose-fitting sleeve of my hoodie, drawing me and Franky around a corner. “We don’t really have a maternity ward.”
“There’s no oncology ward. Oranykind of ward,” Franky adds. “There’s justaward, since our hospital isn’t very big.”
“That means everyone gets to hang out together.” Silver linings and all that. “Separation is fun for no one.”
“Unless you have meningitis,” he quips. “Then youshouldbe separated away from the babies.”
“Right.” I massage the back of his head, right where his skull meets his spinal column, and follow Chris around another corner and through a password-protected set of doors—not sure how he got the password. “She’s going to love her gift, honey. As long as you give it to her with love, she’ll feel that love for the rest of her life. That’s the true gift, don’t you think?”
“So I could’ve given her a bottle cap? If I gave it to her with love and all that…”
“Sure. But a bottle cap is a choking hazard, so I’m glad you chose the bear.” Snickering, I make a silly face and hope it helps the kid whose entire body trembles. But then Chris grabs my sleeve again, drawing my eyes up and dragging us to a stop.
Then he lifts his chin. “Next room along,” he whispers. “They’re in there.”
“Why are you whispering?” I tease,whispering. “Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now.”
“No, I—” He gnashes his teeth. “Of course not. I figured you’d?—”
“Take over and steal your thunder?” I set my hand on his hip and gently nudge him forward, forcing him to move one step, then another. He and Franky are too alike, too excited and yet, horrifyingly nervous to meet their newest family member. So we become a chain of humans, where I push one and pull the other, and I’m just the idiot stuck in the middle. “She won’t bite.” I keep my voice low, since the other rooms beep and hum with life, too. “I mean, she won’t biteyet. Not until she’s about a year old and getting her new teeth.”
Stunned, Chris whips his head back. “What?”
“You’ll be fine. It’s Alana and her boobs that need to worry.” I hook my hand around the back of Franky’s neck and dig my thumbnail into Chris’s hip—tactical encouragement—and moving them along the all but silent hallway, I work on slowingmypounding heart. My cartwheeling organs.
I don’t have the luxury of freaking out.
I bring them all the way to Alana’s door, holding on when I know they want to turn and run. But I feel the tension drain from their bodies. Rigid muscles, softening in the very same moment Alana sits up in her bed and looks this way.
Messy hair, rosy cheeks, and a hospital gown that falls from her shoulder.
She’s never been so beautiful.
“Hiii.” Her lips quiver and her eyes glitter with happy tears. The bright blue orbs latched onto her sweet Franky and the bear he clasps between his hands. “Oh my gosh, honey. It’s so good to see you.”
“Are you okay?” He steps into the room, ignoring Tommy while he holds his bundled baby to his chest. The new dad stares down at her face, smiling and smitten, but when Franky stumbles on his way in, Tommy still manages to catch him. It’s a silent exchange, a hand on the boy’s shoulder until he’s steady, a wink when their eyes meet, then Franky releases a hiccupped breath and runs the rest of the way, pressing his face to Alana’s chest and hiding the tears that sparkle against his cheeks. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay, honey.” She shifts to the side and makes room for her first baby to climb up, so when he does exactly that, she wraps him in her arms and kisses his temple. His cheek. His head. “Everything is okay, I promise.”
“We named her Hazel.” Tommy’s eyes come up to mine. Then Chris’s. Then, strolling across the room, he stops in front of us both and lowers his arms to reveal the sweetest, chubbiest, most beautiful baby girl that ever lived.
Damn if his hazel eyes don’t glow with pride. “Alana insisted,” he rasps. “She figures me, Chris, and Franky, being men, got the green eyes. So since she has blue, and the baby, being a girl, might also get blue?—”
“She wanted to honor you with the name.” I move onto my toes, all so I can get a better view of the beautiful girl. “I thinkHazelis an amazing name. It totally suits her.”
“Hazel Fox Watkins.”
Oxygen stops in my throat, collapsing my lungs until I’m not sure they’ll ever expand again. My stomach swirls, and my heart kicks painfully inside my chest, but I swing my eyes up and stop on his beaming smile.
“What?”
“Hazel Fox.” He kisses her chubby cheek. “We wanted to honor you, too. Of all the women on the planet and all the allies Alana could’ve met when she needed one the most, she met a strong, confident, independent woman who loves without reservation and gives her heart to those whodeserve it. You’re kind…” But then he pauses and chuckles, “except to my brother.”
