Page 113 of No Greater Love
The afternoon dissolved into the kind of controlled chaos that only family gatherings could produce. Presents were opened and exclaimed over. Everyone had opinions about names (Paige was still lobbying hard for "Newton Crawford" as a middle name). My aunts interrogated Nate about his intentions while simultaneously praising his obvious devotion. Jack and Marcus discovered a shared love of obscure medical trivia and were deep in a debate about cardiac surgery techniques that was probably fascinating to them.
"Having fun?" I asked Madison, who was sitting slightly apart from the adults, scrolling through her photos.
"It's cool," she said with teenage nonchalance, then grinned. "Actually, itisreally cool. Paige is going to be such a good big sister. And your family is..." She paused, looking for the right words. "They're loud. But like, good loud. Like they actually care about each other."
"They do. Sometimes to an annoying degree."
"Yeah, but..." Madison's expression grew thoughtful. "My dad's family was never like this. All quiet and polite and weird. This feels real."
Before I could respond, a commotion near the gift table caught our attention. Dr. Cameron Lee—somehow Sophia had convinced him to show up—was examining the baby monitor we'd received like it was alien technology.
"This has video capability," he was saying to Jack with the same intensity he probably brought to surgical consultations. "And smartphone connectivity. And temperature monitoring. Do babies really need this level of technological surveillance?"
"Wait until you have kids, mate," Jack laughed. "You'll want satellites tracking their every movement."
"I can't imagine," Cameron said, then caught sight of us and waved. "Congratulations on the future quarterback!"
"He could be a scientist," Paige called out defensively. "Or a doctor! Or an engineer!"
"All noble professions," Cameron agreed diplomatically, though I caught him exchanging an amused look with Jack.
"The cardiovascular monitoring features are actually quite sophisticated," came a crisp voice from behind him. "Though I'd argue the real innovation would be integrating early warning algorithms for respiratory distress patterns."
We all turned to see Dr. Delaney Ward approaching, looking perfectly put-together despite the casual outdoor setting. She wore dark jeans and a white blouse that somehow managed to look both relaxed and professional—a trick I'd never mastered.
Cameron's expression shifted, surprise flickering across his face. "Ward. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Sophia invited the ER staff," she replied smoothly, though I caught a slight tension in her voice. "I thought it would be... educational to observe normal family dynamics."
"Educational?" Cameron raised an eyebrow, and something in his tone made me think there was history there I didn't know about.
"Some of us didn't grow up in environments like this," Ward said, gesturing toward the controlled chaos of my family reunion. Her voice was neutral, but there was something almost wistful in her expression as she watched my cousins' kids chase each other around the yard.
"Right," Cameron said, and was it my imagination or did his voice soften slightly? "Well, if you're studying family dynamics, you picked a good one. The Williams clan could power their own anthropological research study."
Ward's lips curved in what might have been the beginning of a smile. "The intergenerational bonding patterns are quite remarkable. And the way they've integrated Mr. Crawford and Paige so seamlessly..." She trailed off, seeming to catch herself being too analytical.
"Sometimes the best families are the ones we choose," Cameron said quietly, and I definitely didn't imagine the way Ward's eyes sharpened on his face.
"Yes," she agreed, her voice equally quiet. "I suppose they are."
As the afternoon wound down and people started trickling out, I found myself in the kitchen helping my mother wrap up leftover food. Through the window, I could see Nate and Paige in the backyard, cleaning up streamers and collecting the mountain of gifts we'd somehow accumulated.
"He's a good man," my mother said quietly, following my gaze.
"The best."
"And Paige adores you."
"The feeling's mutual."
"You're happy." It wasn't a question.
I watched Nate laugh at something Paige said, watched him ruffle her hair with the absent affection of a father who'd been doing it for eleven years. Watched them work together to fold up chairs, their easy partnership the result of years of just the two of them against the world.
Soon it would be the three of us. And then four.
"I'm terrified and overwhelmed and completely out of my depth," I said honestly. "But yes. I'm happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be."
