Page 26 of Toxic

"Sure." He steps back and leaves the room. I try to pull myself together so I don't scare my son, but it's hard. I feel like I'm barely hanging on.

Both Sean, Dante, and Sean Jr. come into the room. Sean Jr. cries when he sees me, and I hold out my arms. He curls into me and sniffles for a few minutes.

"Thanks for watching him," I tell Dante.

"Anytime. We were checking out the nurses. He likes blondes." He winks.

Both Sean and I let out a laugh, which I didn't think was possible at this moment.

"I owe you," Sean says, patting his back again.

Dante opens his mouth to speak, but a nurse steps into the room.

"Good news! Your little girl is stable. She weighs more than we expected, so we think your doctor might have been off on his estimate about how far along you were. She's four and a half pounds. Mr. O'Malley, you can come to the neonatal intensive care unit now if you wish." She motions for Sean to follow.

Tears of relief fall down my cheeks. "Can I go, too?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the doctor needs to check you over one more time. He should be here in the next half hour or so."

Sean looks at me, debating whether to stay or go.

"Go see our daughter," I order.

He nods and asks Dante, "Can you stay with Bridge and Sean?"

"Of course."

Sean leaves.

Dante hovers over me, shifting on his feet. "How are you feeling, Bridge?"

"Like I just pushed a bowling ball out of my lower body," I admit.

His lips twitch. "Can I get you anything?"

"Sit. You're making me nervous."

He grins. "All right." He pulls up a chair. "Your dad's on his way."

"Why wasn't he with Sean?"

"Don't know."

A moment of silence passes.

"Thank you. For... for everything," I state.

"At least you got a few bites of your apple pie," he teases.

I grab his hand. "Dante."

His eyes meet mine. For the first time in years, I see the boy who was my friend before I ever developed a crush on him or he broke my heart. I see the good person I knew him as all the years I grew up alongside him.

"I mean it. Thank you," I repeat.

He studies me, hesitating for a long time, then he cautiously responds, "No reason to thank me. We're friends, right?"

I smile, feeling emotional again, then blink harder as fresh tears fall. "Yeah. We're friends."

---