Page 84 of The Jackpot Screwer
I breathed in shakily. I thought we’d agreed on Joseph as a middle name for a boy, but I’d been wrong.
“Hey, Rett,” I whispered and brushed a kiss on his downy blond hair.
“You know Everett means strong, right?” Annalise said as Bronte finally handed over the baby to the nurse. “I think you chose well.”
“Yes, I think we have,” Bronte replied, her gaze intent on the nurse taking the baby away.
“Okay,” Dr. Baskin came up next to me and scribbled something on a chart before looking up. “No stitches, Bronte, so that’s good.”
“What about Everett?” she asked. “Is he going to be okay?”
The doctor grinned. “Great name. My great grandpa was Everett. He was a good man.”
Bronte and I looked blankly at him, having no interest in his family tree, we were more interested in our own.
“Sorry,” he said. “You want to know about your son. The good news is his lungs seem okay—”
Bronte shuddered out a, “Thank God.” But Dr. Baskin held up his hand.
“We don’t know for sure, until we do the tests. All I’m saying is on quick examination they seem fine. He screamed pretty good too.”
I smiled as I had to agree with him. He screamed blue murder, only stopping once he was skin on skin with Bronte. As Everett snuggled against her, Dr. Baskin had a quick listen to his chest and because he was happy with what he heard, we’d been given a little more time with him than we’d expected to have. Enough time for him to latch on to Bronte and feed for a couple of minutes. I thought I’d seen a lot of beautiful things in my job but watching the love of my life feed my son had to top everything.
“Right,” the doc said. “I’ll leave you to get some rest and let your families know the good news.”
I held out my hand and when he took it, I shook it hard. I couldn’t thank him enough, even if he was too damn handsome to have been hanging around Bronte’s pussy as often as he had.
“Thanks, Dr. Baskin,” I said, taking in a breath. “Thank you. So much.”
“No problem. I’ll pop in and see you before I leave, but rest assured Everett is in good hands.” He pointed at me. “In fact, I do believe your sister works in pediatrics, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied, actually feeling an unusual swell of pride for Ellie. “She does.”
“So, you know how great the staff here are.”
“Will Rett go onto Ellie’s ward?” Bronte asked, reaching for my hand.
“Probably NICU for a short time, while we do the tests and make sure he’s all good. Then after that possibly.” He smiled at us both. “Or even home. Now, go tell that huge gang of people in the visitor’s room that they have a little boy joining the family.”
A few minutes after he’d left, Annalise made her excuses too. She’d been amazing in helping to keep Bronte calm and I made a mental note to buy her the biggest bouquet of flowers I could find. We thanked her, Bronte cried, Annalise cried, they hugged and then it was just us two left in the dimly lit room, with the rising sun peeking under the blind at the window.
“I hate he’s not with us,” Bronte whispered as she brushed a tear from her cheek. “He might be scared. Do you think he thinks we’ve given him away?”
I chuckled softly. “No, baby, I don’t. He knows we love him.”
The door opened and a nurse came into the room carrying a blanket and two takeaway mugs.
“Something to drink and for you.” She nodded at the blanket. “In case you want to stay with Bronte until you can go and see the baby.”
“We can see him soon?” I asked, clutching Bronte’s hand.
The nurse grinned. “Sure can, honey. Once Bronte’s had some sleep and maybe a little bite to eat then we’ll take you to see him.”
She deposited the blanket on the end of the bed, the drinks on a side table and then left as quietly as she’d come in.
“You should go and see everyone,” Bronte said around a loud yawn. “Show the pictures you took. But not that one of me, I look awful.”
“You look beautiful,” I replied, kissing her eyes as they fluttered closed. “Get some sleep and I’ll be back in a few.”
