Page 18 of All It Takes

ChapterFifteen

TIFFANY

“Hey there,” Hallie called as I walked into the kitchen.

My sister-in-law sat at the kitchen table in the house she shared with my brother, cradling their months-old baby boy in her arms. I paused beside her chair, sliding my arm around her shoulders and squeezing gently.

“Hey. He looks sound asleep.” Danny was named after our father.

As I straightened, Hallie smiled up at me, her hazel eyes warm. “He is.”

“Can I hold him?” I asked, my hands practically itching to hold my nephew.

Hallie nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Will it wake him up?”

“When he’s like this, if he wakes, he’ll fall right back asleep.”

She stood, carefully shifting Danny into my arms. The weight of their baby settled gently, and he molded against me as I adjusted him. His fist curled into his chin as he tucked his head into the curve of my shoulder.

Hallie stepped back, smiling. “I love him so much, but it’s nice when someone else shows up to fuss over him.”

I smoothed my hand over his silky soft hair. “I bet. I haven’t had a baby myself, but I’ve seen how much work it is. Anytime you need a babysitter, just call. I feel like you don’t ask for very much help.”

My sister-in-law sat back down with a sigh, casting me a sheepish smile. “I never want to impose.”

“Impose!”

“Chase is a huge help.”

“My brother is the best kind of guy, and I’m so glad you two had that one-night stand.”

Hallie’s eyes went wide, and her cheeks flushed pink. My brother and Hallie had met like that, and she got pregnant because condoms weren’t one hundred percent. Fortunately, they’d fallen in love, and now they had a baby. I was thrilled. My brother had been as cynical as me for years, maybe even more so.

I sat at the kitchen table as Hallie walked over to the counter, asking, “Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

She filled two mugs from the coffee pot. When she sat down across from me and handed a mug over, gesturing with one hand to the creamer on the table, she said, “It’s fresh. I just made it before you got here. I missed coffee during my pregnancy.”

She took a healthy swallow of her coffee, smiling as she let out a satisfied sigh and leaned back in her chair. Meanwhile, I looked down at my nephew. His lashes curled against his cheeks as he slept so deeply, and I envied him.

“Just a drop-in?” Hallie asked.

Looking up, I shrugged. I added cream to my coffee with my free hand before I lifted the mug and took a swallow. “Yeah. I was over in this area.”

“So get me up to speed. I’m all caught up on this guardianship situation. I’ve grilled Chase about Wes, by the way, and he assures me Wes is a solid guy. Both of you went to school with him, right?”

“We did. I think he was a few years ahead of me in Chase’s grade. Honestly, I can’t believe he’s a firefighter, much less a hotshot firefighter.”

“Why? Chase said he’s great.”

“It’s just he was different in high school. He was kind of quiet and one of the smart kids.” I felt my cheeks start to get hot.

“And what else is different?” My too-perceptive sister-in-law asked with a slight glint in her eyes.

“Well, he’s hot. Not that he wasn’t attractive in high school, I just didn’t pay him much attention.” I set my mug down as Hallie giggled.

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