“Uh, yeah.”
“You’re having a girl,” she repeats. It’s clear she’s not happy.
“Was she hoping for a boy?” I ask Thomas and Dragon, just as Thomas’s mother huffs yet again.
“You’re having a girl.”
“Shit,” Thomas hisses.
“When were you going to tell me that my grandchild was a girl, Thomas Kane West?”
“Kane?” I murmur, looking up at Thomas.
“Mom—”
“Don’t you mom me. Dragon, did you know about this?”
“I’m innocent this time, Mama,” Dragon says, holding his hands up.
Damn, I know why when Thomas says babe, I vibrate. He gets it from his dad, because when he calls Nicole mama I find myself envious of her. It’s clear he loves her completely.
“M-mom, how’s Kay-Kay?”
“She’s good. They ran me out of the room while they clean her and the baby up.”
“She’s had the baby?” I ask, surprised. I thought the whole reason of coming here was because there was a problem.
“She did. A beautiful baby boy—which I knew about, mind you.”
“M-mom. I thought—”
“The baby went into distress and Kayden began blacking out. They took her in for an emergency cesarean, but she’s okay. Chains is in with her right now. There was some trouble with the umbilical cord and Kayden’s blood pressure, but she’s fine.”
“That’s good,” I murmur, squeezing Thomas as he gathers me in his arms and holds me. I smile as I feel him kiss the top of my head.
“Just realized you don’t look like you want to cut off my son’s balls off anymore,” Dragon drawls.
“It’s happening less and less,” I mutter, managing to blush only slightly.
“Give him time. He’s too much like his father for it to go away completely,” Nicole grumbles. “I still can’t believe he didn’t tell me you were having a little girl. Here, come sit down. Are you cold? I can have the nurse get you a warm blanket.”
“M-m-om—”
“Don’t talk to me, Thomas Kane. I’m pissed. Go get Lyla some coffee to warm her up.”
“I don’t drink coffee,” I interject, looking at Thomas, silently pleading for him not to leave me alone. I know my eyes are dilated, and panic is very close.
It’s not because I don’t like his mother, I do. I think I could like her a lot because it’s apparent in the way she touches Thomas—even while chastising him—that she loves him. It’s just I’m so nervous about being here in general and she’s sending Thomas away and well… he’s my anchor.
“They have decaf,” she says, looking at me.
I moisten my lips and kind of shrug. “I don’t really drink any kind of coffee,” I respond.
“Hot chocolate?” she says. She appears so hopeful that I find myself nodding agreement—even though hot chocolate is the last thing I want.
“That’s my favorite, too,” she says with obvious approval.
“Scoot, Thomas Kane. Get her some hot chocolate from the cafeteria.”
“How l-long you g-g-g-gonna add K-Kane to my n-n-name?” Thomas asks, obviously annoyed, but he’s smiling at his mom and the love he has for her is obvious.
“Until I’m done being pissed,” she grumbles.
“I really don’t want anything,” I interject. “Well, except to ask Thomas how I didn’t know his middle name was Kane.”
“Babe,” he laughs.
It’s silly, but I got like three or four times of him calling me babe in one night and that makes me happy. It also means that Thomas is more relaxed—which I want. I could tell he was worried about being here. I felt it even through my own nerves. I don’t think anything will make mine go away, but I like I helped with his.
“I’m serious. That’s a beautiful name. We could have named our baby that.”
“D-don’t think that would w-work, Sunflower.”
“Maybe the sonogram was wrong,” I mumble, but I do it smiling and Thomas’s eyes crinkle.
I hear Nicole let out a heavy sigh and I turn to look at her and she’s watching Thomas with tears in her eyes. I don’t think she’s mad either. She looks happy. Maybe she likes it when he smiles, too. He doesn’t do it near enough. I guess that’s why I always feel like I’ve won the lottery when he does it.
“Mom, y-you okay?” Thomas asks. She dabs at her eyes with her fingers, wiping away the moisture there, then she frowns at him. Still, even I can tell it’s not a real one—and I don’t really know her.
“A sonogram I knew nothing about,” she chastises.
“I have pictures,” I interject when Thomas begins to look agitated.
“You do?”
“Yeah. I brought them because I thought you might want to look at little Kane,” I joke, watching Thomas.
“Lyla, our g-g-girl is not g-going to be named Kane.”
“It’s a pretty name,” I counter.
“Bullshit. It’s my name.”
My head jerks up as this big, bald-headed man with tattoos with dark skin shining against a stark white tee and wearing an MC cut walks over to us.
It’s so cold outside. Don’t these men ever wear sweaters, or at least long sleeves?