A mixture of panic and excitement stirs in my chest as I walk Kat to the bathroom. My son is almost here. Having a baby at twenty-three was the last thing I’d ever planned, but now that I’m about to become a father, all the missing pieces in my life are falling into place.
After spending months preparing for Noah, his birth is the complete opposite of what I had imagined. Standing at Kat’s side, she squeezes my hand for dear life. I tell her to breathe. She glances up at me, her teeth clenched in either pain or anger. It’s hard to tell with all the yelling she’s done since the doctor told her to start pushing.
A few more minutes pass with the curses flying out of her mouth like a sailor.
“Push,” the doctor says, and Kat squeezes my hand with superhuman strength.
A few seconds later, Noah’s screams fill the room. I smile like a fool as my gaze travels between Noah and Kat. The doctor holds Noah up to show him to us before passing him to the nurse, who asks me if I want to cut the umbilical cord. I nod, somewhat nervous. What if I screw this up?
Noah is tiny and beautiful. He looks like a mini version of me with his dark hair and blue eyes. When I look at him, my eyes fill with tears that I blink away. Cutting into the cord is weird, sort of like slicing through a thick, wet rope. But I feel more bonded to Noah. His mother got to carry and nurture him, but this is something I get to do.
After I finish, the nurse takes Noah to clean him up. I stand next to Kat, my hands still trembling, and sweep the hair off her forehead.
“We make cute kids, huh?”
I follow her line of sight to the nurse who is holding our baby. “He takes after his dad.”
She looks up at me with watery blue eyes that have tears of joy in them. “He sure does. I can’t wait to take Noah home and start my family with you.”
I kiss her hand. “Me, too, Kitten.”
“You should let everyone know that we’re okay.”
“Not yet. I’m not leaving your side.”
She tips her head toward the door. “Go ahead.”
Hesitant, I release her hand. “I’ll be right back.”
When I walk into the waiting area, the entire Baldwin clan stands. Nick helps my mom up from the chair and hooks his arm through hers.
“Did Kat have the baby?” Austin says with a hopeful smile.
I nod. “The nurse is cleaning him up now.”
Austin slaps me on the back and pulls me into a one-arm hug. “Congratulations.”
I hug him back. “Thanks, Aus.”
“How’s Kat and Noah?”
“They’re both good. Kat’s tired from being in labor for ten hours.”
“I guess this makes you an official member of the family,” Duke says, interrupting my conversation with Austin.
“Yeah, I guess it does.”
Our relationship is still strained, to say the least, but I’m trying to hate Duke a little less every day for Kat and Noah’s sake.
Theo pulls me into a tight hug. “Congrats, bro.”
Travis takes my other side, sandwiching me between them.
“Welcome to the fam,” Travis says.
Theo and Travis have finally forgiven me for having sex with their sister. They didn’t believe me when I told them the truth. Even though they still swear we were hooking-up behind their backs for years, the twins are over the betrayal. We’re not as close as we were before, but I have faith they’ll get over themselves and everything will return to normal.
“Do you guys want to see Noah?”