Happy Ending (Fisher Brothers 4)

Then Ryan lost all control and started cracking up. “You should have seen your faces,” he said through his laughter.

Frank punched him in the arm, and I couldn’t even blame him. Ryan deserved it.

“Who does that?” Nick said, shaking his head.

“What’s her real name?” Frank practically growled.

“Hope.” Ryan beamed at them, looking like the proudest dad on the planet.

“Now that’s a beautiful name,” my mom said, tears filling her eyes as she reached for the baby.

And it was. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She looked exactly like Ryan with the exception of her mouth and hair. Those lips were all mine.

“How’d you choose?” Ryan’s mom asked as she took a few pictures with her cell phone of Hope with my mom.

“We kept trying to pick a name before we even knew her,” Ryan said, and I interrupted with a small laugh.

“It wasn’t working.”

“It wasn’t.” Ryan chuckled. “We couldn’t agree on girl or boy names, and nothing felt right.”

“So Ryan suggested we wait. He said we were trying too hard to name a baby we didn’t even know yet.”

The room filled with the sound of sweet sighs of understanding.

“It makes sense, right?” Ryan asked, and everyone agreed. “She’s the miracle we never expected,” he said, looking directly at me.

“She’s the light that came out of the dark,” I added.

“She was our hope without even trying.” Ryan looked between me and the baby, his eyes welling with emotion, and I wiped at my own, which had started tearing up as well.

Jess took a step closer, stopping next to my bed to wrap her arm around Matson, who was at my side. He followed suit, putting his arm ar

ound her. His crush hadn’t subsided, and I dreaded the day she married Nick, fearing that my boy might get his first taste of a broken heart.

“She’s so perfect, Sof. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Jess. Your turn,” I teased, and the blood drained from her face.

“Not yet,” she choked out, and I laughed, knowing that everyone in the room couldn’t help but overhear us.

“I think someone might have cold feet, Nick.” I glanced at him and nodded toward Jess, and he waved me off. The last thing in the world Nick Fisher was worried about was his status with his girlfriend.

“My baby’s just trying to climb that corporate ladder before she starts birthing future CEOs.” He grinned and gave her a wink. I swore Jess melted a little with the gesture.

Nick and Jess always acted like a couple who had just gotten together instead of one who had been together for years, and I envied that. I hoped that Ryan and I never let our relationship grow stale. It required work to not get into that comfortable state where you expected things and stopped appreciating them, but it was possible. I wanted to make sure we both did that for each other . . . always.

“You’ll be okay, right? For the wedding?”

Claudia had replaced Jess at my side, and I cocked my head to the side at her question. I knew she wasn’t asking out of concern or worry for herself. She was genuinely about me being comfortable and ready to be a bridesmaid on her big day.

“Yes,” I said enthusiastically, wanting to be sure she knew how excited and happy I was for both her and Frank. “Hope should be mostly eating and sleeping still, so the biggest thing I’ll have to do is breastfeed or pump a few times during the day. I hope that’s okay.”

“Are you kidding? Of course that’s okay.” Claudia leaned down and gave me a hug.

“When do you think you and Frank will have kids?” I whispered so the eavesdropping group surrounding us wouldn’t hear.

“Tomorrow.” Claudia grinned as she glanced at Frank, who was completely oblivious to our conversation. He was staring at Ryan and Hope with what looked like awe and maybe envy in his eyes. “But, seriously, look at him right now. He’s going to have baby fever more than I do. Probably try to put a baby in me the second we get home.”