I held my arms straight out awkwardly, my heart beating lo
udly in my chest.
Gabe chuckled, but I didn’t care. All of my focus was centered on that little pink bundle.
“Keep her head cradled on your arm,” he instructed, laying her in the crook of my elbow. “Then bring your other hand underneath to hold her securely.”
“Like this?” I asked, my gaze darting nervously from his face to the baby’s.
“Yeah, just like that,” he replied, then backed away and went back to Zoey.
I wanted to call out and tell him to stay put, just in case she reacted like a jumping frog and bolted out of my arms, but I found myself speechless as I started down at her little face.
Her cheeks were rosy, and her little lips puckered. There was a shock of dark hair peeking out of the small knit cap that was covering her head, and her breathing was even as she dozed off in my arms.
I snuggled her closer, reveling in how soft and warm she felt against my chest.
“She’s precious,” I said quietly, so as not to wake her up.
“Isn’t she just the best?” Zoey asked, pride evident in her voice.
“What’s her name?”
“Evie,” Gabe answered, and I brought my head up to grin at Zoey.
“Great name.”
Gabe’s expression showed his confusion as he looked between me and Zoey.
“Let me guess,” he began as the light cleared. “Evie is the name of either a movie, comic book, or book character.”
Zoey and I just grinned.
“I should have known,” he said, then his face broke with a grin. “Doesn’t matter, she’s obviously Evie.”
I looked back down and her perfect little features and said, “Yeah, she sure is.”
The door opened and Chris came rushing in.
“Hey, Rear, isn’t my sister awesome?”
“She sure is,” I replied, my eyes on the door as I waited for Chloe to follow behind him. When the door remained closed, I asked, “Where’s your mom?”
“Oh, in the rush to get here, we kind of forgot my bag at home, so Chlo offered to go grab it,” Zoey explained.
I nodded, but inside I was worried that I hadn’t had the chance to see or talk to her since that scene in the waiting room. I hated that she left before I could respond, and that it had probably seemed to her like I hadn’t stuck up for her … for us. I needed to see her and get an idea of where her head was, and assure her that my aunt’s opinions had no bearing on our relationship.
The door opened again and a nurse walked in.
“It’s time to try and feed her again.”
“That’s my cue,” I said with a smile, then looked to my cousin and said, “I’m not ready to stand with her yet, can you grab her?”
Gabe lifted her out of my arms and snuggled her close, as if he’d been handling babies all of his life.
“Don’t worry, Evie, we’ll teach Uncle Rear what’s up,” he cooed as he gave her a kiss on her nose, then settled her in Zoey’s waiting arms.
“C’mon, Chris, let’s give them some privacy,” I said, then led him out of the room. “Hey, I was thinking of going out to grab food for everyone, want to go with?”