Ryan (Mallick Brothers 2)

"Hey Fee," Ryan said, coming in the room after I forced him to go home and shower and change, assuring him that I was fine alone for a while. But there was no such thing as 'alone' in the Mallick family. Where he left, Helen and Charlie showed up. When they were gone, Fee and Hunter and the girls made an appearance. "Hunt looks like he's about to lose his fucking mind," he added as Fee jumped off the bed so he could slide in next to me.

"That'd be my demons for you. I'll catch you guys when you head home," she added, giving me a warm smile and leaning down to kiss her nephew. "Try sleeping through the night, Danny. Mommy and Daddy will be a lot more tolerable if you do."

With that, she was off.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked, running his finger down the baby's face.

"Oh, only my about gazillionth try at nursing," I grumbled, annoyed that it didn't come as naturally as something so natural was supposed to. He wouldn't latch on me, but he would suck on the unnatural bottle like it was nobody's business.

Ryan leaned over, kissing my temple. "Did he get anything from you?"

I shrugged, taking a deep breath. "About half what he was supposed to I guess."

"Half is better than last time," he told me, giving me a small smile. "That's progress, honey."

"You're right," I agreed, smiling the stress away. "It's progress."

Progress.

It was what we had built our relationship on the hope of.

And it was what we had slowly but surely made.

And it was what there was sure to be much, much more of in our future.