But then we heard Ivar shout behind us. “Buck!”
And it sounded a lot like…
“Shit,” Will mouthed, looking behind him as both of us went wide-eyed.
I frowned. “Oh, come on. You know he already got that from his father.”
We didn’t teach him bad language.
“And when Mads says it to Kai?” Will retorted, worrying about Banks and Kai losing their shit.
I just shook my head. Oh, well. “If you don’t act like it’s a big deal, then it’s not.”
Kids tended not to repeat behavior they didn’t get a reaction for. And it wasn’t like we were going to be able to protect the children from Damon Torrance forever.
We raced to the hospital, maybe a little over the speed limit, Will introducing the boys to Disturbed for the first time. Ivar banged his head, rocking out to the music, but ever-calm Mads sat there and observed, so much like his dad in his poise.
It would be interesting to see what a girl would bring to the new family, since Damon was convinced the newborn was female, even though they didn’t find out the sex yet.
Grabbing the boys and the bags, we hurried into the hospital and up to the third floor, finding a hallway full of family as Winter screeched from inside the room.
I winced, realizing I was no longer a spectator in her plight. I’d be doing what she was doing next fall if my calculations were correct.
“Ah!” she growled from inside the room, the door just cracked enough to hear.
“How’s it going?” I asked, handing off Mads to his mom as Rika took Ivar from Will.
Another scream pierced the air, and a nurse ran past us, entering the room.
“Should be soon,” Alex said, the rock on her hand gleaming as she held her phone to her ear.
Aydin had to rush to Chicago this morning for a meeting, but he was supposed to be flying back now. He and Alex had taken over most of Evans Crist’s responsibilities, both of them in Meridian City most of the time and loving it. They liked the noise and the hustle and bustle.
Michael sat on a chair next to Athos, enthralled as he watched her play some game on her phone while she wore huge headphones over her ears.
He pointed to something and she shoved him off, not wanting help. “Daddy, stop it.”
He smiled, watching her now instead of the game.
They had told her when they adopted her this past winter that she could call them whatever she felt comfortable calling them, but it only took a few weeks for her to love the fact that these were her parents. She wanted everyone to know Michael and Rika were her mom and dad.
And who wouldn’t love it? She had everything she could ever want in life, and she certainly knew that.
They were the lucky ones, though. They’d all found each other.
“What?” Damon shouted from inside the room.
We all stopped, looking at each other.
“It’s a boy?” he blurted out. “Are you sure?”
We leaned in, and I folded my lips between my teeth to contain the laughter.
A baby cried, there was some shuffling, and then we heard Damon’s playful little growl. “Ugh, what am I going to do with you?”
“Damon!” Winter growled. “I’m going to kill you. You better love him. You do, right?”
There was a pause, and I met Alex’s wide eyes with my own.