“I think I’m in shock,” I say. “Liam has allowed his daughter's crush to come on holiday with her?”
“He’s a changed man.” Josie laughs. “Actually, it took some prodding at first. Like I said, Mack was going to join us after Christmas, which would give him a day or two with Noah. But then Nick . . . well you know the rest. I do think Liam put the fear of God into the boy though, but we’ll still keep our eyes on them.”
“Right because we were . . .” Katelyn stops talking and looks at her girls. She smiles sheepishly and then turns back to her glass of wine.
“Mom, seriously?” Peyton says.
“Please tell us it was our father, and you weren’t some—ouch,” Elle looks at her sister in horror. “I can’t believe you just hit me.”
“So, what if Mom had a couple of boyfriends.”
“I just don’t want to hear about her sexcapades when she was a teen.” Elle shudders, and we all laugh.
“What’s going on in here?” Harrison asks as he enters the room, cradling Oliver. I reach for him, hoping Katelyn won’t be angry that I want to hold him again. Harrison sets him into my arms, and I sigh with happiness.
“Does he have a nickname or anything?”
“Ollie,” Katelyn says. “Harrison and I settled on two names, and then as a family, we voted.”
“What was the other name?” Josie asks from behind me. She’s moved so she can look at the sleeping bundle in my arms.
“Ezra.”
“He looks like an Ollie to me,” Peyton says. “And Oliver fits when you say all our names together.”
“Does he have a middle name?” I ask.
Katelyn shakes her head. “Oliver Powell-James is already a mouthful. No need to add any more. But he won’t officially be Oliver until the adoption. Right now, the state refers to him as Baby John Doe, but Harrison wanted to make sure we called him something else because Jimmy—”
“Do not tell Jimmy the baby has his initials. You’ll never hear the end of it,” I tell Katelyn.
“Exactly what Harrison said.”
Betty Paige and Mack walk into the room. I look for signs they were making out but see nothing. Mack sits on the floor in front of Peyton, and they start talking quietly. You can clearly see the adoration they have for each other. Paige sits next to Josie and eyes me warily.
“Um, Aunt Jenna, what’s in your arms?”
“A baby,” I tell her as I hold him up for her to see. Her eyes go wide.
“Who had a baby?”
“Well, I kind of did,” Katelyn says. “We are fostering until we can adopt him.”
Paige moves closer to me and gets a better look at Oliver. “What’s his name?”
“Oliver,” I tell her.
“Where’s his mom?”
“She can’t take care of him, so we’re going to,” Katelyn answers. I’m not sure how you explain to a teenager that someone abandoned their baby. I know the safe haven laws don’t call it abandonment, but it still feels that way to me, especially when I’ve wanted another baby for so long.
“It’s sad that his mom left him,” Mack chimes in. “But it’s good that you have him, Miss Katelyn. He’s a lucky boy.” It makes me wonder if his statement is some sort of reflection or jab at his mom for wanting to move out of the country.
“We’re the lucky ones,” Katelyn replies.
The door opens again, and this time it’s Eden. It takes her a few minutes to get her gear off, but she's in shock when she comes into the room until Paige fills her in. Within an instant of learning that the baby I’m holding is not staying with us, she’s next to me, making the most adorable sounds at Oliver.
“Peyton, don’t you want one?” her sister asks.
All eyes are on Peyton while we wait for the answer. I know everyone is excited for her and Noah to start a family, but I also respect why they haven’t. Peyton is young and just starting her career. I’m sure she wants to make a name for herself with the Pioneers before she goes out on maternity leave. Unlike Noah’s job, she doesn’t get an off-season because she works with management when it comes time to recruit. From what Katelyn has told me, Peyton is always watching game film of college kids, looking to see who might bring new life or fill a void in the team. Her job isn’t to just break down Noah’s game, but the whole team and make them better.
“We do when the time is right,” she says to everyone, mostly eyeing her mother and sister.
“Until then,” Josie says, “You can play with this cute little boy.” She reaches for him, and I reluctantly hand him over. I know I have to share, but I don’t want to. It’s selfish, I know. Maybe it is time for Jimmy and me to explore adoption.