Seconds later, the room is cleared. It’s just me, Laurel, and the baby she gave birth to. My baby.
“Better?” she asks lightly.
Smiling faintly, I nod and take a seat on the edge of her bed. I don’t look at him yet. I keep my gaze trained on her face. “How are you feeling, kitten?”
“Hungry, tired, hungry, madly in love… did I mention hungry?”
“Once or twice.”
Laurel nods. “They wouldn’t let me eat before I gave birth, so I might literally kill for a taco right now.”
“I don’t have any tacos, but there’s leftover steak in the car,” I tell her. “It’s mine, but I did put a baby in you, so you probably wouldn’t die of cooties from eating my leftover meat.”
Her cheeks flush, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “Eating your meat is how I got in this bed to begin with, Morelli.”
I smile faintly. “Damn right. Want the steak?”
“I’ll take it,” she tells me, clearly on the brink of starvation.
I pull out my phone, quickly texting Virginia to bring the steak while she’s out there.
“So,” Laurel drawls. “Are you ready to meet him?”
“Hm?”
“You’re stalling,” she tells me.
“Nah, I’m just ensuring you’re well-fed.”
Laurel cocks a skeptical eyebrow. “You haven’t even looked at him yet.” As if to force my attention, she lifts her arm up to tilt him up, bringing him closer to me.
His head turns and the movement catches my eye anyway. A pair of sleepy blue eyes peer back at me out of a tiny, flushed face. His cheeks are full, his nose is so tiny, and his lips—God, everything about him is so small.
“Is he normal sized?”
Laurel laughs, surprised. “What? Yes, of course. He’s 7lbs even.” Adjusting the blanket again, she says, “Look at this face. Is this not the most perfect face any human has ever had? He’s the cutest baby in the whole world. I know I’m biased, but I’m pretty confident in this assertion.”
His little head turns toward her at the sound of her voice. She leans down and kisses his forehead three times before pulling back and sighing.
“I try to control myself, but I can’t. He’s just too kissable. Look at these perfect little lips,” she gushes, snuggling him close.
I can’t help smiling at how happy she is. She’s already a great mom, and she’s only had the job for maybe an hour. Well, I guess she had some practice with Skylar, but still a quick study.
The baby makes a noise and a tiny hand pops out from his blanket prison. “Uh uh, he’s breaking out of
there.”
Laurel laughs, petting his tiny hand. “His little fingers—I just can’t handle it.”
“He’s overwhelmingly small,” I agree.
He makes a disgruntled noise, as if to ask in baby, “Who you calling small, asshole?”
“He’s overwhelmingly perfect,” Laurel states, lifting his hand to wave at me. “Nicholas, can you say hi?”
“He is pretty cool,” I agree with a faint nod, reaching my much larger hand out to take his now that it’s free. His fingers wiggle under mine. I take his tiny hand and rest it in my palm, looking at the enormous difference in size. “I can’t believe I made this.”
“You did,” Laurel says warmly. “Great job. This is a five star baby, for sure. You don’t even have to get me anything else for Christmas.”