“I mean, it wasn’t all me. You did help a little,” I joke.
She holds her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “Maybe just a tiny bit.”
“I have to say, based on fictional depictions of women in labor on TV, I expected you to be much less pro-Rafe right now.”
“Oh, I was. When the contractions were trying to kill me, I cursed your name to the gods. Wished many violent fates upon you. But then I got an epidural, which is magic injected into your spine, and now I have a perfect, adorable baby, so I like you again.”
That makes much more sense. “That’s probably why Sin was mean-mugging me.”
“Probably. There may have also been some ‘I’m never having sex again’ proclamations bandied about. I’m over all that now, but contractions are pretty terrible.”
“I’ll buy him a bottle of Scotch to make up for it,” I offer.
Laurel presses another kiss against the baby’s cheek, gazing at him with all the love in the world. “Do you want to hold him?”
“You want to come see me?” I ask him. He stares at me soundlessly, no expression on his tiny face. He already takes after Sin, the little shit. I reach over and take him anyway, surprised again by how light he is. I settle him in the crook of my left arm and look down at him. “Hey there, little guy.”
Laurel scoots closer, leaning over my shoulder so she can gaze at him. “Nicholas, say hi,” she says, her voice sweet and soft. His little eyes dart right over to her and his little hand shoots out, like he’s trying to reach her.
“He likes you better,” I offer dryly.
“I have the boobs that contain his food,” she explains.
“Ah, yes. Well, I can’t blame him there. I am also pretty fond of boobs, and they don’t even nourish me.”
Laurel smacks me lightly on the arm, then leans her head on my shoulder and sighs, staring at him. “I’m so crazy in love with him. I just want to stare at him forever.”
“What’d you end up naming him?”
“Nicholas Sinclair Morelli,” she answers.
I nod approvingly. “A good, strong name.”
“I thought so.”
Before long, Nicholas starts to fuss, and I don’t know what to do about that. I jostle him and Laurel tries to coo at him and settle him, but he keeps at it, so I hand him back over.
Laurel takes him, kissing him and rubbing his back as she snuggles him against her chest. “What’s wrong, baby boy? Are you hungry again?”
Laurel is wearing nothing more than a thin hospital gown to begin with, but without even a hint of shyness, she pulls at the shoulder snaps and frees her breast. My eyebrows rise with surprise as she positions the baby, her brow furrowing in frustration.
“I haven’t quite mastered breastfeeding yet. I don’t have the perfect hold down. This isn’t terribly comfortable.” Pointing across from her bed, she says, “Can you grab me that C-shaped pillow over there?”
As I stand and head over to grab the pillow, I glance back at the door to make sure Sin hasn’t come back in. Not sure how he’s going to feel about Laurel’s breasts being out when I’m right here. “Do you need anything else? Is there a cover, or…?”
Laurel smirks as I bring the pillow over to her. “A cover? You’ve seen me naked. Remember when you wanted me to undress in front of you and Sin for my doctor’s appointment? Now you’re shy?”
“Yeah, but… now a baby’s going to suck on them. It’s going to be weird.”
“You think that’s weird, try manipulating your own nipple to give him something to latch onto.”
“See, now that I could help with. I’m very good at making nipples hard.”
“No.”
I glance back at the firm nope and see Sin walking in, his dark eyes unamused as he strides over to Laurel with her cup of ice and bottle of water.
“I wasn’t offering,” I tell him. “We were just discussing my talents.”