Chapter Ten
Forrest
Nine Months Later
“I can’t believe I actually fractured your hand,” Alyson winces, looking at the splint they had put on me.
“I mean, if you had to do it, you picked a good place for it, we’re already in a hospital,” Max snickers.
“Shut up, smartass, ten minutes earlier and it would have been you,” she replies.
“Absolutely worth it,” I tell her, bending over and kissing her forehead.
She smiles tiredly up at me. “I’d say I’m sorry, but we’re not really even close to even,” she jokes.
I laugh. “I know you didn’t mean to, it’s fine,” I assure her, “And you’re right, one of us went through a shit-ton of pain today, and it wasn’t me.”
There’s a soft rap on the doorframe. “She’s ba-ack,” a gentle female voice says.
I turn to see a nurse striding into the hospital room with a blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms. Alyson struggles to sit up a little straighter, wincing, and Max carefully adjusts the bed so she can do so easily. “Here we go, momma,” the nurse says cheerfully, placing the baby in Alyson’s arms, “She’s six pounds, twelve ounces.”
I stare in awe at the sight of Alyson cradling her creation, this precious, tiny life. It’s hard to believe we all start out so tiny, and even harder to believe that this itty-bitty bundle is going to grow up to be a real human.
“I’ll be back in just a few minutes, ok?” the nurse smiles, then leaves the room, leaving the four of us alone.
“She’s so beautiful,” Alyson murmurs, her voice hitching and her eyes bright with unshed tears of joy.
Her pregnancy had been relatively easy, and labor had been surprisingly short for a first-timer. It was like Alyson was just made to be a mom, and seeing her with that baby in her arms has tears springing to even my eyes.
“She looks just like you, Aly,” Max says, leaning down and pressing his lips to Alyson’s forehead.
“Well, not completely,” Alyson says, “This little nose definitely isn’t mine,” she reaches down and gingerly taps a finger to the infant’s tiny nose.
“It’s not mine, either,” I remark.
Both Max and Alyson glance at me, then Max looks down at the baby. “Hmm, I guess you’re right.”
I fold my arms over my chest, a smile spreading across my face. “Matter of fact, I would have to say it looks a lot like yours, Max.”
His eyes widen in awe. He looks at me again, then down at the baby, reaching up to touch his own nose slowly. Alyson looks at him. “You know…I think Forrest might be right,” she says softly.
“Guess she’s one in a million,” I tell Max.
Max looks up at me and I see his eyes welling up. “You don’t seriously think-”
“Yeah, I do,” I nod, “But we can always do a DNA test to find out.”
Max shakes his head. “No. I don’t care,” he says firmly.
“You sure?” I ask him, brow furrowed, “I thought you’d be thrilled to have a daughter of your own.”
“She’s our daughter, all of ours, whether she’s my blood or yours,” he replies, reaching down and stroking the baby’s cheek with a gentle fingertip, “Our love made this baby together, that’s all I care about. The rest of the bullshit, the mechanics or whatever, don’t matter.”
Alyson wipes at her eyes carefully with one hand. “Ok, one of you needs to take her, because I’m going to turn into a blubbering mess and cry all over her,” she says in a shaky voice.
Max laughs and scoops the infant gingerly from our lover’s arms. “I love you,” she tells him, then turns to me, “Both of you.”
“Love you, too, beautiful,” I tell her, bending down and brushing a gentle kiss over her mouth.