“Yeah, Wren filled me in on the way here. Babies are pretty special. A gift from God.”
We talk about nothing for about twenty minutes, and I’m starting to worry that no one is going to come back and take him off my hands. “I’m going to go and find Star,” I tell him, and I start to roll myself down the hall. He doesn’t follow me. He stays where he is.
“See you later, man,” he says.
A nurse points me to a room and I push the door open. I look in and Sam is sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his son. He motions for me to come into the room and smiles at me. I roll inside, and I see that Star is lying on her side in the bed with Peck. Wren is sulking in a chair in the corner.
“Congratulations,” I say quietly. I look over at Star and see that her eyes are closed. She’s clutching tightly to Peck’s hand, but she’s not saying anything and neither is Peck.
Sam looks up. “You want to hold him?”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He just gets up and comes toward me. I start to protest, but he doesn’t care. He sets the baby in my arms and sighs. “Samuel Emilio, meet our friend, Josh. He’s kind of cool.”
“He sure is,” I whisper, looking down at the tiny little bit of perfection in my arms.
“I was talking about you, dude.” Sam laughs.
“Oh,” I breathe. Well, I try to breathe, but the little guy has taken all my wits away when he blinks his blue eyes at me. I’m breathless and amazed.
There was a time when no one would have trusted me with a baby, but then I’d never met a Reed before. I swallow hard because my throat is suddenly clogged with emotion.
“Dude, if you cry, I’m going to take a picture of it and send it to everyone.”
I laugh. “Fuck you.” Then I remember I’m holding a child. “Oh, shit,” I say. “I mean shoot.” I just cursed twice in front of their kid.
Sam laughs and goes back and sits down next to Peck on the edge of the bed, crossing his feet at the ankles. Apparently, he’s more amused than angry at my slip-up.
“Can I do anything for you guys?” I ask. “Do you need anything?” I didn’t get them a gift.
Sam shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” He nudges Peck with his elbow. “Do we need anything?”
“Babysitting,” Peck murmurs.
I choke on my own spit. “What?”
She grins. “Not right away. But maybe sometime.”
I point a finger at my chest. “Me?”
She shrugs. “You asked.”
A grin tips my lips. I try to hold it back, but it’s like happiness is tugging at my heart and showing itself on my face.
“Damn, he’s handsome when he smiles,” Wren says, and then she whistles. It takes me a minute to realize she’s talking about me, and then heat creeps up my cheeks.
“Dude,” Sam says. “They have no boundaries. They asked me about my equipment. Be glad she’s just talking about your looks.”
Wren wiggles her brows. “For now.”
I laugh. The sound is almost foreign as it slips from my soul.
A knock sounds on the door and it opens enough for Star and Wren’s brother to stick his head inside. “Can I join you?” he asks.
Star sits up and says, “No, you may not.”
“Oh, shut it, Star.” Wren motions him into the room and makes introductions. Sam looks curious. And Peck looks like a mother bear guarding her cub, and I’m not talking about Baby Sam.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Peck yawns and I say, “I’m going to go home so you guys can get some rest.” Sam comes and takes the baby from me. The baby is so warm and perfect and foreign.
“Where’s he going to stay?” Star asks, nodding toward her brother.
Wren heaves a sigh. “He’s going to stay in Peck’s old room for a few days.”
“No, he is not!” Star jumps to her feet and punches her hands into her hips. “No!”
Wren closes her eyes and massages her forehead. “The room is just sitting there empty. He doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
“And this is our problem why?”
“Because he shares our DNA!” Wren yells. The baby startles and Sam growls at them both.
“Knock it off,” Sam warns.
“Why can’t he get a hotel room?” Star asks.
“Because he doesn’t have any money!” Wren whisper-hisses back.
“Money,” Star bites out. “That’s what this is about.”
“He’s going home with us. That’s all there is to it.” Wren clenches her teeth so tightly I can hear them grinding.
“Then I’m not.”
Wren sighs. “If that’s how you want it.” She glares at her sister.
“Fine.” Star leans over and kisses Peck on the head, whispers in her ear, and then kisses Sam’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Then she walks out of the room.
“That didn’t go very well,” Tag says.
Sam catches my eye and nods toward the door. He wants me to go after her. And to tell the truth, I feel like there’s an imaginary tether between us, and it’s getting tighter and tighter the farther she walks down the hall.
I rush to catch up with her and follow her to the elevator, enjoying the click of her stiletto heels and the sway of her ass. She jams her index finger against the elevator button.