Chapter Twelve
Declan
I sat down for lunch at the café with Reese, Caleb, and Trish. After taking a bite of my sandwich, I asked, “Reese, you said you guys had something to talk to us about?” I waved between myself and Trish.
Reese and Caleb sobered and shared a look before my oldest friend took out his phone and passed it to me. Trish and I looked at the screen, seeing a picture of a little baby girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes, wearing dirty pink pajamas. When I looked at Reese, he was smiling.
“Am I supposed to know whose baby this is?” I asked when neither of them said anything.
“I ran into Ms. Walburn at the grocery store last week. She’s the social worker that helped us finalize the boys’ adoptions,” Reese told me excitedly. “She seemed really upset, so we got to talking while waiting at the deli. Turns out, she was having trouble finding a home for this little girl because she has some health problems. Her name’s Amelia, she’s almost eight months old… and we’re going to adopt her.”
My eyes widened at him. I mean, they were wonderful parents to Sammy and Jacob, but I had no idea they wanted another kid. Trish spoke before I had a chance to, “That’s wonderful, guys. When will she be coming home to you?”
“In a few weeks or less, ideally. We have to do a bunch of paperwork and stuff. We’re going to foster her until we can get the adoption finalized. She’s in a temporary foster home right now, so Ms. Walburn is trying to push the paperwork through to get us custody asap.”
“Have you guys even met her yet?” I asked.
Caleb answered, “We visited her over the weekend, then took the boys to meet her last night. All four of us talked about it after they met her, and we agreed that we want her as part of our family. The kids are excited to have a little sister. And she’s such a sweetheart.” Caleb had a goofy expression on his face, and I figured that their little girl already had him wrapped around her fingers.
I sat back and stared at them for a minute. Trish and Caleb started talking a million miles per second together, but Reese just sat back, waiting for me to process the new information. I was shocked, to say the least, but I knew my friends were wonderful parents, and they’d make this little girl’s life better than anyone else could. Eventually, I asked, “What health problems does she have?”
Caleb looked over at me, “She was born prematurely with fetal alcohol syndrome and also had surgery to remove part of her intestines.” He looked at his husband. “What’s the disease called, again?”
“She has necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, so she could face problems in the future, but she’s healthy for the moment,” Reese said.
I nodded, “She had surgery already?” Poor baby.
“She was in the NICU for the first four months of her life,” Reese swallowed, “she didn’t have anyone.” That news shot a sharp pain through my chest, thinking about that tiny baby being stuck in the hospital with no one there for her.
I watched as Caleb put his arm around his husband and kissed his cheek while whispering something I couldn’t hear. I turned and looked at Trish, who shot me a small smile and patted my hand.
I cleared my throat and quietly said, “She’s going to be so lucky to have you two as parents… and Sammy and Jake as brothers.”
“Thank you, Dec.” Leb smiled at me before he pulled out his phone and showed us pictures of Amelia meeting their boys last night. She was adorable, and I could tell that they were both completely enamored with her. It made me happy that they were so elated, even though I selfishly couldn’t help but think that Reese would have even more on his plate, so I’d be the one standing on the sidelines. Not that it mattered, they deserved every happiness that I didn’t, and that little girl deserved to be brought into such a terrific family. They would make each other very happy, and in the end, that was all that mattered. And you have other friends now. I pictured those brown eyes, blond hair, and that cute little nose ring.
When I got back to the office, I shot off a text to Trent.
Me: Reese and Caleb just told me they’re adopting a baby girl.
I went back to my campaign for a few minutes before my phone beeped.
Trent: That’s awesome. I made Levi show me a pic. She’s adorbs.
I smiled at that and wrote back.
Me: She is. Do you work this Sat?
I opened up my laptop and sighed at the email waiting for me. This campaign was going to be the death of me. Every time I tweaked something per the customer’s request, they found something else they hated. If I could reach through my computer and shake some sense into the asshole responsible, I would.
Trent: Nope. Wanna do something?
I smiled, happy that he wanted to hang out. He sent another text right away.
Trent: Am I supposed to be planning something weird to do?
I’d totally forgotten about that. Shit. I immediately frowned as I thought about what we could do. I was too worn out to do anything crazy. This had been a rough work week.
Me: Do you care if we just watch a movie and relax? It’s been a long week.
Trent: It’s only Tues.
Me: Exactly.
Trent: Movie sounds great.
I smiled and went back to work, suddenly wishing like hell it was Saturday. I used to thrive on working five or six days a week, always looking forward to my work. But lately, all I wanted to do was hang out in my apartment… as long as Trent could hang out with me. Or at his apartment where my brother wouldn’t bother us. Honestly, I didn’t care where we hung out, I only cared about who I was hanging out with.
I pictured Trent’s sad expression at dinner last night with his brother and frowned. He’d been so upset all night. When he’d started crying in the living room, it’d taken everything in me not to go out there to him and hold him until he felt better. I hated that I’d had to sit back feeling helpless to do anything. Hopefully, I could do something on Saturday that would make that sad, unsure expression disappear. He had a way of making me happier, so I could only pray that I could do the same for him.
I pulled my phone out and sent one more text.
Me: Start getting your snack list together. We’re having an all-day marathon.
He texted me back right away.
Trent: *Gasp* Be still my beating heart. SNACKS! Get ready for the best, most badass snack list in the history of snack lists.
I chuckled at that. I couldn’t wait to see what ridiculous and gross things he came up with.
***
A couple of weeks later, Trent and I went over to Reese and Caleb’s house to meet the baby. Reese had invited me and I’d asked if I could bring Trent along because Saturdays were our normal hang out days. I didn’t want to miss one.
Once Caleb ushered us inside his house and hugged us, he led us into their living room where we found Reese holding a sleeping baby. Caleb went into the kitchen to get drinks and snacks or something while Trent and I stood in front of Reese and baby Amelia.
Reese looked like he was in heaven when he smiled at us. “Hey, guys. She just fell asleep.”
I moved closer and bent over to inspect the bundle. She was smaller than I’d expected—Reese had said she was on the small side for her age—and she looked like a baby doll with her eyes closed. Extremely cute.
Trent stood beside me and looked the baby over, too, then looked at Reese and said, “She’s beautiful.”
Reese’s smile grew impossibly wider. “Thank you.”
I hesitantly reached out and brushed my fingertip over her little hand. “She’s really cute, Reese. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He nodded at the couch. “If you sit down, I can pass you your new niece.”
My chest tightened a little when he said that and I nodded, then sat on the couch. Reese stood up and placed the little girl in my arms. She wiggled a little, but settled back down when I cooed and bounced her.
Reese said, “She probably won’t sleep for long. We’re actually supposed to have her in her crib when she naps, but we’ve been holding her all week. I don’t want to put her down.”
Trent said, “It’s okay to spoil her a little. She’s only been home for what? A week?”
“Not even. It’ll be a week on Monday.”
“Where are Sammy and Jacob?” I asked.
“They were being loud and crazy, so I made them go up to their rooms for a little while. They’ll be down soon. I’m surprised they didn’t run down when they heard the door.”
I nodded. Usually Jacob was jumping all over me when I came in the door.
Trent sat beside me on the couch and asked Reese, “Can I hold her after Dec?”
“Of course.”
Trent smiled, then grinned at me and leaned in to whisper to the baby, “You’re gonna love your Uncle Cupcake.”
I chuckled at that and nudged him with my knee. “If you get these kids to call me that, I’m going to kill you.”
He laughed and nudged my knee with his own.
We spent a few hours with Caleb, Reese, and all three of their kids before going back to my place for a movie. It was a really good Saturday.