The officer held my brother’s picture in front of me and I nodded. “That’s him.” It seemed like an overly ridiculous formality to have to identify my own brother, but it had been ten damn years since I saw him. The picture sent chills down my spine. It was him and his wife, my sister in law, who both died in the car crash.

The officer, a peppery gray haired old man, fixed his moustache as he spoke.

“Jax didn’t leave much, but he did leave that house not completely paid off. It’s being transferred to your name, your choice what to do with it.”

I nodded.

“The body is being take care of,” he added. “Jax did leave life insurance to cover that cost, and the ashes of him and his wife will be with you by next week.”

“And what about the baby?”

“The baby. Yes, you are his next of kin, and she was an orphan with no living relatives that she cared to put on her will. So, according to what the will shows, this baby is completely 100% yours. You’ll have to figure out what to do.”

The hairs at the back of my neck stood up for that one. Over the last eight years, I’ve taken care of young men in the field of combat. I’ve been through some insane situations, but taking care of a baby? That was something I never fathomed I’d have to do.

I blew out a breath of air and let my eyes drift to the officer’s face.

“You seem a little bit surprised about this one,” he said.

“Yeah, surprise is a mild word for what I’m feeling right now,” I answered.

My chest churned with anxiety. A whole other human being was around and I was now in charge of him? Her? I didn’t even know if it was a boy or girl.

* * *

I headed to the hospital with the documents in hand that the police officer had given me to pick up the baby. Apparently, they were both en route to the hospital when the fatal accident occurred.

“Hi, I’m Kade Houston.” I said to the nurse at the front desk. “I’m here to pick up…” I glanced down at the piece of paper and read the name. “Emma Houston.”

Saying her name made my chest tingle. The little baby girl had my last name.

“Ah yes, Mr. Houston, we’ve been waiting for you. I’m Nurse Kendra.”

“You’ve been waiting?”

“Yeah, we don’t see a lot of cases like this as you must imagine. Both parents dead in an accident. It’s really quite tragic. We’ve all been praying for her at the hospital.”

“Praying for her?” I asked. I wasn’t religious these days. I hadn’t set foot in a church for over a decade. Yet, I still felt my heart slightly touched by those words. “Thank you for taking care of her,” I croaked, my throat getting a little bit gravelly.

“Let me lead you to the room where we are keeping her,” the nurse said, getting out from behind the desk. “By the way, thank you for your service.” She said, glancing at the dog tag around my neck.

“Oh, that,” I said, stuffing them back into my T-shirt. “Just doing my duty.”

“My father served as well,” she added as we came up on the maternity wing. Opening a door, she led us to a room full of babies. Some crying, many sleeping.

We stopped in front of a tiny little sleeping baby. Kendra pointed. “This is Emma,” she sung, smiling.

She was sleeping soundly in her little tiny bed thing. I watched as her chest rose and fell, barely moving.

“She’s so tiny,” I remarked.

“Heh,” She chuckled. “Babies usually are. It’s about feeding time for her. So, I should probably wake her up or someone will.”

“Are you...assigned to the maternity wing?” I asked, scrunching up my face.

She laughed and shrugged. “It’s a small hospital, so we kind of do double duty here. Plus, with this one, oh my goodness gracious, she’s just so adorable. You’re a lucky one, Mr. Houston.” Kendra glanced at me and look down at the baby again.

Just as she did, the baby stirred in her sleep, making the slightest moaning noise. God damn she was cute.

“Hey, oh that-a-girl. Can you tell your Uncle Kade is here?” she spoke to the baby.

A flush of warmth went through my entire body. Uncle Kade. When she said those words I couldn’t really believe it. This was my own kin sitting right in front of me.

The baby moaned again and then opened her eyes, wiggling her little arms and legs. I was instantly mesmerized by their beautiful glossy brown color.

“Oh yeah, you’re up aren’t you?” The nurse continued talking to Emma.

“Okay.” I said. “So, what happens now?”

“Oh, well you got to just pick her up for a little bit. Here.” She picked up the baby like it was nothing. I still couldn’t get over the fact that it was so damn tiny.

She held out the baby, offering her to me.

“You should get a hold of this thing. Try it out.”

I swallowed.

Staring at this little girl. This little baby girl. I hesitated, because, what did this mean? If I held her, would that mean that somehow she’d become more mine? I would get attached to her. What the hell was I going to do about all this anyway? I never really even liked my brother. Then again, it wasn’t this baby’s fault she was born.

I hesitated, freezing up. My jaw tightened as I stared at the baby.

She cried, and Kendra held the baby to her chest. “There, there now. There, there. Are you going to be okay? Yes, you are.” She patted the baby’s back ever so lightly. But the little girl would not stop crying. “Oh, c’mon. It’s okay.” She hummed and spoke to the baby.

“Here.” I finally growled. “I’ll try. It’s alright baby girl.” I took her in my arms and felt the vibrations of the baby’s cries against my chest.

The nurse giggled at me.

“What?”

“You’ve never held a baby, have you?”

“No.”

“You have to...Here, let me help you. Change your hands around.” She moved my hands so they were gripping with one hand supporting the back and another arm underneath the butt.

“Yeah, that’s probably better.” I said.

“You are ridiculous,” she chided, but by the time she said that, the baby stopped crying.

She was breathing softly against my chest. I looked at her to see if her eyes are open because I thought she might have fallen asleep. She hadn’t. She was just resting her head softly, silently against my chest.

“It’s going to be alright Emma.” I told her. “Everything’s going to be alright.” I meant it too, even though I hadn’t the slightest idea how.

I picked the baby up, now confident that I was about to be the best uncle ever. I started walking towards my car.

“Hey?” Kendra called from just outside the automatic doors of the hospital. “Don’t you need something?”

“Like what?” I say.

“Well, have you ever driven with a baby?”

“It’s been a while,” I shrugged.

Some of my friends on the military base had babies, but I wasn’t exactly an expert.

“Oh, I don’t know. Do you have the things that you need for the baby?”

“Like what?”

“Um, you need diapers.” She said, listing them off. “And you also need a car seat.”

“Where do I get that?”

“Okay, um, here I tell you what. I will loan you my car seat that’s hanging out in the back of my van.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary.” I said.

“Well, do you have another idea for how to get this baby home? You can’t just carry the baby in a car.”

“Good point.” I said. “Alright, fine. I guess I will take that car seat and bring it back to you as soon as I’m done. I guess that’s the benefit of living in a small town right?”