Epilogue
Present-day Marietta
Sierra sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair of the hospital waiting room, about at her wit’s end trying to keep Kaylin occupied without touching every germy surface in the place.
“We should have waited,” Sierra said to Carter as Kaylin fussed and tried to wriggle out of her lap.
Carter pawed through the baby bag trying to find a toy that would hold Kaylin’s interest. “Cole said it’d be any minute now. You said you wanted to be here.”
“I should have realized waiting with a one-and-a-half-year-old would be like waiting with a rabid octopus.”
Carter grinned at her. “Rabid octopus. Now, that’s a new one.”
“Pam-paw!” As Dr. McArthur and Mrs. McArthur approached, Sierra let Kaylin down. The one-and-a-half-year-old toddled over to Dr. McArthur and wrapped her pudgy arms around his legs.
His MS had progressed a little aggressively in the past few months, so he didn’t pick her up, but he did give her head a pat and greet her cheerfully. Mrs. McArthur reached down and took Kaylin’s hand.
Kaylin babbled happily up at her grandparents, and Sierra didn’t catch any of the words she seemed to be picking up at a rapid pace, but Kaylin was more than happy to hold court.
It was still strange, even all this time later, to watch the McArthurs interact with her child. Sierra’s relationship with them wasn’t roses and rainbows. It was polite, at best, but the McArthurs had proved to be good grandparents. They’d only overstepped a few times, and Carter always told them to back off, and they did. It had taken trial and error, a few arguments, and things weren’t perfect, but they were good. Sierra hadn’t really sat back and fully realized that until right now watching them entertain Kaylin while they waited.
“Did I miss it?” Lina was breathless and red-cheeked as she jogged into the waiting room.
“We haven’t heard anything yet,” Sierra assured her. “Where’s Ace?” Jess’s brother, who was also Lina’s soon-to-be husband, was supposed to have been coming with Lina from where they lived outside of Kalispell.
“He’s parking the car. Of course we wasted five minutes arguing who should. It’s really not fair my niece or nephew is also my fiancé’s niece or nephew. I have no seniority or pull,” Lina grumbled.
Kaylin made an indescribable noise they’d all decided was her attempt at saying Lina. Lina scooped her up, making the toddler squeal. “Stop growing, shortcake. You’re making me sad I don’t get to visit more often.”
The door that led into the labor and delivery rooms opened and Cole stepped out, broad grin taking up the entire width of his face.
“It’s a boy,” Cole announced, looking awed and exhausted all at once. He and Jess had decided not to find out the sex of the baby beforehand, or at least not tell anyone, so it was a surprise for everyone waiting.
“Now, isn’t that good news. Some testosterone for the next generation,” Dr. McArthur offered.
“And what’s this boy’s name?” Sierra asked, feeling a little choked up over how excited Cole looked. Bringing a new life into the world was such an awing experience even when it wasn’t yours.
She remembered how transformative it had been to watch Carter learn how to be a father, especially in those first few days. What a magical, exhausting time it was.
“Colton Finn McArthur.” He winked at Carter. “Another C-name for the McArthur books.”
“Can we see?” Lina asked impatiently.
Cole nodded. “Not everyone all at once though. The room isn’t that big and Jess wants to see everyone, but she’s exhausted too. Mom and Dad, Lina and—”
Ace jogged through the waiting room doors, as out of breath as Lina had been. “Well?”
“We’ve got a nephew,” Lina announced excitedly. “Can we go first?” she said, turning to Cole hopefully as she handed Kaylin off to Sierra.
“Jess asked for you both. You can come in with Mom and Dad, if Sierra and Carter can wait?”
“No problem,” Carter offered. “Congratulations, Daddy.”
“Hell,” Cole muttered. “Why does that one word about knock a person over?”
“It’s something else.”
The four of them filed back after Cole, leaving her and Carter and Kaylin in the waiting room alone for the moment.
Carter leaned his head against hers. “We could have another, you know.”
Sierra turned to look at her husband, trying not to grin. She kept her expression bland, her gaze cool. “Could we?”
“You probably want to make sure the summer camp goes off without a hitch first.”
She had to smile at that. She’d become friends with an art teacher at the high school and together they’d started putting together a community summer art program. It had taken almost two years to launch, and this summer would be their inaugural year.
Carter had been ridiculously supportive, and her mother had been babysitter extraordinaire these past six months, allowing Sierra some of the time and freedom to help get everything put together.
“That’d be good. I think it’s… Well, it’s going to go well one way or another, but I want to feel present while we’re doing it. I don’t want to be puking my guts out.”
“Oh, weren’t those the days?”
She chuckled. “But in the fall, Kaylin creeping up on two. That’d put them about the same amount of years between you and Cole.”
“Does that bode well?” Carter asked, only half joking. “I don’t recall me being that close to my siblings growing up.”
“But look at us now.” Sierra gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “We’re pretty good at getting along these days. We’ll set a good example. Besides, this one needs something to keep her occupied. Torturing a younger sibling might just be it.”
Kaylin was busy pulling every single thing out of her baby bag and throwing it across the floor.
They exchanged a look that communicated both love and exasperation over their strong-willed daughter. It made Sierra smile because it reminded her of a time when she’d thought she and Carter just weren’t wired the same way as married couples who could share a look.
But it turned out, shared looks and nonverbal communication took work, and time, things they’d both put into their marriage a lot over the past couple years.
And it was a good one. They both got down on their hands and knees and began to clean up Kaylin’s mess, much to her dismay. Working together they got all their belongings back in the bag and talked Kaylin down from her tantrum.
Carter was holding her on his shoulders to distract her from the trashcan she wanted to play with when Ace, Lina, Dr. McArthur and Mrs. McArthur came back out.
“They said to send you three right back,” Lina said, sounding cheerful even though she looked teary. She and Ace were holding hands, and so were Dr. McArthur and Mrs. McArthur.
It was funny to think how they were all McArthurs, all of them, somehow a family at this point. They’d never be precisely the image so many people had of them, but in the course of a few years they’d all learned how to be better versions of themselves.
So, Sierra walked back to the hospital room to meet her new nephew, and introduce Kaylin to her new cousin, with all the hope in the world for the future generations of McArthurs and all the love they would have and, most importantly, share.
The End
To Read about the Couples Who Appear in Bride for Keeps…
Kaitlin & Beckett: Bride by Mistake
Cole & Jess: Keep Me, Cowboy
Lina & Ace: Ignite