“There’s Uncle Ford.” Lincoln’s whisper is barely heard over the beeping of the machine hooked up to Danielle. Mom said they were giving her some fluids. Even though the delivery went quick and fairly easy, she still lost a lot of blood and they want to keep an eye on her.

I close the door softly behind me. Danielle is lying in the bed, her eyes closed. Lincoln sits in the plastic blue chair beside her bed looking into the nest of blankets in his arms, whispering things to his newborn son that I can’t hear. I stand just inside the doorway and take it all in.

The feeling in the room is the most peaceful thing I’ve ever felt. There’s so much love floating around among the baskets of flowers on the windowsill that you can almost reach out and touch it.

Lincoln and I have had our fair share of arguments over the years. The two youngest of the boys in the Landry family, the two most athletic and physical out of the bunch, we’ve had moments where we’ve really butted heads. But to see this—my baby brother, the All-Star pro-baseball player with shoulders as broad as a barn, holding this little baby in his giant hands with the tenderness of a parent—is incredible.

Something has changed in Lincoln since I saw him a few hours ago. He’s somehow more ferocious than I’ve ever seen him, yet, at the same time, the gentlest he’s ever been.

He looks up as I wipe the side of my eye. With a grin, he simply nods his head. That’s all he really needs to say.

“How ya holding up?” I ask, clearing my throat of the emotion that’s started to build.

“He’s perfect, Ford. Absolutely perfect.” He lifts the baby’s hand from beneath a blanket. “Look at this—centerfielder hands if I’ve ever seen them.”

I laugh softly, reaching out and touching his little palm. His fingers wrap around mine, not long enough to close around it completely. I look up at Lincoln and he beams.

“With that grip, he may be a better hitter than his dad,” I whisper.

Lincoln chuckles.

“What did you name him?” I ask.

Linc looks briefly at Danielle as she begins to stir. He forces a swallow as he watches her intently until she settles down.

“I can go. She probably needs to rest.”

“Ford,” she says, her lashes fluttering open. She sends me a sleepy smile. “Did you meet our new man yet?”

“I’m getting ready to.” I release my finger from the baby’s grip and walk to the side of her bed. “I can go if you’re tired. Or bring you guys back some dinner?”

She smiles. “Not until you meet Ryan.”

Turning, I see Lincoln standing with the bundle of blankets tucked under his chin. “Wanna hold him?”

“Absolutely.” A few seconds later, Ryan is placed in my arms. He whimpers for a split second before nestling against my chest and falling right back to sleep.

I’ve never felt anything like this in my entire life. My entire heart feels like it’s going to burst. This little thing cuddled up against me pulls at pieces of me I didn’t know could be tugged.

“His name is Ryan Lincoln Landry,” Lincoln says softly as he pulls the blankets down from his face, revealing a slightly up-turned nose and full lips. “Ryan after his beautiful mother and Lincoln after his awesome father.”

“Don’t worry, Ryan,” I say. “His conceit isn’t genetic. You’ll be fine.”

We all laugh, which makes Danielle cough. Lincoln is to her side in a flash.

There’s a free chair at the foot of the bed and I head that way. Once I’m settled, I pull the blankets down a little more.

Ryan has Danielle’s skin, an olive-y complexion that will serve him well when he gets old enough to appreciate it. He also has Danielle’s long eyelashes.

I can’t stop looking at him.

He’s a perfect little thing created by a love between two people, a love that was almost broken apart. I think back to when Lincoln almost moved to California and when Danielle almost broke up with him, and I realize—none of that matters. That was all just a stepping stone to get them here. In this moment. With this child.

Already, I know I’d die for this kid. I can see glimmers of my brothers and I hidden in his features, and when he opens his little eyes, he watches me like we’ve always known each other. It’s simply unbelievable and I’m only his uncle. What must Lincoln feel like?

“After you master eating and sitting up, I’ll give you a run down on the family,” I tell my nephew. “You’re a lucky little guy. This family is the best out there, so if you had a choice before you got here, you did good, buddy. But you’re going to need some quick tips. Like … watch out for Barrett around election time, and whatever you do, don’t touch anything on Graham’s desk.”

Lincoln laughs, reaching for the baby. “Time for him to come back to Daddy.”

“Linc is a baby hog,” Danielle jokes. “I’ve only gotten to hold him a few times.”

“Because you’re asleep and that’s not safe,” Lincoln notes.

I place Ryan back in his daddy’s arms after giving him a little kiss on his soft forehead.

“I’ll let you guys get some rest,” I say, getting to my feet. “Everyone else has gone home. Mom, Cam, Sienna, Ali, and Mallory,” I laugh, “said to call them if you need anything.”

“We’ll call Graham,” Lincoln shrugs.

“Naturally,” I laugh. “Congratulations, guys.”

“Thank you, Ford.” Danielle waves from the bed as I head to the door and let myself out.

The elevator ride is short and the air is still warm and balmy as I find my truck beneath the parking lot lamps. On auto-pilot, I unlock the door, slide my key in the ignition, and pull out onto the road.

My muscles ache from sitting on hospital waiting room chairs all day, but my mind is in overdrive.

Seeing Ryan tonight and watching Lincoln and Danielle has burned something into my soul. Before now, Ellie was a part of my past and someone I wanted to test the waters going forward with. Now, I realize she’s my past. And my future. There’s no other way around it.

When my sisters’ friends trolled the malls on the weekends, Ellie would show up at the trails with a pair of ripped jeans and climb on the back of my four-wheeler. When they were having their hair done, she was taking care of her dad. When they were wearing sequins and makeup and falling over themselves to get my attention at the pool, I find this girl in flip-flops and a messy ponytail ignoring me as she sits on the banks of a muddy lake.

She was the first girl I ever met that didn’t give two shits that my last name was Landry. I’m not sure when she even realized that, to be honest. Ellie challenged me, made me question everything I’d ever thought. Even at sixteen, her soul was so much older.

When I complained about having to get a new tux to attend a charity function with my mother, it was Ellie that suggested it would be more helpful to take the money we were spending on our attire and donating that to the charity. While the people in my life were making a show of their help of others, it was Ellie that gave her only winter coat to a little girl at school because she didn’t have one and shared her lunches every day with a kid that lived down the road from her and had nothing.

How do you not love that? Especially when she’s the most naturally beautiful girl you’ve ever seen? When just looking at her seems like it fills a hole in your heart that you were born with and can’t plug otherwise.

My mind goes back to Ryan and the feeling in the room I just left. The look on Lincoln’s face and the love that Danielle has in her eyes when she looks at my brother and her son. I’ve only had one person look at me like that, and I sure as hell have only felt that way about one woman.

I grab the wheel and whip a U-turn in the middle of the highway.