The doctors are good. They know what they’re doing. Octavia is in good hands.

That’s what I keep telling myself as I wait for the Uber to arrive, standing at the door, in the cold of dawn.

They’ll make sure my sister and her baby are okay. But I know I won’t rest until I’m there, close to her, to both of them.

“Ready,” Jarett says from behind me, and I turn to find him with my mom held in his arms. Her eyes are wide, and she’s holding on to him like she’s afraid he’ll drop her, but his face barely shows any strain.

The sight makes me smile through my fear. “Okay, Mom?”

She nods frantically. “Jarett says we’re going to your sister?”

“Yes.”

Right on cue, the Uber arrives, and we pile inside, Jarett carefully placing my mom in the back seat and climbing in beside the driver.

And we’re off to the hospital, at last.

Mom grips my hand and squeezes. I squeeze back, and we smile shakily at each other.

We both turn to look at Jarett’s dark head.

“Told you he’s a good boy,” Mom stage-whispers to me. “Didn’t I?”

He’s the best guy in the world. I can’t even express how much his coming to my rescue means to me, can’t say how deeply it touched me.

Even if I told him I love him, and he didn’t say it back.

* * *

The hospital buzzes like a hive. We somehow find a wheelchair for Mom—though I have the feeling she was a bit reluctant to let Jarett put her down, clinging to him as he lowered her to the seat.

I hide a small grin, because I know exactly what it feels like to be in his arms, surrounded by all the strength and warmth and protectiveness, and I can’t blame her.

A receptionist takes Mom’s info. I take the opportunity to call Matt once more, see how things are progressing.

“Gigi.” He sounds so much calmer than I expected, than I feel. “How’s your mom?”

“Mom’s fine, the question is how’s my sister?” I swallow hard, aware my voice is rising. “How is she?”

“Doctor says the C-section may be necessary, but they’re monitoring the baby’s heartbeat for now. It seems it’s not as off as they thought.”

“Off?” I frown, glancing at the receptionist. Jarett is talking to her, his hands on the handles of the wheelchair. “Okay, that’s… good, right?”

“No fucking clue,” Matt says, and suddenly sounds exhausted. “She’s having contractions, and is in pain, and nobody will really tell me what’s going on.”

My heart thumps in my chest. “Tell Tati I’ll be there very soon. We brought Mom to have her ankle x-rayed, make sure it’s not broken. I’m right here, and I’ll find you in ten, twenty minutes tops.”

“Okay. She’s been asking for you. I’ll be glad to see you, Gigi.”

I hang up to find Jarett rolling Mom to one side of the waiting room. “Wait for me.”

“You go find your sister,” he says, shoots me a faint smile. “I’ve got this.”

“Yeah, go to Octavia,” Mom says, waving a hand at me. Her face looks much better, I notice, more relaxed, the lines around her eyes and mouth smoother. “I’ll be fine.”

I don’t need to be told twice. I hurry over to them, bend to give her a kiss on the cheek, then grab Jarett’s arm and lift up on my toes to kiss him, too.

He turns and our lips brush. He draws an uneven breath, his cheekbones coloring. “I’ll find you later.”

Nodding, I call Matt again to find out exactly where they are and hurry away, knowing he will.

Because if there’s one thing I know by now for sure when it comes to Jarett is that he keeps his promises.

* * *

My phone rings as I hurry through endless hallways, asking a thousand people on the way for directions. I fish it out of my purse and bring it to my ear, wondering if it’s Mom or Matt calling me.

Turns out it’s neither of them.

“Sis? What’s up?”

“Merc. I’ve been calling and calling. Where the hell are you?”

“Sorry, sis, was at a party. A Sebastian found me, said to call you. Said Jarett owes him? What’s this about?”

Wow. He did it. Jarett said he’d find Merc, and he did it, even if it meant asking a favor from his horrible brother.

“You chose a bad night to go off grid.” The heels of my boots clack on the floor as I take another hallway. “Mom twisted her ankle, and Tati’s in labor and the baby may be in distress. You have to—”

“Whoa, what? You serious? You fucking with me?”

“No, Merc, I’m not. Get your ass over to the hospital right now.”

He huffs. “On my way.”

He disconnects and just in time, as I finally locate the door with a sign for the right wing. Heart pounding, torn between worry about my sister and gratefulness for Jarett, I open it, and the first thing I see is Matt pacing in the distance.

Okay, I found them.

And now I’m here, cold sweat running down my back, I don’t know what the hell to do. I hurry toward him, and he doesn’t notice me until I’m right in front of him.

“Gigi. You made it.”

Duh, I want to say but just nod. The relief in his voice is loud and clear. He’s stressed, he doesn’t need my sarcasm.

“Where are the kids?” Matt’s kids, Mary and Cole, are very close with my sister. They call her Mom now. It’s sweet.

“With my mother. Seeing Octavia in pain isn’t good for them.”

True. Not good for him, either, obviously. “Where is she? What’s going on?”

“She’s with Layla. They both kicked me out.”

Laughing now might not be the best idea. Also hugging him. He looks like a prickly bear someone woke up from hibernation.

Also, Layla is probably the best person to be with my sister right now. She’s Matt’s sister-in-law and has two kids, so she knows all about having babies, I guess.

“What did the doctor say?”

“Nothing new. Waiting, monitoring. They still think a C-section would be best, though. Dammit, Gigi…”

I give in and give my bear of a brother-in-law a hug. He engulfs me in his arms, and I hug him awkwardly back, patting his sides.

“She’ll be fine,” I whisper, and now it’s me giving reassurances. The world has clearly gone batshit. “Where’s your brother?”

“Kaden went to get us some coffee. He said we’ll need it.”

Coffee sounds good, even if my stomach is twisted in knots. I want to go see my sister, hold her hand, reassure her—but I have the same problem I imagine he has: seeing her in pain won’t be easy.

I take a bracing breath to ask which one is her room, or ward or whatever—when a doctor hurries to us, to Matt.

“Mr. Hansen.” It’s a young guy in pale blue scrubs and a kind, tired face.

“Yeah? What is it?” I’ve never seen him go pale like that, I swear. “Is something wrong?”

“We’re going to prep your wife for the C-Section. If you want to be with her…”

“Shit, yeah, of course.”

“Can I come, too?” I start after them as they hurry toward a set of white doors. “I’m her sister—”

“Just the husband, I’m afraid,” the young doctor says over his shoulder.

Well, crap. “Is she going to be okay? And the baby?”

“Yes, everything looks okay,” he says, although if that were true, why would they do a C-section?

Truth or lie, the doors close in my face, and I skid to a stop.

I didn’t even get to see her. Does she know I’m here?

Oh shut up, mind. This isn’t about me, it’s about her, and I’ll be the first person at her bedside the moment she’s out. I’m here in case my sister needs anything.

Anything at all.

* * *

I call Mom to tell her what’s going on, and text Merc and Jarett about it, too.

When a person sits down beside me some time later, I fully expect to see Merc, but it’s not my tall, little brother.

It’s Jarett.

“How you holding on?” he asks in his deep voice, and I shiver.

“Okay. She’s in the surgery now. Just waiting.”

His hand searches for mine, grips it in a bruising hold.

It feels good, grounding me, and I smile at him. “How’s Mom? Where did you leave her?”

“With Merc. He called her, said he’s staying until the doctor is done with her, and then will bring her over here.”

“How’s her ankle? What did the x-ray show?”

“Still waiting for the doctor.”

I nod, look down at our entwined hands. So much I want to tell him. I want to thank him again, tell him again I love him. But I don’t. The words are lodged somewhere in my throat and won’t come out.

Time passes. He’s quiet, too, as he rubs his thumb in small, gentle circles on the back of my hand, his lowered lashes long and dark, hiding his eyes.

The fact he’s here, it means so much to me. It means everything. What I know about it, all my carefully collected clues, they don’t matter. With tonight’s gesture, he’s swept them off the table, ended the game.

He’s the kindest man I know.

And just like that, I find my voice again. “Thank you for finding Merc,” I whisper. “For coming here with me.” He turns toward me, and I notice for the first time that his jaw is bruised. I disengage my hand from his, lift it to his face, but he flinches, turns away. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You got into a fight?”

His jaw clenches. “I didn’t, Gigi. They started it and ended it.”

“Who’s they? Your gang?”

He says nothing.

What am I going to do with this gorgeous, stubborn man?

“How’s your mom?” I ask, letting my hand drop, my thoughts all over the place.

He flinches again.

Then he sighs, tips his head back, and in the harsh fluorescent light, I notice dark circles under his eyes. “Not so good.” He stops, and I think he won’t say anything else, but he rubs his face with his free hand. “Her short-term memory is gone. Most of what happened in the past few years, too. She doesn’t know who I am. She freaked out yesterday when she saw me.” His breath hitches. “She started to scream. The nurses had to sedate her.”

Oh no. “I’m so sorry.” I lean into him, slip an arm around him. “That sucks.”

He nods, his mouth unsteady. “Yeah.”

I don’t know how to console him. How can I tell him everything will be okay when it’s obvious it won’t?

“What’s on your mind?” I whisper.

“Death.”

I shiver and rest my cheek on his shoulder. “Do you remember your parents?”

“Yeah. They died in an accident, the same one that screwed up my knee. My brain probably, too. And then… then I was in foster homes for years, until Connor found me and decided to adopt me.”

“You’ve told me his name before.”

“He was a cop. A cool guy. He trained me to use a knife, and a gun, and in a mixture of martial arts. Wanted me to be ready for the world. But then he got killed in a shoot-out with a gang. Just like that, he was fucking gone, too.”

God. I don’t know what to say. He’s shaking, as if battling some great emotion, but his eyes are dry.

So I just hold him, wrap around him as much as the hard plastic seats allow us, until his breathing eases.

“This is fucked up,” he finally says. “I’m supposed to distract you.”

“You’re doing a good job,” I whisper.

“Gigi…”

“I like knowing more about you. Not,” I hurry to add, “that I like what you said. That they died, I mean. I’m so sorry for that. I…”

“It’s okay.” But he pulls me more tightly to his side, his arm heavy around my shoulders. “I know.”

And then the doctor comes out to tell us everything went fine, and that both the mother and baby are well and resting.

Little Bean is finally here, and Jarett is beside me.

When Merc rolls Mom into the ward a little later in a wheelchair, and we are told we’ll get to see the baby through the glass, everything’s right with the world.

Please, let it stay this way.

* * *

“Want to hold him?” Octavia asks, holding the baby out to me. She looks tired and pale, but she’s smiling.

“I’ll drop him!” I receive him in my arms anyway, delighted and scared. His weight is almost nonexistent. “Oh my God.”

He’s wrapped up like a taco in a blue blanket, his tiny, wrinkled face and his little hands the only visible parts of him. His eyes squint up at me, dark and shiny.

“He likes you,” Octavia says.

I consider this dubious statement. “I read somewhere that babies can’t even see properly the first few months.”

She huffs, closing her eyes. “Really?”

“But you like me, don’t you, baby-boo?” Bean is squirming in my hold, his little fists waving, and I make faces at him. “Auntie Gigi will take good care of you.”

Octavia snickers.

“We’ll be best friends.” I glance at her. “Does he have a name yet?”

She shakes her head.

“Bean it is, then.”

“Is Jarett here with you?” My sister is watching me carefully.

“Yeah.”

“Did you get the clues you were looking for, then?”

“I did.” I rock Bean a little. “And he’s been wonderful.”

Octavia settles back in her nest of pillows, smiling at me. “I’m glad. Love isn’t an easy thing to bear, and it’s much heavier when you do it alone.”