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AN HOUR AND A HALF later, Drake got a text from Jack that he was headed back with Wilma Eastman.  Drake looked over at Karen and saw that she was still resting her eyes.  He looked down at Andrew who was staring back at him.  He loved it.  He hadn’t expected a newborn to have his eyes open.  The nurse had told him that he couldn’t really focus on Drake, but he knew better.  They were bonding at a soul level.

“Drake?”  He turned his head and saw that Karen was awake.  How long had he been staring at Andrew?  He put the baby in his bassinette and knelt beside Karen. 

“You’re going to hurt your knees,” she warned.

“I don’t think hospital linoleum is going to injure me.”  He held her hand and slid his cheek against hers.  Her skin was as soft as their son’s.  Their lips met.  He would never take her for granted, she was his world.  Karen and Andrew.

“Where is everyone?” Karen asked.

“Your mother should be here in less than thirty minutes.  The Avery Avalanche has been waiting less than patiently outside.  I told them you needed some time to recover.”

“But they’ve seen Andrew, right?”

“Nope.  I told them that you would show him off.”  When he saw her glowing smile, he knew he’d made the right decision.  “The team is here too.  All of them but Trenda and Bella went out to dinner a couple of hours ago, but they’ve been back for a while.  If I had to guess, Sophia has been feeding them all baked goods in the waiting room.”

“Do you think she smuggled in any for me?”

“I’m sure she did, but you, Warrior Princess, are on strict orders to do whatever the doc says.  If she says you can have smuggled baked goods, then fine.  If she doesn’t, then you don’t.” 

“You’re bossy, do you know that?”

“I’m second-in-command.  I’m paid to be bossy.”

Karen made a small move to sit up, and gasped.  “What the fuck?” he demanded as he pushed her softy back toward the pillow.  “What in the hell are you trying to do?”

“Greet visitors of course.  Granted, I went about it the wrong way.  Can you help me sit up?”

Drake found the button to raise the bed.  “Tell me if this gets to be uncomfortable.”  He watched her like a hawk, making sure that she wasn’t enduring unnecessary pain.  Satisfied that the bed was in enough of an upright position, and that she hadn’t made any painful facial expressions, he stopped pressing the button.  She blew out a deep breath through her teeth.

“Enough of this shit,” he decreed.  He stood up and pressed the button for the nurse.  “It’s time for more pain meds.”

“That might not be a bad idea,” Karen agreed.

He leaned close, making sure she wouldn’t miss a word.  “You scare me, you hide pain the way one of my SEAL teammates would.  You’re not on a mission.  You’re a new mother, and I’m here to help you.  You did the same thing when you were hurt back in Tennessee, I told you then that it was bullshit.  Lean on me, Karen.  In a little over a month I’m going to be your husband.”

“You’re my husband now, in every way that matters,” she said as she lifted her hand and cupped his cheek.  Her thumb brushed over his bottom lip and he shuddered. 

“My God woman, you never fail to arouse me.”

Her eyes searched his.  “Are you sure?  I haven’t felt like me for so long, and now I’m a real mess.”

“You’re Karen.  You’re always going to do it for me.  Even when we’re both in our rocking chairs, one look from your sparkling green eyes and I’m going to be chasing you into the bedroom or into the kitchen if that’s closer.”  He spoke nothing but the truth and he was satisfied to see her apprehension melt away.

“Bring Andrew here, I want to love on him again.” 

Drake smiled.  He brought their boy to Karen.  “I was wrong, he is tiny,” she said.  “Look at the nails on his fingers, they are miniscule.  But look at that head of hair.  It’s just like yours, Drake.”  He looked at the awe on her face, then he looked down at their baby.  His heart clutched.

“I still can’t believe we made him.”  Drake stroked his tiny hand. 

“Unwrap him,” Karen said.  “I want to see his feet.” 

Drake grinned.  He’d already counted Andrew’s toes, and kissed the bottom of his feet.  Something told him Karen was about to do the same thing. 

“Oh look, his feet are big, he’s going to wear your size shoe.”  She grinned up at him.

“What the hell are you talking about?  His feet are as small as his hands.”  Okay, maybe not that little, but still, put the kid down next to his boot and he’d bet the farm they were the same size.

“He’s going to grow up huge, just like his Daddy.”  Karen kissed Andrew’s cheek, and then reached up and kissed Drake’s.  “Thank you for giving me this miracle.”

“I can’t believe we did this?  How did we do this Karen?  Does every parent feel like this?  I want to protect him and not let anything bad ever happen to him, but at the same time I want to help him conquer the world, ya know?  How can I ever do this right?”

“What are you talking about?” she gently admonished.  “I should be the one who’s worried.  You already raised some amazing women, I was the youngest sibling.”

He looked at her in amazement.  “Are you kidding?  Piper told me how you had your class of kindergartners eating out of your hand.  With your heart and brains, you’re going to be the best mother in the world.  Do you want to know a secret?”

She looked up at him, hanging onto every word.  She nodded.

“Even if I weren’t head over heels in love with you, I would still choose you to be the mother of my child.  You were meant to do this.” 

“I hope I can live up to your belief in me.”  She kissed the bottom of Andrew’s foot, then swaddled him back up in his blanket. 

“There is not a doubt in my mind Baby, not one single doubt.”

His phone buzzed, and he saw that it was Jack. 

“Jack says they’re still fifteen minutes away.  Do you want to wait for your mom?”

“Nope, she gets here when she gets here.  I don’t want to keep the others waiting any longer.  Call them in.” 

The door opened, and Alice came in.  “I brought another pain pill,” she said cheerfully.  “Oh good, you’re sitting up.  Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you out of bed.”

“You can’t be serious,” Drake turned around to stare at her.

“Just a walk to the bathroom and back.  The day after that we’ll have her walk to the nurse’s station.  She needs to get up and move.”  She handed Karen the pill and watched as she swallowed it with a sip of water.  “You were on bedrest for a long while, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Karen answered.

“We need to get you back in fighting form, so you can take care of baby Andrew.”

“I’ll take care of him.  Karen needs to recover.  Maybe we should postpone the wedding.”

The atmosphere in the room went still.

He wanted to kick his own ass when he saw the look of dismay on Karen’s face.  Even Alice gave him a sharp look.

“I wasn’t thinking, of course we won’t delay the wedding, Honey.”  He needed to backpedal fast.  “Karen, I didn’t mean it.  I just want you to take all the time you need to recover, is all.”  His Tennessee accent came out thicker as he tried to talk himself out of the hole he’d dug.

She didn’t answer him, just stared.  Fuck, he needed to do damage control, STAT.  He took the glass of water from Karen and leaned in next to her.  “If we could, I’d bring in a priest, a minister, or a judge, and marry you in this hospital room right this moment.”

She stared at him like he had lost his mind.

“Karen, making sure you’re healthy is the most important thing in my world.  If trying to schedule and have a big wedding is too much for you, then I want to postpone it.”  He saw her consider his words.  “So do I call a minister?  Everybody’s outside, we could get it done now.”

“Drake Jefferson Avery, we are not getting married on the day I gave birth,” she said in a deadly calm voice.  Oh shit, he was really in trouble.  “We are getting married in seven weeks like we planned.  Like Alice just said I am going to get up and walk, I am going to recover, and we are not changing our effing plans, am I being perfectly clear?  Even for you?”

He bit the inside of his cheek.  “Yes ma’am.  Message received.”

“Good, now I need to see our friends,” she said crisply. “I want to show off our son.”

So did he.  Everybody out in that waiting room was family.  He needed to share this day with them.

He feathered a kiss against his woman’s forehead and gently placed her back against the pillows, then he took out his cell phone and texted his oldest sister.  She pinged him back in a nanosecond.  Next, he texted Mason who was even quicker in his response, as if that were possible.

“I think our family is going to be descending.  You ready?”

“More than.”

Their son was cuddled close to his mama just a moment before a soft knock sounded on the door.  Drake opened it and found Trenda holding her young daughter Bella, with Mason, Sophia, and her sixteen-year-old brother Billy, standing behind her.  He looked behind them expecting more people.

“They were stopped at the nurse’s station.  Clint is doing a song and dance to allow more people to come in at the same time.  The hoard should be in soon,” Mason explained all this as Trenda scooted in past Drake.  As if his words magically conjured his family, Drake saw his five other sisters coming down the hall with Evie and Chloe’s husbands Zarek and Aiden. 

Drake grinned at Mason as he saw them, and Sophia and Billy slid by him into the room. “I see the Avery Avalanche.”  Mason looked over his shoulder and gave his fellow SEAL, Aiden, a chin tilt.  Aiden gave a small smile in return, happy that his wife, Evie, was so thrilled to see her nephew.

“Hurry,” Evie and Piper said at the same moment as they both tugged at Aiden’s hands. Aiden broke into a grin and hurried.  Drake was about bowled over when his sister Maddie plowed into him.

“You broke the curse.  A son!  I’m so happy for you, Big Brother.”  She was crying through her smile.  “I love you Drake, now get out of the way.”  Drake looked over his shoulder and saw that Sophia was holding Bella and Trenda was holding Andrew.  Maddie went straight to the sink to wash her hands, intuitively knowing the drill.

Drake was hugged by Evie, Chloe, Zoe, and Piper and then abandoned as they rushed into the room.  Zarek, Chloe’s husband, shook his hand and congratulated him before going into room, that left Aiden.

“Where’s everybody else?” Drake asked.

“Clint managed to sweet talk the nurse into letting your overabundant clan in.  I think he and Dare are planning an op up the back stairs to get the SEAL team in here in the next few minutes.”

They grinned at one another.  “I’m amazed that Finn hasn’t acquired hospital attire for everyone,” Drake said.

“That has been discussed.  I think that’s the back-up plan.”

God, he loved his team.

“Get your ass in here, and see my boy.”

“By the way, great name,” Aiden said as he clapped him on the back and went to join Evie.  Drake zeroed in on Karen, making sure that she was doing okay. Now instead of pale, she looked flushed.  Drake frowned.  Was it a good flushed, or bad flushed?  He went over to the side of the bed near the wall and rested his hand on her shoulder so that he could brush his knuckles against her cheek.  She felt hot.

“Drake, I’m fine,” she said smiling up at him.  Damn, he couldn’t slip anything past her. 

“I want to hug Auntie Karen,” Bella said.  She tugged at the blanket covering Karen, who winced.  Drake opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to say anything, Zoe swung her niece up in her arms and started tickling her.

“We need to be gentle with Auntie Karen, Lovebug.  Her tummy is sore.”

“Can I kiss her?”

Zoe aimed Bella at Karen.  “Kisses!” Bella shouted, then smacked Karen a wet one before Zoe pulled her back.  “Mommy, I want a brother, like baby Andrew.”

Trenda, who was still holding onto her nephew, with her four other sisters crowded around her, looked up at her daughter.  “You’ll have to make do with your cousin for the time being, Bella.”  Drake noted the wistful look on his oldest sister’s face.  Talk about a woman who should have a houseful of children. 

“My turn,” Evie said holding out her hands.  Trenda reluctantly gave up Andrew and transferred him to her sister.  Evie then turned around and looked at Mason.  “I think it’s time for you to hold your namesake.”

Mason’s eyes warmed as he took Andrew from Evie.  God, the kid looked miniscule when he went from pint-sized Evie to warrior-sized Mason Gault.  Mason’s wife Sophia leaned in, and both of them stared intently at Andrew.  It was as if they were ensconced in a world of their own.  Andrew got his fist free from his blue blanket and curled it around Mason’s pinkie.  Drake watched as tears spilled down Sophia’s cheeks.  She turned to him and Karen, and mouthed, “Thank you,” then turned back to the baby. 

The door opened and in walked his fellow SEAL team members and their women.  First came Clint and his fiancée Lydia, then Angie and Finn, and finally Dare and his wife Rylie.  After receiving three chin tilts he watched as the women gathered with his sisters and the men went to the window to join Aiden and Zarek, it was as if there was a magical bubble that surrounded Mason, Sophia and Andrew for the moment.  Drake knew that they had been struggling to have children, so this moment was even more precious.  Dammit, they were meant to be parents.  Even though Billy was part of their family, he stood aside, giving the couple their time, his expression empathetic.

“When can I play with my dozen?” Bella asked in a loud whisper.  Everybody laughed, and Andrew let out a soft cry. The poignant moment was over.

“Cousin, Honey. Andrew is your cousin,” Trenda said, emphasizing the ‘C’. 

“Can I hold my Zuzin?” she asked.  Sophia and Mason turned and smiled at the little girl. 

“If she sits in my lap, can we hold Andrew together?” Trenda asked Drake and Karen.

“Of course,” Karen answered.

At least ten cell phones were whipped out to take pictures.  “Drake, take a picture,” Karen exclaimed.

“We’ll have forty-seven texted to us.  We’re good.  I like it where I am.”  He stroked her beautiful auburn hair.  There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to leave her side unless he was dragged away.  He listened as his four-year-old niece continued to butcher the word cousin.  God, she was a doll.  Too bad she lived in Tennessee, otherwise she could babysit Andrew one day.

The door opened again, and in walked an older version of Karen, flanked by Drake’s team mate, Jack Preston and his wife Beth.  Wilma Eastman took in the scene, smiled at her grandson, and made a beeline to her daughter’s bed. 

“You look flushed.  Jack and Beth said there were complications.”  She immediately glared at Drake, as if he were at fault.

“Mom, I’m fine,” Karen attempted to soothe.

“Drake, tell me everything.  Karen’s just going to lie.  Is my baby girl all right?  What happened?”

Drake sure as shit wasn’t going to tell Karen’s mom everything.  Especially with Karen trying to grind his knuckles together.  He knew she would never forgive him.  Plus, he agreed.  What was the point in going over things that were in the past? Hell, the only reason to ever inform Karen that a mission went a little sideways is if he came home with a new scar.  And even then, he downplayed the hell out of it.

“The doctor said she’s going to be fine, Wilma.  But, because of all the bedrest she’s had, we’re going to wait on her hand and foot for a good long while until she’s recovered.”

Karen shifted to glare at him and then she let out an eep of pain.  Both Wilma and Drake zeroed in on her.  “Honey, don’t strain yourself,” Wilma soothed. 

“Karen,” Drake gave a low warning whisper.

“Both of you stop.  I’ll be out of here in four days.”  Karen rolled her head toward her Mom, then back the other way so she had Drake in her sites. “I’m going to be up out of this bed walking the halls the day after tomorrow.  I am not made out of spun glass.” 

“Honey, I didn’t say you were spun glass-” he started.

“You are not waiting on me hand and foot.  I want to take care of my baby.  You’re not taking away one single moment of mine and Andrew’s time together; do you hear me?”

Wilma started chuckling, and the sound of female laughter filled the room.  “You tell him, Sister,” Evie chimed in.  “Are you listening, Aiden?  None of this cotton wool shit is going to fly.”

“Auntie Evie, you said a bad word, you owe me money,” Bella said. 

“Dammit.”

“Two dollars pease.”  Bella grinned triumphantly.  Male chuckles interspersed with the female giggles.  Trenda made sure she had a steady hold on Andrew as Bella jumped out of the chair to hit up her aunt for cash.

“Welcome to the crazy.”  Drake smiled at Wilma.

“I had four kids.  I’ve been dying for grandchildren to add to the mayhem.”  She kissed Karen’s forehead and stroked her cheek.  “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”  Then she yawned.  “But if I do fall asleep, there will be enough pictures to last a lifetime.”  Drake noted all the phones that were out and poised to take more shots, and knew she was right.

Drake saw Wilma take her fourth glance over at Andrew, and Trenda must have seen her doing it too, because she brought him over.  “Here, Grandma, someone needs a cuddle.”

Andrew let out a cry, and Wilma laughed.  She immediately started to walk with him, rocking and cooing.  Andrew settled.  When Drake looked back at Karen he saw she was asleep, despite the fact there were over fifteen people in her room. Trenda and Mason were soon at his side.

“We’re going to gather the troops and head out,” Mason said.

“We’ll be back tomorrow.”  Trenda smiled.

He watched as his sister and lieutenant herded everyone out of the room. 

“Jack is going to drop me off at your apartment.  I’m staying in Piper’s room, while she stays at Evie’s with the rest of your sisters.”  She handed off Andrew and kissed Drake on his cheek.  “I’ll have something warming in the oven when you get home.”

“I’m going to sleep in the chair tonight.”  Drake nodded at the recliner in the corner.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.  I want to stay close.  Thanks for coming, Wilma.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked, looking him dead in the eye.

“Nope.”

She sighed.  “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.  Think about what I said during our last telephone conversation.  It sure would be nice.”

“Wilma, you being Karen’s mom means I love you.  Don’t doubt it.  The word mom leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.  Now the name Wilma makes me smile.”  Holding Andrew in one arm, he wrapped his other around her shoulder as he walked her to the door where Jack and Beth were waiting.