Epilogue

EPILOGUE










6 years later




The pancakes were turning out beautifully that afternoon. We had recently got a new stove and it had taken a few tries for either of us to get comfortable with the temperature settings. It didn't help that we kept forgetting it wasn't the same one we had before. I couldn't prevent the smug look that made its way to my face, thinking about how our week long streak of eating slightly charred foods was coming to an end.


I quickly removed the three pancakes that had finished cooking on the griddle. They were chocolate chip and deliciously golden brown. Carefully, I picked up the bowl on the nearby counter and poured more of the batter out of it. This had become our Saturday tradition; sleeping in and cooking a late breakfast.


"Hey Dev!"" I called to the next room over. I balanced the largest pancake on the spatula with two fingers, transferring it onto his favorite dinosaur plate. "Breakfast is ready!" I waited for a reply. The silence ticked by. As I opened my mouth to call out again, I finally heard him.


"Okkkkaaaaaay."


I smiled. From the sounds coming out of the living room he was most likely engrossed in another episode of SpongeBob. He'd probably make an appearance after the episode was over. If he took too long, I'd have to replace his cold pancake with a new one.


I turned my attention back to the stovetop, poking at the edges of the slowly firming puddles of batter. Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around my body from behind. I jumped at the touch before relaxing into it, resting my head on the tall body behind me.


"That smells really good," A sleep-roughened voice sounded in my ear.


"Mm hmm," The pancakes were temporarily forgotten as I enjoyed the feeling of his hands gently stroking my arms. "Well you're just lucky that you two have the same favorite breakfast."


I heard a low chuckle in my ear before feeling a kiss planted in my hair. "Lucky me," his hands slid down my arms, resting over top of my own. The spatula was still being firmly held in my right hand. I watched as his left hand envelope my own left. He started twisting around the pair of wedding rings that sat there. I could only catch a few glimpses of silver and diamond shining through both sets of our fingers.


I sighed a moment later, craning my neck back to look at him. "You know, the pancakes are probably burning," I heard him muffle a noise of agreement, unable to catch his eye. His grip only tightened and I was pulled tighter into his body. "You're making it really hard to cook," I strained my neck further, finally catching his gaze. And those green eyes told me that the food wasn't his first concern. Alex was staring down at me with such adoration that I thought I could be trapped in some cheesy romance movie.


"Alright," I pried myself away from him, stepping back up to the stove to flip the chocolatey goodness that was cooking there. Alex leaned against the counter next to me to watch the process.


"Did you tell him they were ready yet?"


"Yeah, but...SpongeBob."


He nodded, suddenly understanding why Devon wasn't in here devouring his third plate yet. "I go see if I can pry the remote out of his hands." Alex pushed himself off the counter. The sound of his footsteps were muffled once he reached the carpet in the next room.


"Bonus points if you can get him to set the table!" I grabbed the bowl of batter, pouring another round onto the pan.


Devon let out a screech. I paused my task, batter still dripping from the bowl I held in the air, and looked into the next room. Alex was coming back into the kitchen, Devon slung over his shoulder. A strained noise left his lips as he set him back on his feet. "Alright kid, you know the drill. Plates, forks, napkins, all on the table."


Devon ran frantically around the kitchen to gather the supplies. For the higher cabinet containing the glasses, he dragged over the stool that was placed in front of the sink in order to reach.


"Dev, want orange juice?" Alex asked from inside the fridge.


"Yeah!" Devon enthusiastically dumped half a bag of napkins onto the table top. But with the way he ate, we'd probably use them all.


"I'll put some coffee on."


I nodded, adding the hot pancakes to the already existing pile on the platter. I shut the stove burners off before placing the platter onto the table. Butter, maple syrup, and coffee mugs had been added to the setting as well.


Then we ate.


Between bites, Devon rambled on about some of his friends at school. He seemed to really be enjoying second grade so far. They had went to the playground during recess again yesterday and apparently a lot of the kids were far more interested in catching red and black colored bugs near one section of the fence than they were in the actual playground equipment. That had me almost choking on my coffee. I looked to Alex but he brushed it off, unfazed by the children and their insect obsession. Alex brought up a new movie advertisement he'd seen in the paper. Devon was instantly intrigued, asking when we could go see it. It was based off one of his favorite superhero cartoons.


"Maybe if you're good today, Daddy will take you," I spoke, stabbing the last few pieces of pancake with my fork.


"Really??" Devon looked back and forth between Alex and I. "That'd be so cool!"


Alex shrugged, coffee mug paused in front of his face. "If you ask nicely, who knows? He should be here soon."


The seven-year old jumped up from his chair and ran out of the room. He was probably checking every window for any sign of Ashton's car.


"Hopefully we didn't just ruin Ashton's plans for the day," I laughed. I grabbed Devon's plate, it was bare except for an ocean of syrup and some chocolate smears, and stacked it onto my own. I pushed the growing pile of dirty dishes off to the side. I still had a couple sips of coffee yet and Alex had just shoveled the last pancake onto his plate.


Eventually Ashton showed up. Devon was running out the door to meet him before he even parked his car. Not long after he was being dragged into the house. Ashton nodded a hello at Alex and I, the only greeting he could get out before Devon took over the conversation over.


"Daddy Alex said you're taking me to the movies!"


Ashton looked over at Alex curiously. "Really, that's what he told you?"


"No, I said you could ask him about it Dev," Alex gave Ashton an apologetic look.


Ashton dismissed it with a shrug. He crouched down to Devon's level and looked at his son. "You know, I had a much cooler plan. I thought we could go to the museum and look at old things and learn."


The look of pure horror the Devon gave at the thought of learning was enough to make the rest of us burst out in laughter.


"I'm just kiddin ya, Devie," Ashton reached over to ruffle up his hair. "We can totally go see a movie if you want to-"


"This is the best. Day. Ever!" Devon yelled before dramatically collapsing on the floor in front of the doorway.


"Hey, I read about that thing your family's company is doing," Alex looked away from the hyperventilating child on the floor. Ashton's expression shone as the new topic was brought up. "How you guys are partnering up with that charity in a couple of months?"


"Yeah, what'd you think?" At the mention of the company's new project, Ashton lit up. He had spent a majority of the last year trying to put the whole thing together. In a way, this project was his baby. It had been started as a way of remodeling what the company represented. Ashton had convinced his dad that it would help modernize it and bring in new business.


"It sounds really great. You guys are doing some cool stuff down there."


Ashton smiled, looking down. "Yeah, I can't wait for November when everything kicks off." He looked at Devon who was still laying on the floor and grinning. "But today, we got a movie to catch, right Dev?"


Devon's eye widened in excitement, staring at his father. "Yeah!" He shifted into a sitting position. "In this one, in this one the Hero Squad is 'spose to battle the evil guy and- and there's SPACE!" Even though his description of the movie was lacking, we all couldn't wait til Devon got the chance to see it.


"Did you pack your stuff yet?" Ashton and Devon seemed to be having a moment. Devon nodded vigorously. "Then go get it!"


He scrambled up off the floor, running to the stairs.


"I'll go help him," Alex left to trail along behind him.


Ashton watched, smirking as Devon disappeared from sight. He was in for quite the adventure.


I knew I would be a few minutes before Alex and Devon returned so I turned my attention back to Ashton. "Did you want some coffee? There's still some left."


Ashton shrugged, his excitement seeming to have dulled slightly since Devon peeled himself off the floor. "Coffee is good," He followed me into the kitchen.


I pulled out a clean mug from the cabinet. Ashton muttered a thanks as I handed it to him and made his way over to the coffee maker. The sugar and creamer was still sitting out next to it. I turned on the sink, allowing it to fill with water as I went around the kitchen collecting dishes. I stared washing them once the sink was half full of soapy water.


"Hey Mad... can I ask you something?"


I turned my attention away from the glass I was scrubbing. My hands paused. Something about Ashton sounded off. He was looking down into his mug. His fingers were tapping nervously on the handle.


"You okay?" I asked suspiciously.


"I just wanted to know.... I mean, what would you think about..." Ashton stopped his tapping and set the mug down on the counter next to him. He bit his lip and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. Just watching him swipe through the screen was making me uncomfortable. I watched curiously as he seemed to settle on something, his blue eyes flickering up at me. Then he crossed the small kitchen and stood to my side. "Uh, I wanted... Do you..." He let out a frustrated huff before giving up on whatever it was that he was trying to say and thrust the phone screen towards me.


I stared at it with furrowed brows, trying to make out exactly what I was looking at. I was vaguely aware of the glass I was still holding and the feeling of bubbles starting to run down my arms. Then the image clicked. I gasped, barely registering the sound of glass smashing against the tiles as it slid from my grip. "Oh my God," both of my hands were suddenly covering my mouth as I stared, transfixed by the image on the screen.


"Jesus, Maddie," Ashton flinched at the explosion of glass. "Hey, don't step in it!"


Without realizing it, I had moved closer to Ashton, grabbing for his phone and holding onto it for dear life. My hands were barely trembling as I tore my gaze from the screen and looked up at Ashton. "Yes," I breathed.


Ashton instantly removed his gaze from the broken shards on the floor and he stared back at me. A shy, hesitant expression worked its way onto his face. "Really? Because-"


"Yes," I repeated. On the phone screen was possibly the one of the prettiest engagement rings I'd ever seen. "Oh my God, Ash. I'm so happy for you!" I felt happy tears start spilling from my eyes as I pulled him into the tightest hug I could manage.


He laughed nervously as he returned the gesture. "Jeez, I didn't even ask her yet. I just wanted your opinion, you being her best friend and all..."


"She's going to love it. You could propose to her on the side of the highway with this thing and there'd be no way she could turn you down."


"You think?" He pulled away, regaining possession of his phone and staring down at the picture again.


"I'm just so happy this is it for you. I'm so happy you found someone who can make you smile a-and who could help you get through all the crap I was throwing at you and... Oh, God, how am I supposed to keep this from her-?"


"You tell Corie about this and I swear I'm never babysitting for you again," At that I threw him a disbelieving look. I highly doubted he'd be able to stay away from Devon for too long. "I mean it, Maddie," He was fighting with himself as he tried to keep from cracking a smile. It failed.


Corie had been reintroduced to Ashton when she helped me chaperone his first playdate with Devon. I hadn't trusted myself to watch them alone and she always tried to be open minded. The day had actually gone pretty well, we were all mostly able to keep our tears under control. They had been happy mostly, tears of relief. Almost as soon as Ashton had left, Corie had turned to me and said "God, I almost forgot how attractive he was." I had smacked her. It turned out that I wasn't the only one who Corie used to be friends with.


Things had been very slow between them. After it was settled that mine and Ashton's relationship was no longer as rocky as it used to be, he had turned to her for advice about the situation. That had slowly lead to them talking more regularly as Ashton had gained her trust and had convinced her he wasn't a complete asshole like everyone thought.


Eventually Corie had asked me how I felt about her and Ashton, asking me for my permission to hang out with him and, even later on, date him. It had been weird at the time but I knew that Ashton hadn't been what I was looking for. He had transformed into being such a nice guy but I still couldn't bring myself to deepen our relationship. We were becoming friends again and that was good enough for me. Besides, that was when I started opening myself up to Alex a bit more. And eventually for all of us, things had only escalated from there.


I had felt so guilty about ruining Ashton's life and he felt guilty for ruining mine as well. It was such a relief for us to watch the other find happiness. It made both of us feel better about everything. I didn't think I'd be able to go on with my life if Ashton continued to live in a world of self-hatred and 'what ifs' forever.


"I'm not sure when it's gonna happen," Ashton spoke quietly, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Not today or anything. The ring's not done yet. That's just the design I was going for. And I was gonna come by a different day and ask you about it but I didn't want her to be suspicious about me coming over here again so I figured-"


"It's fine," I attempted to wipe away the evidence of any happy tears from my eyes. "And you can stop over whenever, you know that."


Ashton nodded, his eyes cutting back to my face. "But you like it right? It doesn't look too old or weird or anything?"


I shook my head feeling like the giddiness would never leave my body. "No, it's beautiful. She'll love it."


Ashton was beaming now, proud of his decision. "Good. And closer to the wedding, maybe you can help pick out the band if you want. I'm not too good at making sure things match. Unless," Ashton paused, looking at me with confusion. "Unless Corie's supposed to pick that out?" He let out a short laugh. "I don't really know that much about weddings. I just usually show up for them."


"Take it easy," I bit back a smile. "One step at a time. There's still a chance she could throw it back at you, ya know."


Ashton rolled his eyes at the joke. He crouched down to start sweeping the broken glass pieces into a pile on the floor. I bent down to help him.


"We could have play dates!" I gasped.


Ashton froze beside me. "But she's not...Wait, is she? A-are you??" His eyes widened.


I looked down at the floor tiles, grinning like a mad woman. "No, no. I was just saying, you know, someday."


"Stop scaring me. I'm worked up enough as it is."


A while later, Ashton and Devon were gone and the mess on the kitchen floor had been carefully swept and vacuumed. After Alex and I were convinced that it was safe, we wandered back into the kitchen to finish up the breakfast dishes. Alex put himself in charge of washing this time, joking that I'd break something else.


"So Ashton's gonna propose, "Alex laughed, setting the cleaned griddle into the drainer.


I nodded and bit my lip. I glanced down at my own set of wedding rings. "Yup," I smiled, recalling mine and Alex's wedding day. It had been over one year ago. "I was scared I'd never see the day."


Alex opened the drain on the sink and set to wiping away the water that had splashed on the counter. Then he turned to face the center of the kitchen, hand gripping the sinks' edge. His eyes were glued to the tile. He bit his lip.


"What?"


"I was always scared, years ago, that he'd be the one proposing to you."


I crossed the kitchen to stand in front of my husband. "But he didn't," I grabbed his hands, lacing our fingers together, and began gently swinging them. Alex looked up then, staring into my eyes like he could see my soul through them.


"Nope."


"It was you."


Alex lowered his face to the crook of my neck, kissing the skin there as he muffled an agreement.


"And you didn't even take me anywhere," I laughed, letting go of his hands and wrapping my arms around his waist. "We were in your parents' living room."


"Hey, it was still romantic. It was dark and there was cuddling in front of the T.V." he defended. "It just felt right...At least they weren't home." Then I was pulled into his arms as he trailed the kisses up to my jaw. "What are you doing today?" Alex asked suddenly, changing the topic.


I sighed, resting my head against his chest. "Wife things," I mumbled.


"Like what?"


I pulled back slightly to look up into those green eyes. His dark blonde hair was starting to get longer again, hanging down past his eyebrows. "First, the bank. Then grocery shopping. Then," Alex hummed, acknowledging my words. He leaned down to press his lips to the corner of my mouth. "Then my mom's house... and you're really distracting you know that?" I pushed away from him, biting back a smile. "I have things to do today. I have to be productive."


"I can be productive," Alex waggled his eyebrows.


Rolling my eyes, I untangled myself from him and left the kitchen. I made my way into the hallway, stopping to gather my things from the table next to the main door.


"Aw c'mon, Maddie."


"Wife things!" I called back, slipping on some shoes and grabbing my purse and keys.


Minutes later, Alex had followed me into the car and we were on our way to the bank. We made a quick stop to the ATM. Grocery shopping took a little longer than usual. Alex kept trying to sneak the weirdest items he could find into the cart. It was hard to believe he wasn't Devon's age at that point. I got a couple texts from Ashton as he kept me updated on what he and Devon were doing.


The rest of the day was turning out to be a regular, boring Saturday.


It got to be around 6:30 when we got back home and started on making dinner. Alex removed the boiling pot of pasta from the stove and dumped it in the strainer that had been placed in the sink. I had just pulled out a mixture of veggies from our fully restocked refrigerator when my phone started to ring from the living room.


"Crap, can you get that?" But Alex was already on his way out of the kitchen to find it. I heard him answer and start talking to the person on the other end. It was hard to make out the words.


Seconds later, Alex was back in the kitchen, handing the phone to me. I dropped the veggies on the table and took it from his outstretched hand.


"Hello?"


"Hiya sis."


"James!" I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as the sound of his voice. "What's up?"


He took an uneven breath before speaking. "Well... today's, uh, today's the day."


"It's- Oh my God," I collapsed into one of the chairs at the table, the hand not holding the phone clamped over my mouth. "Claire?"


"Yeah," He gave a nervous laugh. "Claire's in labor."


It was silent for a moment. Alex looked over at me with concern, mouthing an 'everything ok?' I nodded, turning my attention back to my brother. "How long?" My voice was quiet.


"A couple hours. We wanted to make sure it was the real deal before we called anyone, you know?"


"Yeah," I smiled, uncovering my mouth and resting my free hand on my knee. I'd been there before. "Yeah, I know. So, uh, did you want us to fly down or... wait til after? Or um..."


He forced another laugh. "If you could get here, that's be great. I-I'm freaking out, Maddie. I have no idea what I'm doing."


"Yeah, okay. We'll leave now. Grab the first plane that boards. I'm assuming you called Mom already?"


"Uh huh, she might've already got tickets."


"I'll call her first."


"Okay."


"Hey, James?"


"Yeah?"


"Just stay calm, alright? It's just a baby."


He snorted. "Yeah. Thanks for the help Mad. You're the greatest."


"You'll be saying that again once I get there. Ya know, without the sarcasm."


"Just hurry up."


"Love you too."


"Bye, Mad."


As soon as I ended the call, Alex was kneeling on the floor next to my chair. He was looking at me with wide eyes. "James and Claire?"


"Yup," It didn't feel like I'd ever be able to erase the grin from my face. "Their baby's on the way."


"Should I pack our stuff?" Alex stood, offering me a hand up. I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet.


"Yeah, go get started," I nodded. "I'll see if my Mom got tickets yet."


Alex sped out of the room.


"Carry on's only!" I yelled after him. It was normally a two and a half hour flight. We needed all the time we could spare. The baggage check would slow us down.


I heard him pause on the stairs. "Maddie, I'm a tall guy. I can't fit a weeks' worth of clothes in a tiny suitcase."


"He's got a washing machine. You'll be fine." I unlocked my phone and dialed my mother.


It turned out that yes, she had booked a flight for all of us to go back to Nevada. She also told me that the plane left in an hour. As I was talking to her, I bagged the strained pasta and threw that and the veggies back in the fridge. Looks like we were eating airplane food for dinner.


Then I ran upstairs to help Alex pack. The bedroom was covered in clothes. I quickly pulled random things from the closet and drawers and stuffed them into my bag. Who knew how long we'd be staying there.


"The plane leaves in an hour," I said as we gathered the last of our things together. "Think we can make it?"


"Yeah, of course," Alex nodded, already heading out of the bedroom and down the stairs. He didn't sound so sure of himself.


"If I miss my niece's birth because you drive inherited your grandmother's driving skills, I swear..."


Minutes later we were locking the house behind us and climbing in the car. I pulled my phone out to call Ashton and noticed that Drew had texted me the flight details. I closed the message and dialed.


"Hey, Mad, we're just about done. We'll be leaving in a little bit." Ashton greeted from the other end.


"There's been a change of plans. Could you watch Devon for a couple of days?"


"... Days? You guys okay?"


"Yeah, we're fine," My cheeks already hurt from smiling. "We just got a last minute flight to my brother's. Him and Claire are having their baby shortly."


"Oh, wow! Uh, yeah I could watch him. I'm sure Corie will be more than willing to steal him away from you."


"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone..."


"Don't worry about it. I'll just stop by your house and grab some of his stuff. I have practice tomorrow but all the guys love him so..."


"He loves it there," I said thinking of the gym where Ashton coached his middle school basketball team. "And if anything goes wrong or-"


"Maddie, I got this. Go save your brother."


I sighed in relief. "Thanks Ash, I owe you."


We said our goodbyes. I promised to call and check in with Devon later that night.


We made it to the airport with twenty minutes to spare. Mom and Drew had met us in the parking lot to hand us the tickets she had printed. We ran through the building, far more familiar with the layout that we had been the first time we flew to Nevada. Everything was a blur. I didn't have time to stop and think until we were boarding the plane.


Bags packed away in the overhead compartment, Alex collapsed in the seat next to me. He leaned back into the low quality cushions, closing his eyes and laughing to himself.


"What?" I eyed him wearily.


"Nothing," He rolled his head to the side to look at me. "It's just that... well the first time I went with you guys to see James, you were introducing him to your baby. And now he's introducing his to us."


As if on cue, a toddler a few rows ahead of us started screaming. We both turned in their direction to get a glimpse of the child.


Alex's expression softened as he watched the kid throw the mother of all tantrums. "We should have another."


I blinked, caught off guard. This screaming toddler was the reason Alex was bringing up the 'having kids' conversation? "What?" I looked over at him like he was insane. Then I felt my stomach drop. "Wait... another?" I felt my chest tighten. Alex thought of Devon as his own child. I'd known this for a while but, I was still caught off guard. Sometimes I forgot.


Alex smiled at me. "Yeah... I've known Devon since he was...a fetus. I think that counts," He hesitated. "And I mean, ya know, whenever you're ready."


I bit my lip, trying to contain my smile. There had been a reason why we bought a house with a couple spare rooms. "Really?" Then a certain thought crossed my mind, ruining my good mood. I instantly looked down at my hands, feeling ashamed that it had occurred. But I couldn't help it, it hadn't entered my mind on purpose.


"What's wrong?" His voice held an urgent tone.


"Nothing," I attempted to wave him off. I tried to ignore the feeling in my gut. "It's... it's stupid."


Alex reached out to still my nervous hands.


I sighed, frustrated with myself. I hated myself for even comparing the possibility of a future pregnancy with the one I had I with Ashton. I hadn't meant to but, I had only ever known one outcome of being pregnant. It wasn't my fault that I had nothing else to compare it to.


Alex waited patiently for me to speak.


"It's just... when that happens...-" I squeezed my eyes shut, too embarrassed to look at him. "Can you promise me something?"


"Of course, anything."


"Just promise me that," This was so dumb. "Promise that you won't leave me..." I finished in a quiet voice.


There was silence between us. Slowly, I opened my eyes, locking gazes with Alex. He was staring at me with disbelief, his mouth hung open as if he had been trying to get a word out but choked. The next thing I knew, his hands were cradling my face and his lips crashed into mine, hard.


"I'd never leave you," He whispered against my lips, resting his forehead against mine. "Never."


I nodded, pulling back to lock eyes with him again. "Okay." The way he was staring at me made me know that he meant it.


...


We rounded the corner of the hallway and ran into James, almost stampeding him. Then everyone was yelling rushed greetings, exchanging hugs, and begging for an update. By this point it was closer to 10pm.


"She's good," James laughed nervously. I couldn't help but notice the faint glisten of sweat on his forehead. "We're not quite there yet. Doc says it's gonna be a while... But she's just down the hall if you guys wanna stop in. I was just gonna get some coffee..."


A second later, they were all running down the hall. Mom practically ripped the door open as Drew and Alex followed behind her. Alex paused in the doorway, holding it open and looking questioningly at me. I shook my head in response. I didn't want to crowd Claire just yet. He gave a small smile before letting the door close behind him.


I turned my attention back to James, who was now leaning against the wall. He brought a hand up to rub his face. I claimed the spot next to him, watching him with raised eyebrows.


"Shut up," one glimpse at me and James could already tell I was judging him. "I know I'm a mess."


"Wow, it's like you've never even seen a baby before."


He pushed my side playfully, dropping his hand to grab one of mine. "Just tell me what to do," He watched me with hopeful eyes. It was almost as if he learned that I held all the secrets to the universe.


"Just be there for her," I gave an encouraging smile. "Listen to her. She'll probably get cranky at some point but don't blame yourself, childbirth just isn't always the glorious process it's made out to be." I joked.


"God, I'm so scared," He pushed himself off the wall, dragging me with him as he slowly began making his way down the hall. "If I was there for you then maybe all this would be easier."


"Next time," I pushed the thought aside. James shouldn't be dwelling on the past. He should be worrying about what was happening now.


At my response, his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. I barely caught the way his eyes flickered towards my stomach.


"Not anytime soon!" I smacked his arm lightly. He instantly relaxed.


We wandered to the hospital cafeteria. I was still hungry from my lack of dinner and I knew Alex would be too. The plane hadn't had much to offer. I decided to buy two of the most appealing looking meals when we got there.


A mere six hours later, a nurse had walked into the waiting room. The small talk between my own family and Claire's parents and sister ceased. We all followed her down the hall as she led us into the room where James and Claire were.


Claire was propped up in bed. Her legs were covered in a blanket and her hospital gown was rumpled. A tiny, blanket-wrapped newborn was clutched to her chest. James was at her bedside, leaning in as close as he could to the little human. He was stoking the small hand with his finger, smiling like I'd never seen him do before. He didn't even look up when we all came in.


All three new grandparents fled to them. They were hugging them and congratulating them. I watched in awe as James returned my mother's hug, burying his face in her neck. When he resurfaced, his eyes were red.


Alex, Drew and I stood off to the side, letting the grandparents have their turn. I grinned up at Alex, squeezing his hand. It wasn't too long ago that it had been me and Devon in that hospital bed.


Eventually us younger kids were ushered over. I watched as James handed his new daughter over to Alex. Alex accepted her hesitantly, almost as if waiting for her to instantly start screaming. When she didn't, he relaxed and cradled her closer to his body. I couldn't make out what he was whispering to her.


"Are you ogling your husband or my daughter," James spoke up from next to me after I had, apparently, been staring too long.


"A little bit of both," I smiled, turning to look at my brother.


"Oh no, here we go."


I rolled my eyes at him. It wasn't my fault that the sight of Alex holding a baby made my heart swell. "He's just so great with them," I was referring to both his newborn baby Olivia and to Devon.


"Alright, take it easy sis."


I ignored my brother and moved to Alex's side. He smiled down at me, green eye practically glowing. "You want her?"


I nodded, unable to resist. He placed little Olivia in my arms and I wasn't able to contain my excitement. It felt like I was holding my own child. Slowly she opened her eyes, that cranky newborn look present on her face. Here we go I thought to myself as I saw her face squish up. I bit back a laugh as she let out a loud cry. Figured.


"Aw c'mon Maddie," there was heavy sarcasm present in James' voice. "What'd you do to her?"


I sent an eye roll in my brother's direction and started rocking the bundle in my arms in an attempt to soothe her cries. When it didn't seem to be working I gave up and walked back to Claire. I'd let the new parents deal with their bundle of joy.


Claire wrapped her daughter up in her arms, shushing her. James was instantly by her side again, ready to offer whatever help he could.


I felt Alex approach me from behind, resting an arm on my shoulders. I looked at him curiously, watching as his gaze shifted back and forth between myself and the new family centered near the hospital bed. Then he winked at me.


I shook my head at the ridiculousness of his silent suggestion, shoving his side. It wouldn't be easy to keep Alex away from the idea of family forever.


Not long after, we were leaving the room so James, Claire, and Olivia could all get some rest. We said goodbye to Claire's family and stopped to pick up two pizzas from a 24 hour place in the city before Mom, Drew, Alex, and I headed back to our hotel. It wasn't far from James' and Claire's apartment, just in case they needed our help in the next couple of days. I couldn't wait to see how stressed James was going to be now that his baby girl was finally here. I didn't doubt he'd be calling up me and Mom with hourly questions. It was going to be an interesting week.










THE END.














AN: Thank you to all of those who decided to givethis story a shot! I know I was readyto give up on it a few times. But yay! It's done! I'm so relieved! And I knowit's kind of a cheesy epilogue but whatever. After all the crap I put themthrough, I figured they all deserved to be happy.    

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