20. Beck

W hen they hit the twelve-hour mark, just about midnight, Beck nearly collapsed in the waiting area outside of Peyton’s labor and delivery room. The Lower Keys Medical Center wasn’t a massive facility, but it was the only hospital for miles that delivered babies. It was a blessing that L&D was slow for most of the night, so they didn’t have to share the family waiting room with anyone else.

Which was good, because at one point around six o’clock, Eddie, Mel, and Jazz showed up with a mountain of food for everyone, so happy the baby would be born before they headed back to California the next day.

The group had filled every seat. Jessie was there with Chuck, and a shockingly well-behaved Beau. Nick had Dylan—who wasn’t quite that well-behaved and had to be taken for long walks by Maddie and Ava.

The little ones went home with their fathers around eight, along with the teenagers, so the crowd got smaller, but the hum of anticipation had been palpable throughout the night.

Beck missed Oliver terribly, though. She’d texted him a few times, but it had been overnight for him. It was two in the afternoon now in Wollongong, where he said he’d be going for a few days, and they hadn’t connected all day. But there were certainly enough loved ones around her to keep her mind occupied.

Kenny and Heather walked in after taking a break outside, both wearing the only real miserable expressions Beck had seen all day.

“Hey.” She reached out her hands to them, gesturing for them to come closer to where she sat. “How are you two doing?”

Heather lifted a shoulder. “We just talked to Grandpa Andy,” she said. “I feel better, since Marc is with him. Andy said he’d try to talk sense into him, and take him fishing.”

Beck looked at Kenny. “You don’t want to go get him?”

“More than anything, but we’ve decided to give him a chance to work it out. Talking to Andy definitely made me feel better. I’ll get him when he’s ready.”

“I’ll figure something out with school,” Heather said. “And get his work.”

She nodded, taking Heather’s hands. “It’s never easy, this motherhood thing, is it?”

Smiling, Heather sank into the chair with a sigh. “Not a bit. Any word from— Oh, there’s Val!”

All the chatter and soft laughter stopped when Val came into the room, wearing the scrubs they’d put him in what felt like days ago.

“No news, no news,” he said, holding up his hands.

“How is she?” Beck asked.

“Well, between contractions, she still laughs at my bad fish puns, so that’s a good sign,” he said with an exhausted smile. “Doc thinks we’re getting late for an epidural and she’s trying to hang in without one.”

A mumble rolled through the crowd, the general consensus being that she should do whatever could be done to stop the pain. But Beck knew how much Peyton didn’t want drugs during labor, unless it was a life-saving situation. God willing, it was not.

Val took a few steps closer and beckoned her with a flick of his finger. “She needs a little Momma time, I think.”

Beck practically knocked her chair over getting up. “Of course.”

“And Foster sisters,” he added, looking across the room to Savannah and Callie. “And Lovely.”

“Oh! Yes!” Lovely stood and let go of Eddie’s hand, a move that had a few looks sliding among them. “Let’s go be her human pain relief.”

The four of them gave a wave to the rest and followed Val into the dimly lit birthing suite where one very sweaty, pale Peyton leaned back on the raised bed.

“Hey,” she said weakly.

“Oh, Peyton.” Beck rushed to the bed, taking her daughter’s hands. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I know. It’s just…yikes.”

“Get the epidural, Peyton,” Callie said, her dark eyes shadowed with worry and exhaustion. “I’ve done all the research and it’s safe.”

“Maybe. I’m learning to get through them.” She lifted her hand to the others. “C’mere, you guys.”

They surrounded the bed, Beck and Savannah on one side, Lovely and Callie on the other.

“We picked a name,” she said softly.

“Are you telling me she’s not going to be Baldy McFatFace?” Savannah joked, but her humor lost its bite when she gazed at her sister with love and sympathy.

“You can call her anything you want, Sav,” she whispered. “As if I could stop you.”

“Oh, Pey-Pey,” Savannah crooned. “I love you and I hate that your labor is endless. What are they saying? How much longer?”

“Hours more. This whole dilation thing is slow. She’s just not— Oh, boy. Here we go. It’s…crunch…time.” Her face contorted as she tried to breathe, one hand squeezing Beck’s, the other clutching Lovely’s. She groaned, arched her back, whipped her head a little from side to side, and puffed out air.

At the peak of the pain, she let out a long, hideous moan, then her grip eased as the contraction subsided.

“Oh. Oh .” She let go and wiped her forehead, but Callie produced a washcloth, and Beck used it on Peyton.

“Baby girl,” Beck murmured, her heart torn for her daughter but knowing there really wasn’t any other way out of this.

“Exactly. Oh, baby girl.” Peyton smacked her dry lips.

“Ice chip?” Callie asked.

“Cold beer?” Savannah gently jabbed at Peyton’s leg.

Her eyes shuttered, too wiped out to laugh or respond. “I want to tell you her name. Now, I just…want to.”

“Of course,” Beck said.

“And we’ll love her name no matter what it is,” Lovely said.

Peyton looked from Beck to Lovely and back to Beck again. “I wouldn’t be here today, and I wouldn’t be having this baby, if not for you two.”

Beck sighed. “But you were the one who made me come to Coconut Key,” she reminded her daughter. “I almost threw ‘Aunt’ Lovely’s invitation away.”

Lovely tsked. “Thank you for talking sense into her, Peyton.”

“I remember that day,” Peyton said in a whisper, as if using her voice was too much effort. “I was miserable in my office, and you were so sad about Dad and selling the house and you called from a coffee shop and told me you had this weird invitation.”

Beck smiled at the memory, which was crystal clear. She could still see the Old Navy T-shirt dress she’d worn after that officious Realtor had sent her out of the house. She remembered the hand-addressed envelope she’d stuffed into her bag, and how lost and confused she’d been after her husband dumped her for his law partner.

It had broken Beck to be forced out of the beloved home where she’d raised her children. She’d cracked that day—many days during that dark time—and called her go-to bestie, her oldest daughter.

“And look where we ended up,” Beck said. “Best decision we ever made to get in the car and drive to Coconut Key.”

Peyton nodded. “I was thinking that, and Val agrees.”

“This is all sweet, girls,” Savannah said. “But if you don’t tell us the name soon, you’re going to have another contraction. And then we’ll just call her Crunch Time.”

Peyton did smile then. “I wanted a little buildup.”

“Take your time, Pey,” Beck said.

She tried to sit up, grimacing in discomfort. After a moment, she took their hands again. “Her name will be…Rebecca Lovely Sanchez.”

“Oh!” Beck and Lovely gasped in unison.

“Peyton!” Savannah exclaimed. “That’s perfect!”

“Isn’t it?”

“Best two names in the world,” Callie chimed in.

“We won’t call her Beck, obviously. Just Rebecca. Full name. Not shortened. And her middle name is all you, Lovely.”

For a moment, no one spoke, but Beck leaned over, kissing Peyton lightly on the head, a tear falling from her eyes.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

“I’m so humbled,” Lovely said, stroking Peyton’s hand, tears flowing from her eyes, too. “I’m honored and delighted and shall shower her with every bit of love I have.”

“I love you both so much,” Peyton whispered, her voice ragged. “But…here…it…comes…again.”

“Oh, boy,” Lovely said. “I mean girl .”

“Settle down there, Rebecca Lovely,” Beck teased, placing a loving hand on Peyton’s belly. “Just come on out and let us meet you.”

“And hurry it up,” Savannah pleaded, all of them tightening in a loving, supportive circle to get Peyton through what seemed like an endless contraction.

Tears stung all their eyes when it was done, especially Peyton’s, who seemed wiped out.

“I need Val,” she muttered.

“I’m right here, sweetheart.”

They all turned, not even aware he’d come back in the room.

“What do you think?” he said, a wide smile brightening his handsome face. “Rebecca Lovely Sanchez?”

“I think she needs to get here already,” Beck teased, hugging him.

“She’s on Cuban time.” He gave Beck a kiss on the forehead and stepped closer to Peyton, nothing but love and concern on his face as he reached for her hand. “That last one was fin- tastic.” He tapped her nose playfully, but she only had the strength to roll her eyes.

The nurse came in then and the room got crowded, so Beck and the others left Peyton with Val.

“Come in every hour,” Peyton called. “I want you here when I deliver her, Mom. Val will get you.”

“I’ll be wherever you want me, honey.”

Outside in the hall, they gathered in a circle and hugged for a long time, emotional but so happy.

After a minute, Savannah got a call from Nick, so she stepped away and Callie started back to the waiting room, but Beck snagged Lovely’s arm and shared a look.

“Wow,” Beck whispered. “Rebecca Lovely. Can you believe that?”

Lovely’s eyes were still damp, a storm of emotion brewing. “Beckie. What am I going to do?”

The fact that she was even asking the question nearly took Beck’s breath away. Was she considering a move to California?

“You’ll…follow your heart,” Beck said, knowing it was a lame cliché that didn’t give Lovely the answer she needed.

But the truth was, only Lovely knew where that heart was headed. And Beck was starting to get very scared that she was going to hate the ultimate destination.

Rebecca Lovely Sanchez was the tiniest, most perfect, most precious, most pink squirmy bundle of beautiful that Beck had ever held. And she’d had three baby girls, each more spectacular than the next.

But there was something indefinably wonderful about the one-hour-old infant Grandma Beck cradled in her arms, a few tendrils of espresso-colored hair poking out from the pink cap she wore.

“Hello, little button nose,” she whispered. “Hello, Cupid’s bow lips and…oh, I know there are blue eyes, but they are not going to be revealed.”

“A day and a half of labor will do that,” Peyton said groggily from the bed. “But Mom, you’ve been here as long as we have. Please, you can go home now.”

Beck looked up from one beautiful baby to the one she gave birth to almost thirty-three years ago, a slow smile pulling at the sight of the woman who’d battled through childbirth and barely complained.

“I can’t put her down,” Beck confessed.

“You need sleep,” Peyton said. “Did everyone leave?”

“They did, after they got a glimpse of our newest family member. Poor Lovely was half asleep on Eddie’s shoulder, so he took her home. And I’ll go…although….” She lifted her brows up as she realized she was stranded without her car. “I’m not sure how I’ll get there.”

Eyes closed, legs out, Val was conked out in the recliner. But he held up one hand. “I’ll drive you, Beck. And stop at home for a shower and coffee. I’ll be back before the sun’s up, Pey.”

“And you shall sleep, little one,” Beck said, standing to gently place the pink-blanketed baby in the basinet next to Peyton. “Good heavens, she’s beautiful.”

“All that dark hair.” Peyton beamed at her. “She’s definitely Val’s little girl.”

Beck leaned over Peyton to whisper, “That’s a Foster nose, though.” She kissed Peyton’s head. “Great job, Mom. Welcome to the club.”

“Oh.” Peyton put her finger over her lips. “Can you believe it? I’ve never been so happy in my whole life.”

“You deserve it,” Beck said. “You earned this joy.”

She sighed and looked up. “You earned your joy, too, Momma. I know what you’re struggling with. If you want to split your time and go to Australia for six months a year to be with Oliver, it’s okay.”

Beck gave her an “are you serious?” look. “Now? When my namesake is an hour old?”

“I just don’t want to hold you back from happiness. None of us do. He’s perfect for you and makes you happy.”

Beck studied her, thinking of how strange it was that she and Lovely were juggling the same challenge. They’d found great men…who wanted to take them from the place they were happiest.

“I think it’s just a function of falling in love later in life,” Beck mused. “We’ve built families and businesses and whole, wonderful lives in very separate places. You don’t take that into consideration when you’re young.”

Peyton nodded, and sighed, fatigue etched on every feature.

“We’ll figure it out.” Beck gave her another kiss. “Sleep now, while she does. Because, trust me, you won’t sleep much for the next eighteen years.”

Peyton smiled and let her eyes close.

Val, standing over the baby and gazing down at her, angled his head to the door. “Let’s go and let them both sleep.” He blew a kiss to his snoozing wife then they left together, walking through the hushed hospital halls in the cool pre-dawn darkness.

Quiet when they first got into the car, Val finally turned to her as they neared home.

“You know, Beck, Peyton and I had the same issue, remember? I had this amazing job offer in New England.”

“Oh, I remember,” Beck said with a dry laugh. “I thought Peyton would be a single mom.”

“And she would have been because she wasn’t leaving Coconut Key.”

Gnawing her lip, Beck looked out at the sky, the very first whisper of light lingering over the horizon.

“So, I did the only thing I could do,” he said quietly. “I forced the company to let me work remote because love beat work, geography, and everything else.”

She turned to him. “I know you did, and I so appreciated it.” She reached for his arm. “You’re a wonderful son-in-law and I love you.”

He smiled at her. “You know the feeling’s mutual, Beck.”

“Thank you.”

“The thing is,” he said after a beat. “You women need each other. You and Lovely and Peyton and Savannah, and even Callie, although she doesn’t know it yet, but she will. You are each other’s life’s blood and support system. Without you, Peyton would have had a hole in her heart. And without Peyton, I’d have had one in mine.”

Her eyes filled for what felt like the fortieth time that day, tears springing easily after the sleepless night in the hospital. “That’s…sweet.”

“It’s a fact,” he said. “And I don’t mean to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but any man worth his salt will acknowledge that and respect it. Asking you—or Lovely—to leave or move or even do some fifty-fifty thing that takes you away from your foundation and family, your home and your heart?” He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s right. And, again, I don’t mean to overstep?—”

“It’s fine,” she assured him, the tears rolling now. “You’re right. There’s really nothing else to say about it. You’re absolutely right.”

And somehow, these men, wonderful as they were, would have to realize that.

As they passed Lovely’s cottage, she noticed a dim light from the living room and wondered if her mother had ever gotten to sleep. She considered asking Val to drop her there, but thought better of it.

Lovely needed sleep, and so did she. And maybe Eddie was still with her, trying to persuade her to do some… California Dreamin ’.

He pulled into the circular drive of Coquina House, which was completely dark.

“Thanks, Val,” she said. “Oh, and congratulations.” She laughed as the most important thing came out as an afterthought. “You made a beautiful baby.”

“Another addition to the next generation of the most wonderful women I’ve ever met.”

“You’re sweet.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then climbed out of the car, standing for a moment as he drove off.

When the taillights disappeared down Coquina Court, she turned to the house, pausing for a moment to look up at the sky and thank whoever created and ran this world for giving her another healthy, beautiful grandchild. And for?—

“I don’t want to frighten you, but I’m here waiting.”

She gasped. “Oliver!” Squinting into the darkness of the veranda, she spied him standing by the railing. “What are you doing here?”

“I tried to make it to the hospital to surprise you, but I just pulled in about ten minutes ago. I texted Nick and he said you probably had left by now.”

“Oh, my goodness!” She rushed to the steps, meeting him halfway as he wrapped his solid, strong arms around her and lifted her right off her feet. “I’ve missed you!”

“Not,” he murmured into a kiss, “as much as I missed you.”

She laughed into the kiss, giddy and delirious, feeling…light and thrilled and as ecstatic as she’d been the first minute she’d held baby Rebecca an hour or so ago.

“I can’t believe you’re here! How did you?—”

“One stop, Sydney to Miami. Rented that thing. Broke a whole lot of laws driving down US 1 in the middle of the night.”

She glanced into the shadows to see a compact car tucked away. “You made record time, even in that.”

“I pushed the travel process to its limit, Beck, and it’s still too far,” he said. “Too long, too far, too much.”

At his tone, which sounded a little defeated, she drew back, searching his face. “Is that news to you?”

“It was a realization.” He tucked her under his arm and walked her up the stairs, guiding her to the sofa to sit together. “A big, fat wake-up call, if you will.”

“To…what?” she asked, not entirely sure where this was going.

“You were so far away, and I hated that,” he said, pulling her closer. “The few times I’ve gone back since meeting you have always been hard, but this was…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be away from the woman I love.”

“Aww. That’s kind. I don’t want to be away from you, either.”

He looked hard at her, his expression serious. “And the distance—in the heart and around the globe—is mind-boggling.”

“It’s…far,” she agreed, realizing that seemed like a silly understatement.

“The fact is, I don’t want to take you that far away from the people and place you love, even for six months at a time. I love you too much to do that.” He took her face in his hands, looking right into her eyes. “Beck, you are you —the woman I love— because of those people and this island. I just can’t forget that.”

She sucked in a soft breath, mostly at how eerily the sentiment echoed what Val had just said. “Oh, Oliver. What are you saying? No split time?”

“No split time,” he confirmed. “Yes, we should take a vacation Down Under when the time is right and your girls stop having babies. I’m putting the beach house in property management to be rental income and I’m staying here. I can use my advertising experience to take a more active role in marketing Coquina House, and help you run this place. You’re my life now, and this is where you belong.”

For a long moment, she just stared at him, taking in every beautiful detail from his dark gold hair, thick brows, strong bones, and that beautiful mouth she loved to kiss. This was her man, her one true love, her fated mate, if she could use Lovely’s silly term.

“What do you say?” he asked on a whisper, getting closer for a kiss.

“I say…” She kissed him lightly. “I could not love you more and you just proved you love me just as much. I don’t know what the future holds, but?—”

“I do,” he said, with typical Oliver confidence.

“You do?”

“Yep.” He folded her into his arms and leaned them both back. “It’s bright. Now tell Olipop all about our beautiful new granddaughter with the perfect name. You better have pictures.”

“Olipop.” She laughed softly, but it caught in her throat, her heart filled with so much joy she honestly thought she would burst.

“I have a million pictures. How much time do you have?”

“The rest of my life,” he whispered.

They cuddled on the couch and looked at every picture she had while the sun came up over Coconut Key, her forever home that she would share with this amazing man.