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37. Sam

“What are you thinking about?” I ask Carter. His soft hair sifts through my fingers. Having his body pressed against mine, his head lying on my chest, will never get old. Our hammock slowly rocks with the breeze, and the green trees hovering over us provide plenty of shade to keep us cool in the heat of the summer. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more content than I do right now.

“That I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in a very long time. It’s wonderful.” He presses a kiss to my chest.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” I give him a squeeze. It’s incredible not having to hold back on account of his injuries.

It’s been over a month since he was attacked. His body has healed, and we’re finally back to our normal lives. We have to be mindful of the potential for his lung to collapse again, but he’s been cleared to return to his normal activities.

“I’m not ready to go home today,” he murmurs. I have to agree. I’m not even close to ready yet either. We’ve spent the past two days camping at the same spot I took him the first time. It’s been the perfect getaway from the craziness of our lives.

Since Paul confessed to everything, Carter’s company has been in complete upheaval. Dr. Hutton has been charged with reckless endangerment for putting his research participants at risk. At least for now. They’re still trying to find evidence proving his involvement in Carter’s attack. Unless we’re able to find something concrete to prove Hutton orchestrated the threats and assault, there’s not much we can do. In the meantime, his entire research study was shut down. They’ve been digging into every aspect of Hutton’s team to determine who was complicit in forging data.

Carter’s been working entirely too hard to figure out if any other programs had been altered and what research teams were affected by the alterations. He feels responsible for not seeing what Paul was doing. The guilt has been eating him alive, and I finally forced him to take a couple of days off. His boss thought it was a good idea, even though there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done.

While he might be healed physically, Carter still struggles with nightmares. When they happen, he’s usually wrung out after he wakes up. Yet, he still goes to work as if nothing has happened. It’s killing me to see him hurting this much.

“I’m not ready either. We’ve got lots of time before we need to leave, though. It’s only ten,” I say.

“True. Maybe we could hike up to the waterfall this afternoon and have lunch by the water.”

I grin at his suggestion. The first time we went up there, he grumbled and griped the entire hike. Now, he’s asking to hike up there. I don’t say that, though. Mainly because if I made fun of him, he’d take back his offer. “That sounds perfect.”

He snuggles deeper into me and lets out a contented sigh. Nothing will ever compare to this feeling, this overwhelming sense of rightness at being with the person meant for me.

In my vision of the future, I imagined I’d be content with my life. I never thought I could be this deliriously happy with anyone. Who knew the right man could change everything?

“Is that a phone?”

Carter tilts his head to listen. The rhythmic vibrations make both of us dig through the tent to figure out whose phone is ringing.

He pulls his phone out, showing me his mom is calling. We don’t have a great signal out here, but it’s enough to call someone if there is an emergency.

“Hey, Mom,” Carter answers. His eyebrows raise as surprise registers on his face. “Are you sure? I can’t believe she didn’t tell anyone.”

Carter’s laugh has so much love behind it I can feel it vibrate through the whole tent. “Okay, Sam and I will pack up and head to Sonoma.” He pauses to listen. “Yeah, maybe three hours? We’re definitely going to need a shower before we see anyone.” One more pause, and a smile stretches across his face. “Sounds good. See you soon.”

He hangs up the phone, and happiness radiates from him. “Natalie had her baby. She didn’t tell anyone she went into labor yesterday and surprised Mom and Dad with a picture of the baby today.”

I laugh. “I can only imagine what your parents’ faces were like when they got that text.”

“I know. Mom said Nat’s ready for visitors now, so is it okay if we get packed up now?”

“Of course. If we’re quick, we can have everything packed in twenty.” With that, we hurry to break down our camp. Now that Carter has a better idea of what he’s doing, we get things packed faster than I estimated, and we’re on the road fifteen minutes later.

When we get back to Carter’s house, we shower together, both of us focused on getting clean as quickly as possible. I still take advantage of the moment to ogle Carter’s perfect ass. It’s just so round and juicy.

“Stop staring at my ass. We don’t have time for any funny business,” he grumbles.

I laugh. “But it’s just so bitable.” I pinch one of his cheeks, and he startles, swatting my hand away. He tries to scowl at me, but his growing erection is enough to tell me he’s not too angry at me.

“You can bite me later. After I get some baby snuggles.”

“Okay, okay.” I surrender.

We take Carter’s car to the hospital in Sonoma since our camping stuff is still in my truck. It’s a quick drive over there, and once we get inside the building, Carter follows the instructions from his mom to find Natalie’s room.

The whole Ellis clan is in the waiting room on the labor and delivery floor. Seeing them here makes me smile. I love that Tucker and Natalie have this kind of support. There will never be a lack of babysitters for their kids whenever they need it.

Adam sees us first and strides across the room to say hello.

“How is she?” Carter asks.

“Beautiful. Tired. Happy.” Adam smiles.

“Good. Can I go see her?” The excitement in Carter’s eyes makes me want to laugh.

“Yeah, Mom and Dad are in there with Katherine right now.” Adam gives us Natalie’s room number, and we set off down the hallway. The door is open when we get there, so we walk right in to see Tucker holding a tiny bundle in his arms.

Carter heads straight for Natalie, who’s lying in bed. Adam was right. She looks exhausted and more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her. Cindy and Steve are sitting on the tiny loveseat together, smiling at us as we come into the room. Katherine, Natalie’s mom, is sitting on the rolling stool next to the couch.

“Hey, brat. I can’t believe you’d surprise us like this,” Carter teases as he leans over to kiss Natalie on her head. I give her blanket-covered leg a squeeze in hello.

She grins at both of us; the mischievousness we all love sparkles in her eyes. “I swear it wasn’t planned. I was fully expecting it to take a couple of days, so I figured I’d wait until I was further along to tell everyone. Then our little guy came out like he was covered in grease, and we got caught up in the excitement. Plus, I was more exhausted than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

Carter shakes his head at her cheekiness. “I guess we can forgive you. Only if I get to hold him, though.”

“Done.” Natalie cringes. “Just… maybe wash your hands first? And no kisses, please.”

“You got it.” Carter and I both scrub our hands and arms as if we were prepping for surgery. Then Tucker hands the little guy over to Carter. My whole body melts at the sight of him with a baby.

“You look good with a baby in your arms, brother,” Natalie teases.

“Agreed,” I say, making everyone laugh.

“She’s said that to all your brothers,” Tucker says.

“Because it’s true. And I want some cousins for Carson to play with.”

“His name is Carson?” Carter looks like he’s a breath away from tears.

“Yeah, we tried to find something that was so close to your name, but the minute we thought of it, it kind of stuck,” Natalie says with a shrug.

“I’m more than okay with that.” Carter hasn’t stopped staring at baby Carson. The love in his eyes is more than I can bear. I stand closer to Carter, unable to stay away from him in this moment.

“Can I have a turn?” I ask.

“Huh-uh,” Carter denies, making me huff out a laugh.

“He’s not easy to give up,” Tucker agrees.

“I can’t imagine how hard it is for you guys to let us pass him around like a football,” Carter says. He finally lets me hold him. I can’t get over how small he is. I’ve never held a brand-new baby before.

“He seems as fragile as glass.” My words are quiet as I take in his eyelashes fanned across his cheeks.

“He’s a tiny little thing,” Carter says next to me.

Natalie scoffs. “You weren’t the one who had to push out his big ole head.”

I snort, and little Carson startles. I bounce him a bit to help him settle down again. Thankfully, he doesn’t wake up fully.

We chat for a few minutes until Carson starts to get fussy. Natalie holds her arms out to take him from me. I’m reluctant to hand him over, even though I know I have to give him back. He’s just so precious.

“I’m sure you guys are ready to be done having people up in your business, so we’re going to go. Congratulations, you guys. You did good, sis. Please call if you need anything,” Carter says, pressing another kiss to Natalie’s head. He gives Tucker’s shoulder a squeeze as Natalie gets herself in position to feed Carson.

Carter and I hightail it out of there to give her some privacy. Cindy, Steve, and Katherine are right behind us as we walk back out to the waiting room. The rest of Carter’s siblings are still in the waiting room.

“Isn’t he gorgeous? I can’t get over how tiny he is,” Sara says.

“He’s absolutely perfect,” Cindy agrees. “Anyone interested in going to grab some lunch somewhere?” She looks at all of us, Katherine included.

A chorus of agreement meets her question. Adam calls a couple of places to see if they can accommodate our large group, and La Mensa is the only place that’s willing to take us on.

Katherine tells us to go on over to the restaurant. She’s going to let Tucker and Natalie know where we’re going and to see if they want anything to eat.

As we make our way out of the hospital, I realize how easily I’ve been integrated into the Ellis family. After Carter’s attack, I felt so supported and loved by them. It was made very apparent how they felt about me, and I was so grateful for that. But it’s only right now, as we go to a restaurant to celebrate the newest addition to the family, that I’ve accepted my place with them.

When Carter collided with me at O’Malley’s, I never imagined we’d end up here. I thought we’d go on a few dates, enjoy each other’s company for a bit, and then go our separate ways, just as every other relationship has gone for me.

Instead, I fell head over heels for the man of my dreams.

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