48. Evangeline

With one final push, she's here. Our baby girl has arrived. She's got a healthy set of lungs, letting us all know how indignant she is at being taken from her nice, warm, cozy home and thrust into this world with little regard.

As they place her on my chest, everything seems to slow to a crawl, the world stopping on its axis for a brief moment as I drink in the sight of her. She's got dark curls, and when she opens her eyes to stare at me, I see my own blue eyes reflected back.

"Look," I say, my voice wobbling as I reach out to touch her, stroking a hand over her back. "She's so tiny!"

Oliver chuckles, bending down to kiss me behind his hospital mask. I briefly wonder when he put that on and realize a lot must have happened while I was busy doing other things.

"She's perfect," he says, reaching out a finger. She stares at it with intense curiosity for a moment before grasping it in her tiny hand, and I feel the tears spill out.

"I'm going to love you so much," I promise her. "You'll be the safest, most protected little girl in the whole world."

"I already love her," Oliver says, turning his head to look at me. His eyes are visible behind the mask, and they're shining as they gaze on me.

The nurses start getting us both cleaned up and do all the postnatal checks on the baby, taking her away briefly to put a tracking bracelet on her wrist that matches mine before returning her to me.

Ryder and Theo come in moments later, their gazes landing on our daughter immediately. Both of them approach her cautiously, as though they half expect her to start crying as soon as she sees them.

But when she doesn't do much more than give them a squinty-eyed glare, Ryder reaches down and picks her up from my chest, holding her close to him. "Hi there, sweetheart. I'm your dad. Well, one of them," he adds, glancing at his brothers. "All three of us are your daddies."

As I watch them interact with her, a wistful pang settles inside me. I know that I've yet to give Oliver an answer to his question, but it's still there in the back of my mind.

Theo takes his turn next, holding the baby like she's the most precious thing in the world. She looks up at him and gives a sleepy yawn, and I think my hormones must be flooding me because I start crying at that.

"She loves you," I say between sobs. "She loves her daddies."

Eventually, once everyone has had a chance to coo over the baby and hold her, the nurses come back in and encourage the boys to leave to let me get some rest. Theo stays with me while Oliver leaves with Ryder to head home to take showers and naps. They're going to rotate shifts staying with me.

I drift off, my mind replaying the conversation I had with Oliver before the birth. I know he said he loved me, but I can't help but wonder if he only proposed because of the baby. It's one thing to have a relationship. It's an entirely different thing altogether to tie yourself to someone forever like that.

I want to be sure of things with them before I decide. There's no reason to rush it, right? And I know that Oliver admitted his feelings, but does Ryder feel the same? Does Theo?

They're brothers, but they're three individual men too, with individual wants and needs, individual feelings. It wouldn't be fair to say yes to Oliver without at least talking to them about this first.

Despite the worries plaguing my mind, I find myself falling asleep from sheer exhaustion. I've been going for days straight, unable to think or rest or eat or sleep properly because of all the stress and fear of everything going on.

I wake up once to the nurse handing me the baby to feed, but apparently, I'm so out of it that Theo insists on taking over and letting me sleep, so the nurse shows him how to feed her with a bottle.

"She's been through a lot," he says to her. I can hear him as I drift off again. "Let her rest. We can handle this little princess."

I smile to myself. Hours old and the baby already has those men wrapped around her tiny fingers. When I wake again, Ryder is here this time, and he's holding onto our daughter while he tells her some story about… a dragon?

I sit up and rub my eyes, the world coming back into focus. "Hey," I say, feeling a little groggy. "How long was I out?"

"It's nighttime," Ryder says. "But don't worry. Theo took care of feeding our little one earlier. He just went home for his turn to shower and change. Oliver is getting something to eat from the hospital cafeteria, and I've been sitting with the baby for about twenty minutes."

"I'm glad you guys are here," I say, reaching out for her. Ryder hands her over, and I tuck her against me, breathing in her sweet, milky scent. She lets out a snuffling cry, and I panic for a moment before Ryder holds a bottle out to me.

"She might be hungry," he suggests. I take it, and she latches on immediately, sucking away with hungry grunts.

"Big appetite," I say, enjoying how she curls her wrinkly little fingers and flexes them as she nurses.

"So, Oliver told me what he said," he says, sitting in the chair next to the bed. "I just want you to know that I feel the same way."

"Oh?" I ask, trying not to sound too eager as my heart flutters wildly in my chest.

"I love you, Evangeline. I figured you already knew that, but I'll say it again if I have to. I love you. I want to be with you. With or without the baby."

My hand reaches out to find his, and I link them together, sliding my palm into his. "I love you too," I confess, getting choked up at the fact that I'm surrounded by so much love today. "I don't know what I want to do about the whole marriage thing yet. I'm only twenty-one still, but that doesn't mean I don't want to stay with you guys and figure things out together."

"That's fair enough," Ryder says, squeezing my hand before letting go to stroke over the baby's hair. "Have we picked out a name for her yet?" he asks, changing the subject.

"I was thinking of announcing it later," I say, a little smile on my lips. "It's a surprise."

Ryder grins. "Good. I love surprises. I mean, falling in love with you was the best surprise of all."

Eventually, the baby finishes her bottle, and Ryder takes it away and then comes and takes our daughter to put her in her bassinet by the bed. I yawn, and Ryder holds my hand while I fall asleep again.

This time when I wake up, all three of them are in the room and they're trying not-so-subtly to discuss what name I might have picked. I sit up and grin, listening to them banter.

"I'm telling you, I think she's picked the name Belle," Ryder argues. "Beauty and theBeast is her favorite movie. She's probably picked a name from that."

"No way," Theo argues back. "If anything, she'll probably name the baby after one of us."

"Oh, like Olivia!" Oliver suggests, a smug look on his face. "Since I was the one who went to all the appointments and classes with her."

"Hey, you only did that because the rest of us were kind of busy dealing with protecting our girls," Ryder protests.

Our girls. I like that, I think as I clear my throat. "Actually, Theo is right, in a way. I did name the baby after someone special to me."

"Please tell me you didn't name her after Fitz," Ryder says with a groan. I chuckle.

"Nope," I say, shaking my head and giggling. "Give her over," I demand, holding my arms out. Theo places her in my arms and kisses me on the forehead.

"I love you, baby," he says, his voice a little gruff. "I just wanted you to know that too. I might not be into grand romantic speeches like these two saps, but I want to be with you just as much."

"I love you too, Theo," I tell him, kissing his arm as he strokes the baby's head. "You and Ryder and Oliver. I love all of you."

"Okay, that's great and all, but what is her name?" Ryder asks, raising an eyebrow. "We can't keep calling her Baby, or Baby Girl."

"That's our nickname for Eva, anyway," Oliver adds.

I grin, planning on drawing this out a little. "Okay, well, I have someone special to thank for all the time they spent with me over these last few months. Someone who was there for me in a way that no one else had ever been before. So, guys, I'd like you to meet Brianna Hope Everhart, or Bree for short. I named her after Aunt Bridget."

"She's gonna love that, sweetheart," Theo says.

"Hi, Baby Bree," Oliver coos.

"Bree is a great name," Ryder agrees. "It's hip. It's unusual, like mine."

"But Brianna has that traditional flair like Theodore and Oliver," Theo points out. "I love it. I love you, Bree, and I love your mommy too."

As I lay back on the bed, surrounded by my new family, I feel whole for the first time in a long time. I feel complete. Even if Declan is still on the run and there's still some lingering tension with the DeLuccis, I honestly feel like the possibilities are endless.

I finally feel like I have a bright future ahead of me.