22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two

Scottie

“There you go.” I stare down at our daughter, Calliope Olive Reynolds, as she nurses and makes the cutest fucking noises. “I love you so much, little girl.” Tears fill my eyes for the thousandth time in the past six hours, but I can’t help it. Today was crazy, emotional, and overwhelming, but it all led to this moment and I’m so fucking happy that I can’t help but let the tears fall freely.

“Hey, you’re awake.” Grady enters the room with a cup of coffee and a clean shirt.

“Yeah, she just woke up and was hungry, so…”

He comes over and sits on the edge of the bed, staring down at our daughter as she eats. Leaning over me, he presses a kiss to my head and brushes my curls back. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. I guess I ended up doing this without drugs after all, huh?”

Grady chuckles. “Yeah, babe. But you did so fucking good.”

I glance up at him, cupping his jaw with my free hand. “So did you. You brought our daughter into the world, Grady. How’s that for a story? ”

“Best start to this new chapter ever.” He leans down and presses his lips to mine softly. “I love you so much. Thank you for the best gift I could ever ask for.”

“Our lives are never going to be the same.”

“I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

“Knock, knock!” I twist toward the door to find my mom, Gigi, and Chase walking in one right after the other.

My mom rushes over to the bed, leaning down to hug me. “Oh my goodness. Are you two okay?” she asks, peering down at the baby.

“We’re good, Mom. Grady was amazing and the paramedics took good care of us until we got here and the nurses took over. The doctor has been by to check both of us out too, and everything is perfect.”

My mother starts to cry. “I’m just so sad I missed it.”

Gigi chimes in. “Me too, but I’m pretty sure Grady will knock her up again, so we’ll just try to be here for the next one.”

I roll my eyes as Grady laughs. “If I have it my way, there will definitely be another one, Gigi.”

I glance up at my fiancé, eager to call him my husband soon, but we both agreed to wait until after the baby was born. “Um, we just had this one. Any chance we can wait at least a day before talking about baby number two?”

Chase inserts himself into the conversation. “Maybe you guys could not talk about making more babies in front of me, yeah? That would be great.” He gives us a sarcastic thumbs-up.

Gigi puts her hand on his shoulder. “One day, you’re going to find a woman you’ll want to make babies with, and I’ll be sure to remind you of this conversation if I’m still alive.”

My mother pinches the bridge of her nose. “Jesus, Mom. Can we not talk about you dying today?”

Gigi holds her hands up. “No one lives forever. I’m just saying. ”

“Well, then maybe I should tell you that Calliope’s middle name is going to be Olive, after you, Gigi.”

My grandmother is speechless, and that never happens. “Oh shit. Are you trying to make me cry?”

“Cry or shut up. One of the two,” I say, teasing her.She rushes over to the bed and stares down at her great-granddaughter. “I’m gonna teach this little girl everything I can about being a badass that doesn’t take shit from anyone…until I die, that is.”

“And we’re back to talking about her dying,” my mother grumbles just as there’s another knock on the door.

Astrid and Penn stand there, my future sister-in-law beaming while fighting back tears. “Oh my God, she’s here!” The two of them enter the room now, joining the crowd that’s gathered.

“Did you tell her what happened?” I ask Grady, but Astrid answers for him.

“He called us as soon as you guys got to the hospital. I heard the second baby comes faster than the first, but damn!”

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” I say before pulling Callie from my breast and covering myself back up. “Did you guys win the games?” I ask, hoisting Callie onto my shoulder and slowly starting to pat her back.

Astrid clenches her jaw. “No.”

Penn rolls his eyes. “Astrid was too distracted by you guys running off that she kept dropping the egg and having to start all over, so we fell behind.”

She slaps Penn in the chest. “Hey, you dropped the egg once too.”

He shrugs. “I was worried too, I guess.”

“Well, it’s okay. You can always dethrone Dallas next year.”

Astrid waves her hand through the air. “Enough about him. I want to meet my niece.” She walks closer to the bed and glances down at the baby, instantly tearing up. “Oh my goodness, you guys. She’s gorgeous.”

“Looks like she has curly hair like her mom,” Grady adds, pressing a kiss to the top of my head full of curls.

“I can’t believe you delivered her,” Astrid says to her brother.

“It was wild, but you know what? It was one of the best moments of my life.”

And as I stare around the hospital room full of my family and the family I’m marrying into, I pause to let this blip in time soak in—because life can be tough and amazing, but it’s those low moments that we go through when we fall that make the high ones that much more unforgettable and life-changing—and that’s exactly what I feel in this moment.