Page 152 of False Start

Raven Isabel was born at 7:42 PM on April sixteenth — Holden and Julep’s one year wedding anniversary. Labor had been easier for me this time around than it had been with Sebastian. Maybe it was because my body knew what to do. Maybe it was because I was supported and loved through it,because Kyle held my hand and reminded me to breathe and made sure I knew I wasn’t alone.

Whatever the reason, Raven came so fast, my epidural hadn’t even completely set in. I now knew what it was like to give birth with mylegsnumb, but my uterus still experiencing every contraction.

But it didn’t matter — none of it. Not the pain or the discomfort or the annoying headache I’d had for two days afterward.

Because our daughter was here, and everything was right in the world.

“Can I get you anything, honey?” Mom asked, rounding the corner from the kitchen. She was drying her hands on a dish towel, which told me she’d just cleaned up the kitchen after Dad had made us a big lunch.

“I’m good, Mom,” I assured her. “Why don’t you go rest?”

Mom nodded, looking just as tired as I was. Dad was already in the back room taking a nap since Braden had shown up and offered to take Sebastian to the park. Mom smiled and walked over to where Kyle held Raven, leaning down to stroke her granddaughter’s hair and coo at her.

“She’s the most beautiful baby girl I’ve ever seen,” Mom whispered.

“Hey, I’m right here,” I said, which earned me a laugh from the North Boston University crew still on video call.

Mom leaned down to kiss my forehead. “Next to you, of course.”

“No,” I agreed. “You’re right. She wins.”

“It’s because she looks like her mama,” Kyle said.

He whispered the words, almost to himself, with a glazed smile on his face and his eyes all dreamy as he stared down at his daughter.

Mom and I shared a look — her eyes watering, mine following suit — before she squeezed my wrist and left us be.

For a while, we just chatted with the crew, everyone catching us up on what was new in their world. Atlas was four months old now, and I couldn’t believe how much he’d grown since we’d seen him at Christmas. Riley and Zeke were in the middle of launching a new girls’ football league in a small town in upstate New York, and every single one of us jumped in with offers to help sponsor any girls who couldn’t afford the summer camp fees.

Mary’s shop was thriving, and Leo was enjoying the offseason after a playoff run with the Vikings. Holden and Julep were already tending to their garden, rejoicing in spring and all its possibilities while they soaked up every moment of the offseason together.

We all vowed to have a group trip sometime over the summer before training camps picked back up, and just as I ended the call with them, the front door blew open.

Sebastian ran in with wide eyes and pink cheeks, calling out, “WE’RE HOME!” without a care in the world for a sleeping baby. He didn’t stop to take off his shoes. Instead, he ran straight through the foyer, past the dining room, and into the living room where we were lounging. We had the windows open to let in the crisp spring breeze, music playing softly on the Sonos, and ESPN on the television, muted.

It was the perfect little quiet spring day.

When Sebastian saw Raven was sleeping, he slowed his steps, giggling a little before he tiptoed over to the arm of the couch and leaned on it so he could look at her.

“Hi, baby sister,” he whispered, touching her cheek.

My heart exploded in to a million shiny pieces.

“She sleeps a lot,” he added with a toothy grin at Kyle.

“Can you believeyouused to be this little?” Kyle asked him.

“No!” He laughed like that was a silly notion.

“Well, you were,” I said, and I thumbed through my phone until I found a pic to prove it. Sebastian ran over to me and laid his head on my chest while I showed him photo after photo of him as a baby, and he pointed and laughed at the outfits I’d put him in.

Braden looked beat when he joined us in the living room, flopping down into one of our leather chairs.

“Have fun?” Kyle asked.

“That kid has more energy than a hundred Energizer bunnies.”

“Makes you feel old, doesn’t it?” I teased.