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“How is she?”

Kendall’s wary voice was enough to bring her out of the moment just before fading into sleep as Laurel opened her eyes and saw her sister’s nervous expression – and Dustin standing right behind her with an encouraging yet steadying hand on her shoulder.

“I promise your sister is doing great – and so is your nephew.”

“We have the weirdest family tree,” Kendall said under her breath as she walked toward the hospital bed laughing and almost in tears of sheer relief. “You scared me. No person should ever see their sister’s stuff in an ambulance.”

“Well, I happen to agree with you,” Laurel chuckled, hugging her tightly and reaching out a hand for Dustin. She had not been prepared for how fast the baby came.

She had thought it was a case of food poisoning since she’d had chicken the night before and everyone else had steak. It never dawned on her that it was the baby coming two weeks early until things got serious. Dustin was on the ice at a game and met them at the hospital along with others on the team to help Kendall during this moment. The teenager had been scared no matter how much she tried to reassure her everything was fine but couldn’t drive herself to the hospital – only to deliver two hours later.

“Did you meet the baby yet?”

“The squishmellow? Yeah, I saw him in the glass. He’s cute – and not because of the dork… love ya, Dustin.”

“Love you too, Kendall,” Dustin chuckled emotionally as he scooped up the sleeping infant in his arms. Laurel’s heart just melted seeing the raw look of love in her husband’s unguarded expression. “Do you want to hold him?”

“Can I?”

Laurel fought back a smile as Dustin’s eyes met hers, and she nodded. Kendall wanted to hold the baby, and she was as much a part of their lives as their son would be now. She never wanted her sister to feel excluded, but there were some moments that were for just them. When Laurel delivered the baby, Dustin had been there, covered in sweat, having come straight from the game to the hospital. He’d arrived in time to see their son born, and the moments that followed would forever be etched on their hearts.

He’d been so proud, his face so full of awe, love, and reverence for the miracle he was sharing with her – and those feelings would be something truly special, truly intimate, that no other would ever know between them.

“I’d love that,” Dustin said to Kendall and Laurel heard the nervous waver of his voice. “Sit down in the chair beside your sister because Michael’s neck is fragile, and you have to hold him carefully.”

“I’m not gonna break him…”

“I know,” he said softly, glancing at Laurel once more. “But if something happened, not only would it hurt him and your sister, but it would devastate you mentally… and you mean too much to us. That’s why I was cautioning you – not because I didn’t think you could handle him.”

“Oh,” Kendall whispered in understanding, glancing between the two of them in sudden comprehension.

“Are you ready? I’m going to lay him in your arms, and you just hold him steady because he is a little squishmellow…” Dustin offered using Kendall’s term and smiled at the duo as Kendall’s face sagged with amazement, holding the infant.

“Oh mercy, y’all… y’all, he’s so beautiful,” Kendall wept softly, staring at the baby. “I’m your auntie, lil’ Mikey. We’re gonna live together, and I’ll teach you all the stuff a kid should know, and we’ll cheer on your Daddy together when we go to a game. And when I’m playing, you can cheer me on. We’re gonna be the best family ever, Squishmellow.”

“I think ‘Squishmellow’ is sticking,” Laurel chuckled emotionally, watching the two of them together.

“I think so,” Dustin agreed, moving to kiss her forehead. “Are you feeling okay, love?”

“I’m on cloud nine right now and so relieved that everything went smoothly, you know? I’ve been ready to meet Michael for nine months now, you know?”

“I do know,” Dustin smiled softly at her. “Are you up for visitors yet? The team is waiting to see the baby, and coach wanted to know why we didn’t name him Stanley.”

They shared a knowing laugh before Dustin shook his head in disbelief. They were all growing so close, becoming such good friends, that it was a joke made easily between all of them. It was like firefighters didn’t clean their helmets and hockey players changed the tape on their sticks; no one… absolutely no one was naming their child Stanley for fear of cursing the team.

“Tell Coach Starnes that I said ‘maybe next time’…” She smiled tenderly at Dustin as his eyes widened slightly before spreading into a warm smile.

“You got it… wife. I love you, and you’ve given me everything I could have ever wanted or asked for.”

“Well, you haven’t…” Laurel chuckled as his shocked expression met hers. “I love you dearly and always will, but your sister is sending me some very angry text messages about how neglected she is.”

“Oh,” he uttered guiltily – and it was enough for Kendall to burst out laughing, waking baby Michael, who made a whimper of unhappiness as his little lip wobbled.

“Just ignore them, Mikey…”

“Now, come over here, Dustin,” Laurel encouraged, smiling. “Scooch in close so we can take a photo together and…”

“Are you sure? You both reek,” Kendall interjected, causing the two of them to look at each other before laughing once more. Truthfully, neither was at the ‘top of their game’ right now. Laurel was covered in dried sweat, had pads in her bra, sitting on what felt like a pillow due to her episiotomy, and had seen much better days. Dustin was also covered in dried sweat, looked just as tired as she felt… and had never been more gorgeous to her than he was at this moment.

“You look perfect,” Laurel whispered, handing him her phone. “Take plenty of pictures to capture this.”

“Trust me, I will never forget this – ever.”

“Me neither.”

Here, Bestie – some candid shots of the family! Love ya!

Bout time, y’all look so happy!

We are – I’ve loved Dustin for ages now, but it’s strange how different a love can be. What I once thought was everything was nothing compared to how I feel right now, and when I look at Mikey?