Page 114 of Mr. Brightside

He nods, then moves to stand beside me, one arm wrapping around my shoulder while the other cradles the back of Matteo’s head.

He’s tuned in enough to know not to try to take this baby from me. For as much as he liked to tease me about being a baby hog with Stella, what I’m feeling right now is on a whole new level. It’s like this surge of protectiveness and possessiveness blended together to create this fortified shield I want to wrap around my child. He’s so tiny and vulnerable andreal—I don’t ever want to let him go.

“He’s so beautiful.” Cory sighs as he runs one finger gently over our son’s hair. “He loves you so much, Jake. Can you feel it? This baby loves youso much.”

Tears erupt behind my eyes, the weight of it all crashing down around me and trying to swallow me whole. The foundation of unconditional love we’ve built within our family is this next-level kind of magic I didn’t know I even had the capacity to feel. But it’s there. And it’s real. The way Cory makes sure I feel it every damn day…

“Stella and I love you, too,” he adds, tilting his head to kiss me softly. He lingers just an inch from my lips as he whispers, “Thank you for giving us this beautiful life.”

My throat clogs with emotion. The tears are already streaming down my face. I’m afraid if I let myself feel anything more, I’ll combust. Sensing I need a moment, Cory kisses me again, then makes his way over to Chloe.

She was a fucking champ, especially at the end. It took less than ten minutes from the time I came back into the room until she was on her final push. Letting her squeeze the shit out of my hand as she delivered our son is a memory I’ll never forget. And not just because I might have permanent nerve damage.

I scan Matteo’s tiny form again. How can someone even be this small? He’s no longer than my forearm, and yet he’s already taking up so much space in my heart.

“I’ve got you, little man. I’m so lucky to be your dad. I don’t even know you, and yet I love you so much. Whoever you are… whoever you’re going to be… there’snothingyou could ever do to make me not love you.”

“And we love you,” Rhett says as he wraps me in a side hug. Tori’s on his other side, with a half-asleep Stella propped on one hip. Cory joins us, forming a circle in the middle of the hospital room as we gather around the newest addition to our family.

I look at each of them and commit this moment to memory, just soaking it all in. These people, this life—it’s more than I ever gave myself permission to dream of.

This is my family.

The two people who have been with me through it all.

The man I have the privilege of calling my husband.

And the tiny people we all created—together.