Page 15 of The Break Out (Denver Dragons #3)

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“ I don’t like him,” Brent mumbles as Colton walks away.

“Yeah, well, I think that’s why he wants to get a rise out of you.” I pat his arm.

“You’d tell me if he was bothering you and I need to say something to him, right?”

“Nope, definitely not. Stop worrying about me and go home to your baby mama.” I wave him off as I go to the parking garage to head home for the night. It wasn’t the same going to a game without my friends. It reminded me of when Brent would drag me to his games because no one else could watch me since Bryson and Bailey were doing their own things and Brandon couldn’t be trusted.

Except now his games are louder. Obviously being the NHL and not just a high school hockey game.

After I get home, I check my phone and see a text from Colton.

Colton: Just wait until big brother finds out his baby sister wants to fuck his big bad teammate.

Brynn: Don’t you have a whole slew of puck bunnies to bother instead of me?

Colton: They don’t get bothered by me. They love the attention I give them. Especially with my mouth.

Brynn: Gross.

Colton: I can come over and show you.

Brynn: Find someone else.

I’m done entertaining him for the night, so I plug my phone in and put it on silent, so I don’t have to deal with him anymore.

The constant buzzing wakes me up. Blindly, I try to get it to stop and once it does my arm drops like dead weight from exhaustion. Only the damn sound starts up once again. Groaning, I grab my phone, ready to launch it across the room when I see it’s Brent calling me. Him calling in the middle of the night has me instantly on edge that something is wrong.

“Hello?” I answer, panicked.

“Sorry to wake you up,” his annoyingly calm voice says.

“What’s wrong?” I’m already getting out of bed because my heart rate is too high to just sit still.

“Chandler is in labor,” he says it in the same tone he would tell me the weather .

“Oh my god, what? What hospital, I’m coming.” I’m already pulling on some jeans and tripping over the legs as I attempt to pull them up while balancing my phone on my shoulder.

“You don’t have to; I can let you know once she’s here.”

“Hah, hilarious, bro. I’m going to be there, and you can’t stop me.”

He sighs, I know he would normally argue with me, but clearly is too preoccupied to do that, so he tells me what hospital and I’m out to my car in record time. I may break a couple traffic laws as I get to the hospital much faster than my GPS thought. The estimated time of arrival on those things is a challenge anyway.

The receptionist gives me a look when I tell her I’m there for a Chandler Hart. For a second I think she’s going to give me a hard time, but she buzzes me up and I see Audrey and Charlie in the waiting room.

“Hey,” I greet, trying not to show how out of breath I am from how quickly I rushed up here.

“Hey.” Audrey gets up to give me a hug. “They won’t let anyone else in the room. Matt had to throw quite the bitch fit for them to allow all three of them.”

“Ah, that must explain the look the receptionist gave me.” I nod in understanding, sitting in an empty chair across from them.

Audrey laughs. “Yeah, it was pretty funny, I’m glad I got to see it. Sorry, everyone was trying to get ahold of you, but you must sleep like the dead.”

“I guess so, my phone volume wasn’t on because I thought we had more time before this happened.”

“I think everyone did. She’s two weeks early but look at her dads. I’m sure she’s run out of room in there.”

I nod with a light chuckle. “Good point.”

The three of us wait in the cold lobby for any update. I regret not grabbing a thicker jacket, but I wasn’t thinking much beyond getting here. I haven’t had much one-on-one time with Audrey before. I’ve always liked her, she’s confident and spunky which doesn’t seem to change even in the middle of the night.

Charlie doesn’t say much, but he looks at Audrey while she talks like she hangs the sun, moon, and the stars. That damn pang in my chest hits when I see it. The love in his eyes would scream if it had a voice.

The sun is starting to peak out when Brent walks into the family waiting area. We all stand, immediately anxious to see what he says because his face gives nothing away.

“Who wants to meet Evie?” His mouth turns up in a small smile when he says his new daughter’s name.

“Me!” Audrey and I yell at the same time.

“It can only be one at a time, we’ve already pissed off the nurses enough with our situation,” he tells us .

My shoulders drop because Audrey is Chandler’s best friend, so I’m sure she’s going to go first. It’s fine though, I understand.

“Go ahead, Brynn, she’s your niece,” Audrey encourages.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

I follow Brent back to the room, and as soon as we enter my eyes find Chandler lying on the hospital bed with a bundle wrapped in her arms. Vince and Matt are hovering close by, but I don’t pay much attention to them, all my focus is on my brand-new niece.

“Hi Aunty Brynn,” Chandler says.

Tears already start to well in my eyes as I approach and see the little girl that has just joined our family.

“She’s so tiny,” I say, trying to joke so the tears don’t fall.

“Didn’t feel so tiny to me,” Chandler jokes back. “Want to hold her?”

I don’t know why the simple question has me panicking. I’ve never held a baby before; she looks so delicate I don’t want to accidentally hurt her.

“Are you sure?” I ask softly.

“Of course,” Chandler smiles, lifting her slightly so I can get my arms underneath hers and we don’t disturb her sleeping form.

I faintly notice Vince and Matt shift more in my direction, like they need to be within reach of Evie at all times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two not bickering over something and it’s all because of this little baby in my arms. Brent goes to Chandler, and I see him press a kiss to the top of her head while whispering something in her ear I can’t hear.

All my focus is on Evie anyway. She’s sleeping and her face is so perfect with chubby cheeks and dark hair. Her lips are slightly pursed like she’s pouting already. I’m so happy for her and the family she has been born into. There won’t ever be a shortage of love in her life. She’ll be shown it every single day by so many people.

Love surrounds her and always will.

She’s the luckiest little girl in the world.

“I already love you so much,” I whisper to her while silently making a vow that she’ll never ever experience any pain. Which might be a ridiculous thing to promise, but I don’t care. She’s perfect and deserves to have the perfect life.

The Collee past won’t taint her in any way. When I look up at my brother, I can see the same promise written all over his face.

We can’t control our past, but we can make a better future and I know that’s exactly what Evie is going to get. An amazing loving mom and three dads who will protect her in every single way possible. Aunts that will spoil her rotten. And every single one of us showing her unconditional love.

Nothing else matters in this moment except her and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it .

Which is why when I finally leave the hospital by midday, because Chandler wanted to take a nap I walk into my dark and quiet apartment and the loneliness hits me. I collapse onto my bed and Ellie immediately joins me, curling up to my side like she can tell I need her.

I try not to feel too sorry for myself as my eyelids drop and the adrenaline rush of the night fades, but it’s hard to stop my spiraling thoughts from taking over as I drift off. This will always be my life. Coming home to just my cat, always being the aunt and the friend to everyone. I’ll just have to accept that at some point.