Page 158

Five Months Later

My last day at work was August twentieth.

The week before that, Cooper and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on my twenty-second birthday. Three months before that, I graduated college with top honors.

All these celebrations have included lots and lots of sex with my future husband. Apparently seeing my pregnant body does unexpected things to Cooper, starting with the fact that he thinks it’s ultra-hot that he put that baby in me.

It’s been seventeen days since my last day at work, and I am already bored out of my mind…plus I miss Cooper. A lot.

Traveling with a professional baseball team has been quite the adventure. Most of the guys on the team have taken me under their wing. I’m like the team little sister to everyone except Cooper, who will call me wife at some point.

He put a ring on it, but we haven’t set a date. We figure we’ll hammer it out sometime in the off-season when we can both sit down and think and plan together.

We’re grateful for the time we’ve had together through this first season. I’ve seen him more than I thought I would, but that all changed once I started my maternity leave.

And now I’m sitting at my dad’s house with Joanie, watching him on television as I wait for him to text or call after the game. I’ve slept here all week just in case the baby decided to come early, and the room Cooper once stayed in has now been converted to a nursery thanks to the help of the incredibly talented Kate Dalton.

The Heat has had a series out of town since September first, but they return later tonight. They get one night off before playing the eighth through the thirteenth. This little one is due the ninth—under a week away now—and I’m praying she gets here while he’s home just to make things a little easier on us.

Yes, she . My instinct was right on.

Our team wins, and I get a text from Cooper shortly after the game.

Captain: How are you feeling?

Me: Very large but okay. Good game.

Uncomfortably large at this point. I think the baby dropped and now every time I walk, she’s laying directly on my bladder and causing cramps.

Captain: Hard to focus tonight. I’m thinking about you.

Me: Right back at you. Love you.

Captain: Right back at you too. Boarding plane soon, should be home by midnight.

Me: I’ll make sure to keep this little one inside until then.

He sends a laughing emoji, and that’s when I feel it.

The first twinge.

Or, rather, the first rocket of pain as it shoots through my abdomen. “Oh shit,” I murmur.

A seven-month pregnant Joanie glances over at me. “You okay?”

I shake my head as I wince. “I think I just had a contraction.”

“Oh shit,” Joanie echoes. “Does it hurt?”

I chuckle. “It sure as hell doesn’t feel good .”

“I’ll call Cooper,” she says, lifting to a stand.

I shake my head. “He’s just getting on a plane. I don’t want him flying worried when he can’t make it go any faster. He’ll be here soon, and I haven’t timed these out yet.”

“Right. Okay. Do your breathing, okay? I’ll do it with you.” She starts to pace as she sucks in loud breaths before exhaling like she’s blowing out birthday candles. She’s more panicked than I am, and I can’t help a laugh.

“Does it feel better?” she asks, pausing in her pacing.

“A little, but honestly the entertainment here is top notch.”

She tilts her head and glares a little at me. “Listen, you’d be freaked out if your future daughter-in-law was giving birth two months before you, too. First of all, I have to take care of you or your father will punish me. And second of all, I have to watch you go through this first. I get to see just exactly how painful it is to give myself two months to get even more worked up about it.”

“Drama queen,” I tease, and her glare deepens.

“I am not!”

I give her a yeah, okay sarcastic glance as I turn my attention back to the television, and she finally sits back down.

It’s about ten minutes later when I wince as another one of those pains plows into me.

“That was twelve minutes,” Joanie announces.

“Nothing to worry about until they’re five minutes apart,” I say.

“Right. But how bad does it suck?”

I work my way through it, and then I sit back and take some of those deep breaths. “I mean, if I have to wait through these overnight, I’m not sleeping, that’s for damn sure.”

“Let’s do something, then. Want to go for a walk? Try to get things moving along?” she asks, standing up again.

“No!” I practically yell. “I want to slow things down so Cooper’s here for the birth of his child.”

“Slow down, slow down,” she mutters as she grabs her phone and starts typing. “Okay, lay on your left side and drink a lot of water. Dehydration can cause contractions. Oh, and empty your bladder.”

“So drink water but also have an empty bladder? Great advice, thanks.” I roll my eyes, and she giggles.

“You do realize the two of us know nothing about babies, right?” she asks.

“Yes, I do realize that. I’ve read a couple books over the last few months, but I feel like nothing will prepare me more than actually being in the thick of it,” I say. “Plus I have Cooper, who has nephews, so he has at least a little experience.”

“Lucky. Troy has zero.”

I shrug. “I know, with a big fat thanks to my mother.”

“At least we get to watch you go through it first so I can get some pointers.”

I laugh. This is what we have become. In a lot of ways, Joanie is more like a sister to me than a future stepmother. We work together, sometimes we live together, and we have fun together. We tease each other and we can laugh it off because we’re family now.

“Oh God, here comes another one,” I say.

“That time it was only nine minutes.”

“Thank God one of us is timing these,” I mutter.

“I’m here for you, girl. Lay on your left side. See if that slows things down.”

It doesn’t. They move to eight minutes and then seven, but they stick at seven for a little while.

It’s a little after midnight when Cooper texts me.

Captain: You still awake?

Fuck yes I’m still awake! I’m freaking contracting!

Me: Yep!

Captain: I’ll be home soon. Can’t wait to see you.

I don’t tell him to hurry because I just want him to get here safely. They’ll take a bus back to the stadium and then he’ll be home shortly after that.

Me: I’m at my dad’s.

Captain: Okay, I’ll come there. See you soon.

Joanie is still awake, too, and maybe a little traumatized by the fact that I’m going into labor, but that’s why I’m here with her…so I don’t have to go through it alone.

And I love her for being here with me.

Cooper and my father walk through the door at the same time. They’re laughing at something they must have shared out on the front porch, and I’m wincing with another contraction as they walk in, my hand over my stomach as Joanie kneels beside me breathing with me.

Both Cooper and my dad freeze when they see the picture in front of them.

“Are you in labor?” Cooper asks.

“Her contractions just moved to five minutes apart,” Joanie says, and I keep breathing because the pain seems to be getting stronger with each one.

“It’s go time,” Cooper says. “Is your hospital bag here?”

I nod. “In my truck.” I open my notes app and read off what I need him to pack that isn’t in my bag. “I need my toiletry bag in the bathroom upstairs and my phone charger. I think I have everything else.”

He’s as calm as ever as he heads upstairs to get the things I need, and he returns a beat later. “Snacks?” he asks, and I nod.

Joanie races over to the pantry and starts pulling things out, tossing them in a grocery bag.

“Calm down,” Cooper says with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry if I’m not calm !” Joanie protests. “I’ve been dealing with her contractions for the last four hours while you all flew home!”

He sets his hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of her. I’ve got it from here.”

And he does.

He tells Joanie and my father that he will let them know when he has any news at all, and he drives calmly to the hospital in my truck since that’s where the car seat is already installed with my hospital bag snuggled into it.

And seven long hours later, at seven twenty-one in the morning, a beautiful baby girl with Cooper’s blue eyes comes tumbling out of me.

I cry as the nurse places her on my chest. Cooper’s eyes are misty as he kisses me and tells me how much he loves me, and we both stare down at the perfect little life we created together.

“Baby girl’s name?” the nurse asks.

I nod at Cooper.

“Sunny Rose,” Cooper says. The perfect name for our little one, made even more meaningful because we share a middle name.

He leans in toward me, a calming presence as always as he kisses my temple. “Good thing it’s a girl,” he says with a chuckle.

I glance over at him. “Why’s that?”

“Because if we went with your nickname for me plus my middle name, the baby would’ve been named Captain Michael.”

I giggle despite the exhaustion. “Captain Michael. Maybe for baby number two.”

“Talking about baby number two already and baby number one isn’t even an hour old yet?” the nurse asks. “You two must really be in love.”

Cooper sits on the side of the bed. He sets his hand on the baby’s back covered in blankets. With his other hand, he squeezes mine. “I thought I loved her as much as I could ever love anybody, and then she gave me this gift.” He pats Sunny’s back. “And just like that, I love her even more.”

I smile up at him as the same sentiment seems to run through me.

We definitely played hardball to get here, but through all the curveballs life has thrown at me, Cooper Noah is my favorite.

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