Life in the Wind

21

—— 6 MONTHS LATER——

Lacey was sitting on the couch with her Sonic blast, watching some of Dancing with Myself at the end of the day when her phone buzzed. She picked it up off the arm of the couch, seeing it was a FaceTime from her brother, and groaned.

"I swear if he's with the unit," she groaned, answering the call. "Hey, what's up?"

"Say hi aunt Lacey," Jay whispered, showing her the baby boy in Hailey's arms.

"Oh my god," Lacey gasped, "he's so adorable, I didn't know he was coming today! Her due date wasn't until next week,"

"He decided to make his appearance a little early," Hailey beamed, holding the small baby in her arms. "Camden William,"

"He's precious. How you doing mama?" Lacey asked, setting the ice cream-filled cup down.

"Well. Hurt more than I anticipated but I'm okay. Just happy he's here." the blonde grinned, laying her eyes on her baby again.

"I'm glad. Ryan's still working but I'm sure he'll be happy to have a nephew, and Riley has a cousin," She chuckled, extremely happy for the couple. "I'll let you guys go enjoy your baby. I love you guys,"

"We love you too Lace," Jay smiled before hanging up the phone. She smiled and looked down at her own swollen belly, rubbing it gently as she watched some more TV.

"Your cousin came today, so now it's your turn. Daddy and I can't wait to meet you," She smiled, speaking to her little one.

They decided not to find out what they were having but already had 2 names picked for each gender. It had to be an L name to stay in line with their family of Ryan, Lacey, and Riley. It was either going to be Lyla Jayden, Lillian Willow, Logan James, or Lucas Patrick. Every name had a meaning to her and they didn't want to set the baby's name until the 2 of them laid eyes on their precious child.

A cry from the baby monitor had her on her feet as soon as she could peel herself off the couch. She went up the steps and softly opened Riley's bedroom door, to see the toddler, standing in her crib.

"Mama!" She whined, immediately snuggling as Lacey picked her up.

"Mamas got you baby. You were sleeping so good, what's going on sweetie?" She asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer from the child.

She tried rocking her for a little bit with no luck, so she took her back downstairs. She laid on the couch where she'd been before, and set the small child on her chest with the blanket that Jay and Hailey had gotten her for her birthday. Lacey turned off the show she was watching and picked "Sing 2" on Netflix. Riley snuggled as close as she could under her blanket, keeping her eyes trained on the TV before both she and her mother dozed off.

Ryan got home around 11:30, hearing the TV as he came in. He chuckled a little as he saw his wife and baby on the couch, both sound asleep.

"Come here munchkin," Ryan whispered, carefully lifting the small toddler into his arms. Riley only let out a small whine, rubbing her eyes before she laid her head on her father's shoulder and passed out again. Ryan quietly took her upstairs, laying her in her crib with her blanket before turning her hatch machine back on. Lacey met him upstairs as he shut the baby's door, both of them heading for their bedroom.