Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐫

Since the baby was born so early, she was forced to start her maternity leave three weeks earlier than what she had planned. Making that phone call to her boss was nerve-wracking even though there wasn't any real reason to.

Her boss was an amazing man with a heart of gold who immediately congratulated Charlie. He had only told her that it was okay and that she should forget all about work and only focus on the baby and her well-being. That had surprised her because she hadn't had the best experience with men.

It was the first thing she had done this morning - after going to see her still nameless baby, of course - and since then, she had spent the whole morning in the NICU.

All she had been doing was watching her newborn like a hawk while whispering sweet nothings to her, wanting her to know how loved she was immediately even though the baby might not hear it because she was sleeping so much.

Unfortunately, she was still attached to the ventilator because she still needed oxygen. Both the doctor and the nurse had told Charlie that she shouldn't get her hopes up about leaving the hospital today or even in a couple of days because it could take weeks before the baby could even breathe without the ventilator.

Another piece of news was that after getting her baby to the NICU, they had noticed that she had trouble hearing. Apparently, she hadn't reacted to any voices or sounds at all which was unfortunately usual for premature babies.

Hearing that her baby wasn't only sick with breathing problems but she was also born deaf broke Charlie's heart. Not because she loved her any less but because she could already imagine how hard her life would be growing up.

It was 10am and she was waiting for her parents to make an appearance any minute now. They had came back to Boston after midnight but since the visitor hours had ended many hours before that, her parents had to wait until today to meet their new granddaughter.

Of course they had talked on the phone and Charlie had sent about two hundred photos and even a video of the baby just sleeping but it wasn't the same thing. They knew all about what happened yesterday from her water breaking this early to Fabian coming to her rescue and staying to her baby being rushed to NICU before she even got a chance to hold her.

And she still hadn't done that.

"We're here!" All too familiar male voice came from behind him. Turning around from her baby, Charlie smiled at Fabian standing by the door with her parents right behind him.

Her friend was wearing yesterday's white collar shirt with black pants, a brown belt and a gold, expensive-looking watch that had to be worth more than her yearly salary. There was a five o'clock shadow on his jaw and he tried to stretch his back because he had spent the whole night in the uncomfortable chair.

Although Charlie had been terrified to be left alone after what had just happened, she had told him to go back home after her baby was put safely in the NICU bed with nurses taking care of her. He had done more than enough for her, for both of them, and even after being forced to hold her when she had her breakdown, he had just told her that he would spend the night.

"Just in case, okay? I just... I need to make sure that she's really okay. It was scary. And I don't want you to be alone. Of course, only if you're okay with it," Fabian explained, looking at her in the eyes with the most intense look in his eyes.

It was 2am and they had been sitting by the baby's bed for over an hour, just looking at her little princess sleeping peacefully while the machine kept her alive. Any other day she would have been confused about why he was still there but not tonight. Not in here.

"Okay," was all that she had said before leaning her head in his shoulder and closing her eyes just for a second. Then she felt Fabian hesitating a few seconds before putting his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly and yet in the most comforting way.