Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 57~

~Sam~

Waiting rooms are weird places.

They're too bright, too sterile, too filled with those chairs that are never quite comfortable enough to sleep in, but always good enough to *almost* fall asleep in. But tonight? We were far from sleeping.

We were *buzzing*. Anxious. Frantic. Electric.

Devyn, Corey, Katrina, Tara, Jake, Isa, Blake, and I were huddled together like survivors of a shipwreck, all trying to pretend we weren't waiting to hear if Raelyn—*our* Raelyn—was okay. If the baby was okay. If everything we'd spent months protecting and building was going to survive this moment.

It felt like the whole damn house had been holding its breath since Colby shouted, "She's in labor!"

And now here we were. Glued to the edge of time.

"Dr. Love will take good care of her," Isa said softly, smoothing Blake's hair. He clutched a little stuffed bear to his chest—one Rae bought him at CVS, spur of the moment, just because he said it looked lonely.

Blake was usually a sugar-fueled chaos gremlin, but tonight? He was silent. His big brown eyes were wide with something too complicated for a kid his age to carry.

"I just... I can't believe we're here," Tara whispered. Her knee bounced like a jackhammer.

I was pacing, of course. I couldn't sit still. My palms were sweaty. "She was gripping my hand so hard in the car. I swear I thought she dislocated my wrist."

Devyn gave a soft chuckle beside me, a sweet attempt to ease the tension. "That's Raelyn. She's pure steel wrapped in sarcasm. She'll be okay."

Katrina was scrolling her phone, not reading anything, just flicking out of nerves. "She's a damn warrior. And you guys *know* she drank like three pitchers of that raspberry leaf tea last week. Girl wanted this baby out."

Corey leaned back in his chair and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, but did you *see* her? Those contractions were like... apocalyptic. It hit her and she just—powered through it."

"Colby was the calmest out of everyone," Jake mumbled. "Which is hilarious considering his normal state is like... threatening to deck people."

Isa nodded. "He's locked in. I've never seen him like that. He's already a dad."

A hush fell over the group. Not just the kind of silence you get when people run out of things to say. This was heavier. This was the kind of silence you wear. The kind that clings to your ribs.

Then Blake looked up, his tiny voice cutting through it all like a blade through fog.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?"

Katrina bent down immediately, arms wrapping around him like armor. "Your mom is the toughest person I know, Blake. She's gonna be fine. And soon, you're gonna have a baby sister."

He didn't say anything. Just nodded slowly and tucked the bear tighter under his chin. That little kid had already lived through more than most adults. But damn if he didn't carry it all like a champ.

We spent the next few hours in limbo. The clock moved like it was drunk—ticking when it wanted, dragging its feet when we needed it to run.

Tara fell asleep on Jake's shoulder. Isa pulled Blake into her lap and he finally nodded off, mouth slightly open and cheeks smushed against her. Corey started humming some random tune softly, and Devyn leaned against his shoulder.

The quiet solidarity settled over us like a threadbare blanket. Frayed. But warm.

Then—

The door cracked open.