Falling into Place - Forbidden Heart Series

35| Little Heartbreaker

"You still haven't decided on a name yet?"

"Nope."

"So. . . what do you call her?"

Smiling down at my beautiful daughter, I answered Lanie's question. "Mainly we just call her 'baby' for now. Ryan's been nagging me endlessly to pick a name. I keep Google searching some ideas, but haven't had any luck."

"Well, you better pick something fast. Otherwise, she's going to grow up thinking that 'baby' is her name."

Harper leaned forward and stroked the baby's cheek gently. "I still can't believe you and Ryan made this, D. She is absolutely perfect."

A part of me still couldn't believe it, either. If things had went the other way a few years ago, it would be Ryan and Harper who had gotten married and eventually had a baby. If she could have a baby, of course. Suddenly awash with guilt, I handed the baby to Harper when she reached for her.

"I'm blessed to have her. She's more amazing than I ever imagined."

I never pictured myself as a mom before I met Ryan. I never pictured myself as a wife, either. It was crazy how you could be so sure about something, only to be completely wrong many years later. In this case. . . I was glad that it had.

"How's she been at night?" Lanie asked curiously. "It took a while before I could get little Nate on a schedule. He used to keep me up all night and all day."

"She's not so perfect in that area, unfortunately. She cries every hour on the hour. Ryan and I try to alternate getting up with her, but when one of us gets up--"

"The other gets up." Karma finished for me.

"Exactly. I'm just hoping she gets into a routine sooner rather than later." Looking around the room, I frowned. "Hey, Harp, where's Jackson? I thought he was coming over with you."

Harper suddenly looked uncomfortable. "He had something to handle at the club. He told me to apologize on his behalf and he promises to come by soon."

"Are you guys fighting again?"

"Not at all."

Okay. . . then it was something else. He was there at the hospital when the baby was born. He even came in the room to see both of us. But I haven't seen much of him since.

A nagging feeling told me it had something to do with the little girl that Lanie was currently making funny faces at while talking to her in that baby voice. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? I mean, why wouldn't Jackson want to be around the baby?

Still, though. Everyone had come to see her at my place over the past couple days. Some more than others. Ryan's mom surprisingly came by once each day. Not when his dad was here, of course. But she was kind and seemed to make a connection with baby instantly.

My heart ached at the memory of seeing his dad with the baby, though. He actually cried the first time he stared down into her face. He told Ryan that his mom would be proud of him. Both of us were confused at first. That was until we understood that he was talking about Everly.

Everly. That was also a choice for her name. When I offered it to Ryan, he said he appreciated it, but for some reason it didn't suit her. Besides, I'm pretty sure Mrs. Hale wouldn't approve of that name.

"Where's Ryan?" Lanie asked suddenly. "We haven't seen a glimpse of him today."

"He went out to get some groceries. We ate everything you guys brought over."

I was til so grateful to my friends for that. Ryan and I were starving the first night back home from the hospital. We were going to order some food before he went and checked the kitchen to see if we had anything he could whip up quickly. When time passed and he didn't return to the room, I went to check on him.