Hands All Over

Ch. 85 Visitors

Happy's eyes hadn't left that ugly teal hospital room door since Juice had walked through it. He wanted in. He wanted to make sure his kid was all right. Glancing at Chloe, he noticed she was hiding a laugh behind her hand, her hazel eyes lit up as if she found something very amusing. "What?" he asked, his voice a little harsher than normal. He was pissed. He wanted to see his kid. He had that right.

"You," she answered around a laugh. "You have the most protective Papa Bear look on your face right now, and if I didn't know you, I'd be scared as hell that you were going to kill me."

"Papa Bear?" he repeated in disbelief. Only Chloe would have the balls to call him that. "Really?"

Chloe nodded, smiling brightly at him. "Really," she affirmed, unhitching herself from the wall and moving to stand next to him. "Is your mom coming?"

He nodded, rubbing a hand over his head. "My aunt's drivin' over."

"Want me to leave?" she asked, looking up at him.

Happy blinked at her, surprised by her question. He knew it had something to do with the way he'd questioned her when he found her at his Ma's house. He'd thought she'd gone to pull him in closer by earning his mother's approval when she'd really only gone to take care of Angela. Now, she was asking him if he wanted space to distance herself from his family. But he was starting to realize she was already a part of his family. That she'd been long before they'd even started their strange relationship. The friendship between her and Angela was strong. It was clear how much those two cared about each other. It was what had drawn him to Chloe in the first place. "No," he replied, shaking his head.

She cocked her head to the side, a curious look on her face. "You can go in there now," she said, nodding towards the door. "I'm sure Ang wants to see you and the baby is really, really cute."

"They name it?"

"Her name is Evangeline Victoria," Chloe said, emphasizing the female pronoun. He paused at the name, a brief smile crossing his face; she'd named her after her dad. Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm guessin' you know the meaning behind that name 'cause I sure don't..."

"It's a good name," he answered vaguely before stepping into the room. Juice was too immersed in looking at his new daughter to look up, but Angela did. Her dark eyes seeking his as if she knew exactly who'd be walking through that door. A bright smile spread across her face that made his heart squeeze almost painfully in his chest; he loved seeing her smile like that. "Hey kid," he greeted, walking to her side of the bed.

"Hi," she said, holding out her hand to him.

Normally, she wouldn't have made such a gesture and even if she did, he wouldn't have grabbed her hand, but he did this time. Taking it in his own and squeezing it tightly before leaning over to kiss her forehead. "How you doin'?"

"Great," she answered, elbowing Juice to catch his attention. Juice looked startled for a moment before he nodded his greeting to Hap. Reluctantly, he transferred the small pink bundle from his arms to Angela's. She angled her so Happy could see her little face. "Look what I made. Little Miss Evie Ortiz."

Happy couldn't count the amount of times he'd heard Angela say those words while she was growing up. She'd come running to him with drawings or things she'd painted excited to show him. Hearing them now and seeing what she was showing him brought a lump to his throat. He tried to swallow it back as he nodded in approval. "Good job," he said, roughly.

"Thanks." Angela smiled, tracing a finger down Evie's little nose. "Wanna hold her?"

His thoughts drifted back to the day her father had asked him the same question about her when she'd just been born. He felt differently now. For some reason, he wanted to hold the baby. In a strange way, the baby felt like a piece of him too. He'd put in so much work and time with Angela, that he was proud to see how far she'd come. To see her as a mother and to meet his niece. Angela had often disputed over his title in her life. Sometimes she called him brother, sometimes she teased him by saying he was her father. But he was too young for the title of grandfather, he decided. So he settled on 'uncle'. Uncle felt right. He took the baby girl in his arms, smirking as her little arms moved in the jerky-baby way. "Looks like you," he commented, lifting a finger to touch her little fist. "Luckily."