She Will Persist

Epilogue

Axel

"James," Jinx whispered softly. James tore his eyes off the baby and looked at her with a clueless expression on his face. "Do you wanna hold her?" She asked.

His brown eyes widened. "Really?"

"Definitely," Jinx smiled.

James unsteadily got to his feet and went and sat down beside her. Jinx very slowly slid the bundle into his arms, moving the blankets up near the baby's head so she could peak out more.

"Hey there," she whispered to her baby girl. "This is James," she said. "He's nice. Rebellious, wicked smart, but don't piss him off. He also saved his husband's ass from bleeding out on my carpet about eight years ago."

James snuffed a breath out his nose in response. "She's exaggerating," he told the baby in his arms. He smiled. "But don't worry. You can come to me whenever your father screws up."

Harrison lifted a hand in question. "The hell did I do?"

"Nothing. Yet," Cal grinned.

"Give it time," I mused.

"You'll get there," Lucky added.

"Wow." Harrison glared playfully around at all of us. "Thank you for your confidence in my parenting skills guys, it means a lot."

Roscoe, Quinn's girlfriend, was peering over the back of the couch and James' shoulders at the baby. "What's the worst you could do?" She asked.

"Uh yeah no, let's not brainstorm on that idea," Jinx said quickly.

Suddenly the baby shifted in her warm yellow cocoon, opening her small mouth in a yawn, babbling a little as she did. Everyone awed. 

"She's so perfect," James murmured.

"Well yeah," Harrison gestured to himself.

James laughed and let the baby suck on the end of his pinky.

Cal's wife Zia watched the redhead as he slowly succumbed to a loving trance. "He's awfully great with babies Owen..." She hinted in her Russian accent.

The white-blond man sitting next to me groaned. "Not you as well?"

Zia nodded. "Kids are not that bad, I don't know why you're being so reluctant about it."

"That's because Lucas is easy," Owen rolled his eyes.

"No, it's called good parenting," Cal defended.

None of us doubted that Cal would be a good dad. He and Zia's son Lucas' good manners only highlighted Cal's dedication. The five year-old was constantly tripping over his words since he had so much to talk about. Growing up with both an Irish and a Russian accent around him didn't help to distinguish his syllables. The fact that both of his parents were doctors too, also didn't make his thirst for knowledge and oral expression any easier to handle. But he was intuitive, observant and excited about everything the world had to offer. He looked more like his mother, but he was definitely his father at heart.

"It's 'cause he's scared," Lautaro grinned. He sat hand-in-hand with his wife Idania, a Honduran like him, on the couch across from James and Jinx. They had a kid too, technically. Idania had a four year-old son from a previous relationship, but Eldin thought it was pretty cool that his stepdad could make something out of literally anything, so they got along great. The three of them lived in Honduras together, but had flown out here to New York City like the rest of us to see Jinx and Harrison's baby.

"I'm not scared," Owen snipped defensively. He crossed his muscular arms and glanced over at where his husband was looking longingly at the baby in his arms. "I'm just... indifferent."