For months, he’d been preparing for this day, secretly wondering whether it would be awkward for him and Luke, knowing that only one of them had created her. Thankfully, from the moment she made her appearance in the world, none of his insecurities seemed to matter. Only her. It was a blessed relief from all of the confusion he’d been facing lately.
Now, with Luke’s hand in his, Cole felt the security of the love he’d embraced so many months before. He had a hard time even remembering why he worried so much.
“You think Sierra’s ready to see us yet?” Luke asked, glancing over at him.
He nodded his head, glancing into Luke’s hazel eyes, seeing the pure joy on his lover’s face. “Let’s get her some flowers first,” he told him, squeezing his hand before pulling away.
To his absolute shock, Luke grabbed his hand, linking his fingers with his once more and turning to face him completely. “Don’t pull away from me,” Luke demanded and Cole felt the tension in his words.
Their relationship had taken a turn in the last few weeks, probably because Cole had revealed more of himself than he truly expected to. He loved Luke with every piece of himself, and he accepted Luke and his inability to say how he felt, but there were times it got to be too much. Right this minute, seeing this side of Luke, the man who didn’t hide his true feelings, even in public, sent his heart soaring higher than he thought it could possibly go.
Squeezing Luke’s hand once more to let him know he wasn’t going anywhere, they released one another and turned toward the gift shop.
Three hundred dollars and practically every gift the tiny gift shop had to offer later, Cole and Luke were once again heading back to the labor and delivery floor where Sierra was.
After gently knocking on the door to announce their presence, Luke pushed it open, and they both moved forward. To Cole’s surprise, Sierra was sitting up in bed, Hannah cradled in her arms as mother and daughter stared back at one another. Cole’s breath lodged in his chest. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything as perfect as the picture they presented.
When Sierra’s eyes met his, a brilliant smile tipping her perfect lips, Cole couldn’t contain his own grin.
“Hey, baby,” Luke greeted Sierra as he moved around to the far side of the bed standing beside Sierra’s mother Veronica while Cole moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed, closest to the door.
“Never better,” Sierra said sweetly, cupping the back of Hannah’s tiny head and looking up at Luke.
Cole’s heart swelled as he stared down at his girls, then back up at Luke. A few hours ago, they’d been standing in the same place, holding her hand as she tried stoically to suffer in silence. To his amusement, that hadn’t lasted very long after the contractions began to increase in their intensity. No matter how tough he or Luke thought they were, it had been brutal to watch.
But when Hannah was born, Sierra’s tears of joy streaming down her face as they laid her against her chest, the weight of the world lifted. Mom and baby had made it through without complications. It was as though the final piece of the puzzle was now in place, completing the three of them in ways they hadn’t expected.
Cole watched as Sierra stared down at Hannah, the baby’s pretty blue eyes roaming briefly before her lids slid closed as she dozed. Their baby girl, so utterly perfect, was the little piece that solidified what they had started so many months ago.
“So, how does it feel to be fathers?” Veronica asked, glancing back and forth between him and Luke. At this point, Cole had no idea how to explain the feeling.
“It’s a bit surreal at this point,” Luke admitted honestly, and Cole met his gaze.
“Well, I’m going to leave the four of you alone to bond for a little while. Xavier is on his way over, and I told him I’d meet him in the lobby. We’ll be back soon.”
Cole watched as Veronica kissed her daughter on the forehead, then her granddaughter before slipping out of the room.
“Do you want to hold her?” Sierra asked, sounding understandably tired as she looked between him and Luke. “Not that I want to give her up, but I will.” The smile on her face lit up the entire room, and Cole couldn’t hold back his answering smile.
Even though the elation of Hannah’s birth hadn’t worn off, and he hoped it never would, Cole couldn’t help but wonder whether Hannah actually would change the way he and Luke reacted to one another. Up to this point, it didn’t even appear to be an issue, but his fears still lingered down deep. He knew Hannah’s birth had changed him, and he was pretty sure it’d changed Luke as well, maybe more so, he just wasn’t sure how yet.