“You guys ready?” Archer asked. He was already at the door, holding it open. “Guess who I heard from this morning?” He paused as Daemon strutted past him. “No, jackass, it wasn’t Justin Bieber and I’m not in love with him. What the hell?”
Daemon chuckled.
“Who?” I asked before the whole conversation derailed.
He smiled at me as the door shut, locking behind me. Dee was already calling shotgun on the Jeep Archer was driving. “Hunter checked in. He was wondering how everyone was doing.”
I exchanged a look with Daemon as he took my hand. We’d heard from him and Serena a few months ago. They’d been planning on moving out of his brother’s house, heading west. “Did he move?”
“Yeah, he’s actually not that far from here. I think he settled in Boulder or somewhere close, since Serena’s from around here.” Archer fished out his car keys and we picked up the conversation once Daemon and I had piled into the back. “I imagine you might be getting a visit from them, sooner or later.”
“Great,” Daemon muttered.
Every Saturday we made the drive to their house. Even though the baby was old enough to go out and about, it wouldn’t be . . . um, the brightest idea. The baby had an odd habit of moving things without touching them, doing the eye-glowy thing, and last week, she’d levitated.
Right off the floor.
The house was on an acre of land, and thick trees gave the front of the house much-needed privacy. Dawson answered the door, smiling as he let us in. I frowned, because he looked different.
Dee stretched up, rubbing his head. “Is this a dad haircut?”
Ah. That. His hair was shorter now, cut close along the sides and a little longer on the top. It looked good on him. Then again, the brothers could go bald and they’d still look great.
“I like it,” Archer said, grinning because it was nearly identical to his haircut.
Beth appeared in the doorway leading to the living room. Propped against her hip was a smiling baby with a head full of dark curls. “I ordered Chinese,” she said, wincing. “I was going to make lasagna, but . . .”
“Oh! Chinese is fine with us.” Dee sent me a look as she hurried down the hall, immediately going for the baby’s cheeks.
We all had learned quickly that Beth couldn’t boil water. Ordering out was the much better option.
We were herded into the living room, and I couldn’t help but be amazed by how different Beth looked. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, her face fresh and glowing. She still had moments of . . . darkness and when she didn’t seem to have a tight grasp on reality, but she was much, much better.
Daemon placed the gift bag on the end table where toys covered one corner of the living room. In the center of the stuffed animals and dolls were baby blocks spelling out a name.
Ashley.
It was beyond kind and perfect that Dawson and Beth had decided to name her after Ash. If it hadn’t been for her sacrifice, the three of them wouldn’t be here today.
“You see that?” Dawson’s gaze followed mine, and his prideful grin was hard to miss. “She did that this morning.”
My mouth dropped open. “She spelled her own name?”
“Yep.” Beth glanced at Dawson. “Ash was on her mat, playing with her toys, and the next thing we know, she’s spelled her name.”
Dee sat on a love seat beside Archer, pouting. “I couldn’t spell my name until I was, like, in the first grade, and that’s really sad, because my name is, like, three letters.”
I laughed.
“Want to hold her?” Beth asked.
It would be rude to say no, so I nodded and lifted my arms awkwardly. I wasn’t good with the whole holding-babies thing, even after they weren’t newborns and could easily hold their heads up. I just never knew what to do with them once I had them in my hands. Like, should I rock them? Bounce them up and down? And dear God, what was I supposed to say to them?
A second later, the little bundle of Origin was in my hands, with big, purple-colored eyes fixed right on mine, and I seriously hoped the kid wasn’t reading my thoughts and understanding any of what I was thinking.
Because I was a little concerned about accidentally dropping her.
As I lifted little Ashley closer to my chest, she was quick to grab hold of two of my fingers and squeeze. Hard. I laughed. “Wow. She’s got a grip on her.”
“She’s pretty strong.” Dawson smiled as Beth sat beside him on the couch. “Just the other day, she threw her teddy from the living room clear into the kitchen.”
“Damn,” Archer murmured.
“Maybe she can be a softball player,” Dee suggested.
Beth’s laugh was light and surprisingly carefree. “If she gets any stronger, I’m afraid she’s going to throw something through a wall.”
“Well, that would be awkward,” I said to Ashley, who just giggled in response. Her gaze flickered over my shoulder, and I could feel Daemon drawing closer. Her stare was serious, curious as she studied him. “I’m not sure she likes you.”
He laughed. “Everyone likes me.”
Archer snorted.
Daemon brushed his lips over my cheek as he circled his arms around my waist, holding me as I held Dawson and Beth’s child. Ashley reached out with one short arm, splaying her chubby fingers alongside his jaw.
Like always, she was absolutely fascinated with touching his face.
Maybe one day, I’d be holding our child. Who knew? But it would be a long, long time from now, like decades from now, and I wasn’t sure that day might ever come. The idea of raising a child was still something foreign to the both of us, and we preferred it that way. As Daemon’s arms tightened around my waist, I knew we’d be happy if it was just the two of us, or three of us. But I was really hoping that the third member of our family would turn out to be a puppy or a kitten. Babies seemed like a lot of work.