“Another girl,” I whispered, in awe of the miniature version of Anna and me. “Guess the doctor was right.”
Finding out the sex was another one of those moments that was forever seared into my memory. I was happy about this one though. “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Hancock…it’s a girl.”
“No fucking way!” had been my immediate response. I’d been so sure the doctor would be wrong again and I was going to have a little man to mold into another me. Oh well. I still wanted a boy, but girls were awesome too, and now Gibson had a sister to do girly things with—dress-up, tea parties. Whatever the hell girls did.
Anna was tired but ecstatic to be over with the uncomfortable part. Physically, at least. The exhaustion part was still coming. “I’m just glad she’s finally here…and no longer pressing against my sciatic nerve.”
Reaching over, she brushed a finger across our daughter’s forehead. Her eyes were wide open; the deep gray studied me like I was the strangest thing she’d ever seen. Lifting up her crocheted cap, Anna peeked at our little girl’s head of dark, dark hair. “I think she’s gonna look like me,” she said as a tired smile brightened her face.
Looking down at my wife’s deep mahogany hair, I nodded. “Yeah, I think so too. Lucky girl,” I added with a playful wink.
Anna giggled, then her eyes drifted down to the baby in my arms. Her face took on a nearly reverent glow. “We’re so happy to finally meet you, Onnika.”
My smile matched Anna’s as I watched Onnika’s tiny features twist into a yawn. “You’re about to find out how incredibly awesome your mom and dad are. I’m kind of jealous of you.”
Anna laughed again, then held her arms open in invitation. “Gimme. I want to smell her.”
Reluctantly, I handed her back to her mother. We’d have plenty of cuddle time later. Pride stretched across my chest as I watched my wife and daughter bonding. All the women in my life were so gorgeous. I always knew I would create attractive kids. I mean, how could I not? But scoring someone as hot as Anna for my partner was what really sealed the genetic deal. My kids were fucking lucky. Ah, who was I kidding, I was the lucky fucker.
After a few more minutes of one-on-one time, family started knocking on the door and stealing into the room to get a peek. We’d made them wait outside during the event. Mom hadn’t been too happy about that, but Anna had been adamant on it only being her and me. I think Mom had planned on staying anyway, maybe hiding somewhere in the back, but the aforementioned tray of vomit smashing into the wall above her head had changed her mind. When Anna didn’t like something, she let you know it. I dug that about her too.
I thought Mom and Dad would be the first ones to enter, but surprising me, it was Kiera and Kellan who popped in first. Kiera looked over at her sister with an expression of Don’t hit me. “Can we come in? We waited as long as we could…”
Anna was in a much calmer mood now that the painful part was over. Tears in her eyes, she nodded. “Yes, yes. Come meet your niece. She held Onnika up a little bit. “Onnika, this is your aunt Kiera and uncle Kellan. Guys…this is Onnika.”
Kiera’s eyes instantly filled with moisture that dropped onto her cheeks. Why did girls always cry around babies? Geez. “Oh my God, Anna, she’s beautiful.”
A mocking laugh escaped me. “Of course she is. She’s a Hancock. Did you expect anything less than perfection?” Kellan laughed at my comment, but Kiera ignored me. I was used to that. She often couldn’t handle my unique brand of awesomeness.
After washing her hands, Kiera walked over to Anna’s side of the bed. She instantly put her hands out for the baby, and a familiar reluctance washed over Anna’s face. There was just something about Onnika that made you want to hold on tight and not let go. Maybe she had superpowers. Wouldn’t surprise me. Someone in our family tree was going to develop them one day, that was just a given. And, in a way, you could say I already had them. Sexual prowess was an ability that I possessed in spades.
When Kiera had Onnika, she firmly held her to her body. “Oh God, she’s so tiny. Remember when Ryder was this tiny?” From the way Kiera looked up at Kellan, I thought another baby was soon to be in their future. There was nothing like holding a newborn to ramp up a woman’s sex drive. I’d bet all the money I had that Kellan was getting laid tonight. Interesting. Not even a day old yet, and Onnika already had two superpowers. That’s my girl.
While Kellan smiled and nodded at Kiera, she turned her attention back to Anna and me. “How did you come up with the name?”
Puffing up my chest, I jabbed myself with my thumb. “It was my idea.”
Anna made a scoffing sound and I frowned at her. “No it wasn’t. You wanted to go with Myrtle again.”
Remembering that lost negotiation, I frowned. “It’s a family name. I don’t know why you have such a problem with it.” Anna’s face scrunched into the look of disgust she always got when we mentioned my grandma’s name. Not wanting to argue about it again, I added, “And I was right, Onnika was my idea. You just supplied the spelling.” I gave her a grin and a wink to ease the sting in my words, if there was one. Sometimes it was hard to know what would piss chicks off.
Anna didn’t look upset when she turned back to her sister. She had a high tolerance for my crap. “He wanted to spell it A-N-N-I-K-A, but I thought that was too close to my name, so we switched it to O-N-N.”