“Ow!” He frowned, and waddled his finger at her. “No. You don’t pinch. No, not nice.”
The child glared at him.
“She loves Alannah,” Bronagh said. “She clearly doesn’t like you touchin’ ’er.”
“Well.” Damien stared back at his niece. “You’ll have to get used to it, kid.”
Georgie continued to eye Damien, and it made me chuckle.
“She’s fire,” I said. “Good luck to you when she’s a teen, Nico.”
“Jesus, I know.”
We all laughed, and Georgie laughed too because of that, which we only found funnier. I handed her off to her mother, and Damien slipped his arm around my shoulder, tugging me to his side. Ryder stepped outside to take a call when his phone rang, so I focused on Damien and said, “How come you’re home from work?”
“I get off work at three thirty on Tuesday.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “I’ll have to learn your roster.”
Damien leaned his head down, and I knew his intention was to kiss me, but he paused and looked up suddenly. I followed his eyes and froze.
“What?” Damien said, his eyes flicking from Nico to Bronagh, who were staring at us. “Why’re you both looking at us like that?”
“Because we’ve waited for fuckin’ years to see it,” Bronagh answered, a beaming smile stretching across her lips. “That’s why, bro.”
Nico smiled down at her when she called Damien bro.
“Are you all goin’ to be weird about this?” I quizzed. “’Cause I never stare at any of you.”
“None of us have been sniffing around one another as long as you and Dame have,” Nico said.
“You’re both me OTP.”
I blinked at Bronagh. “What does OTP mean?”
“One true pair,” she replied. “Duh.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not allowed on Tumblr anymore, you’re turnin’ into one of those crazy people.”
“Back off Tumblr, Lana.”
I playfully raised my hands, and grinned before I dropped my hands to the arms around me when Damien hugged my body tightly to his.
“It’s crazy for us to see you guys together.” Nico said with a smile. “A good crazy.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Damien answered. “You all will.”
God, I hoped so.
I smiled up at him, but my attention was pulled to the doorway when Ryder slid into the room, his eyes wild, and his forehead shining with sweat.
“What is it?”
“Branna,” he said, panicked. “Her water broke!”
“How did Ry get Bran to the hospital so fast?” I asked Bronagh as we jogged from the car park towards the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital after passing by Ryder’s car that was parked at a sharp angle. “We live forty minutes from ’ere, and we left at the same bleedin’ time as ’im!”
“God couldn’t stop that man from gettin’ ’ere as fast as he could with Branna and those babies.”
I could do nothing but agree with her as we jogged towards the entrance of the hospital, a stitch already forming in my side from the activity.
“I hate runnin’,” I replied breathlessly.
“Since Georgie got more active and started crawlin’, runnin’ is all I’m good for nowadays.”
I laughed, then took a much-needed breather when we slowed down upon nearing the reception desk in the lobby. I thought Bronagh was going to ask where the labour and delivery ward was situated, but when she turned left and headed towards a giant stairwell, I blindly followed her. It wasn’t until we cleared the first floor that I realised Bronagh knew exactly where she was going, she had delivered a baby in the same hospital after all.
“Isn’t the labour ward off limits to visitors?”
“Normally, yeah,” Bronagh answered. “But since Branna works ’ere, and she’s the patient, that means we get special privileges.”
“We?” I slowed my steps. “You just said we … as in you and me?”
Bronagh paused, then turned to face me.
“I hear the fear in your voice,” she commented. “Push it away, ’cause we gotta focus on Branna.”
My lips parted.
“But … but … I thought I was gonna wait in the waitin’ area,” I said, grasping at straws. “I can give great moral support from out ’ere, ye’know? I’ll keep everyone updated. I won’t leave this spot, not even to use the jacks. I’ll be the best support system from a distance, I swear.”
Bronagh snorted, then turned and continued walking. With a dragged-out sigh, I followed her, silently praying that a security guard or a member of staff would inform me that I had no business being in a room where a lady was about to give birth … but no one stopped us. Not a single bloody person. I followed Bronagh towards the nurses’ station, and when I spotted Ash, Branna’s co-worker, behind the desk, I smiled along with Bronagh. Ash was lovely, and any time I had met him, he had always made me laugh with a dumb joke one way or the other.
“Bronagh, Alannah,” he said with a bright smile when she stopped before the desk. “It’s great to see you both. Which one of you is in labour so I can get you checked in?”