Page 135 of Love Complicated

“What’s her name?” Grady asks, staring down at his newborn sister in my arms.

“We haven’t named her yet,” I tell him, kissing the side of his head, trying like hell not to cry. “We wanted you guys to help us. What should we name her?”

Aly’s crying. She hasn’t stopped for the last nine months. Believe me. She cried the day she found out she was pregnant, the day we told the boys, the day I asked her to marry me, and the day we exchanged vows, forever. Oh, and she cried the day we moved in to my house and rented hers out because well, she’s Aly and she cries.

I’ll tell you what though, I willnevergo back on the promises I’ve made her. And now, the day she brings our little girl into the world, she cries again.

I nudge Cash, who’s on the other side of me, looking at his sister. “You happy, dude?”

He smiles and nods. “Can we name her Judith?”

Ah, yes, the kid inThe Walking Dead. I want to laugh, but the glare Aly gives me shuts me up. “Maybe something a little more modern?” I suggest, winking at my wife.

Cash frowns, and then Grady knocks me in the head in his rush to stand up. “What about Renly?”

Cash perks up. “Yeah, Renly!”

Can you tell what show we moved onto?Game of Thrones. But Renly isn’t bad. I raise an eyebrow and look at Aly. She winks. Her approval. “Renly it is.”

As I rock our baby girl, I stare down at her. Her tiny features remind me of Aly, but I can see myself in there as well. She’s the perfect mix of the two of us blended together.

She has my black hair and dark eyes, but Aly’s chin and cheeks.

I have a daughter.Crazy thought, huh? I’m a dad. Not only am I going to have to get a gun, but I know she changeseverything.

It feels almost anomalous to think I gave life to another human being. I kind of fell into the lifestyle of being a dad to Cash and Grady, and though I never looked back and have loved being around them from day one, I always knew they weren’t mine. Someone else will always be their father. It certainly doesn’t stop the love I have for them in any way.

But this little girl, she’s a part of me. I could never let another man raise her, but I can also understand Mike’s decision to raise me, even though I wasn’t technically his son. How can you walk away from something so innocent and precious?

Renly looks up at me and I know, just like her mother, I can never deny her anything. Gently rocking her, I hum softly and think to myself she probably has no idea what she’s looking at. Either that or she’s thinking, I chose this dude as my dad?

The thought makes me chuckle.

There’s a shift next to me, and I notice both boys have gotten into bed with Aly, snuggling against her. Her cheeks are flushed from the exertion she put forth today. She’s still fucking beautiful, and she had just given me the best gift anyone could have possibly given me.

She made me a dad.

A tiny hand frees from the blanket, and Renly’s delicate fingers curl around my pinky. I smile down at her, so pure and innocent.

My daughter.

For months, I prepared myself for the idea of having a daughter, and my gut instinct told me Aly was carrying a girl even though the ultrasounds revealed nothing. I had no idea how to act around a girl. With Cash and Grady, it’s easy. I relate to them. With Renly, will I know what to do? And what happens when she gets older? And dating?

Fuck, talk about fears. I hope she never meets a delinquent like I was growing up. If so, I’m moving the entire family away from him.

I place a soft kiss on her forehead, rocking her gently when Glen comes in with Helena to meet their granddaughter. “Hey,” he says softly, peering down at her. “She’s beautiful.”

“She is.” I glance up at him. “Wanna hold her?”

He smiles, and nods and I hand her over to her grandpa. “She looks like you, trouble.”

I laugh as Helena rests her head on Glen’s shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks as she examines Renly, touching her tiny hands and face. “She’s so precious,” Helena gushes, wiping her tears away.

I make my way over to Aly and kiss her forehead. She reaches up touches my cheek. “I love you,” I whisper.

She cries harder, unable to say anything. Every story has an ending, but in life, every story is a new beginning. She’s our new beginning.

IT’S ABOUT AN hour after Aly gives birth to Renly that I take the boys to the gift shop, so she can get some rest.

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