Page 77 of Keeping Promises

I look down at her as she is placed on my bare chest, tears falling from both our eyes. Her eyes lock on mine, and I’m instantly in love.

“I’m your mama,” I softly say and run my finger along her soft cheek.

“You did it. She’s here.” Asher kisses me as the nurses take her to get cleaned up.

“She’s beautiful. Have you decided on a name?” the nurse asks as she places her in Asher’s arms. He shakes his head before turning to me to confirm, and I nod.

“The other night, I dreamed about her. It was so vivid, and I woke up and thought of the perfect name.”

Asher doesn’t take his eyes off our daughter. “Okay, let’s hear it. What should we call this sweet girl?”

I push up carefully to sit up higher on the bed but wince in pain. The nurses are still cleaning me up down below. My loud hiss pulls Asher’s attention from her to me. “Hey, take it easy. I can get whatever you want.”

Settled in a new position, the corner of my lips turn upward. “I’m fine. What I want is that baby, so bring her here.”

He pouts, and I try not to laugh. “You got to hold her for nine months, can’t I hold her just a minute more?”

With a response like that, how could I say no? He does at least walk over to the side of the bed so that I can be near her. We both focus solely on our daughter and not the crowd of medical staff in the room who just had a front-row seat to my vagina.

“Back to this name thing. Should I be worried? You don’t want to name her something crazy like Apple or Button or something, do you, because I don’t think I can get behind those.” He smirks, returning his gaze down to our daughter before his head pops up again, and he tilts his head to the side.

Where does he come up with these names? I could mess with him and come up with one of the craziest names to exist, but had I gotten my head out of my ass sooner, we could have already had this conversation.

“No, nothing crazy like that. But I just want to say that if you don’t like it, then we can change it.”

“Will you just say it already?”

“I think we should name her Olivia—you know, after your dad, Oliver. I wanted her to have a little part of you and me, and what better way than to name her after her paternal grandfather and her maternal great-grandmother? So I came up with Olivia Josephine.”

When Asher lifts his head again, his eyes are glazed over with unshed tears. “Do you not like it? We can have Lexi grab the baby name book for us and find something else.” Asher joins me on the bed. I scoot over the best I can to make room for him without disturbing the baby.

“I love it.” We both glance down at our daughter asleep in his arms. “Olivia,” he whispers.

“Olivia Harrington,” I say. I hear the catch of Asher’s breath when he hears her name. I savor the moment of it being just the three of us. I know Lexi, Ben, Cal, and Brynn will arrive shortly, and chaos will ensue, but right now, we savor the moment, just our little family.

Olivia must have known somehow that her daddy was there and was ready to meet us both.

Carefully, with one hand still holding the swaddled baby, handling her like a pro already, he turns his body to face me and with his free hand cups my cheek, brushing his thumb tenderly along my skin. He begins to close the distance, but just before his lips touch mine, he stops, his breath heating my skin with each exhale. “Asher, I’m so sorry for being stubborn. I love you. I should have told you before, but—”

He cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine in a passionate kiss. The moment his tongue slips into my mouth, caressing my own, Olivia makes the tiniest whimper. If this wasLook Who’s Talking, I’m pretty sure she would be screaming, “Mom, Dad, gross!”

We break apart, breathless. The kiss may have been short, but just like every kiss with Asher, I felt it all the way to my toes.

Asher rests his forehead against mine. “Not even an hour old and already cockblocking her daddy.”

“Better get used to it for the next eighteen years,” I joke, but then it hits me. I said I love you, but he didn’t say it back. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth nervously.

He looks back up, pushes a stray strand of hair out of my face, which I’m sure looks wonderful after labor, and smiles, sensing my nerves. “You know, you being stubborn is oddly one of the many reasons I love you.”

“You love me?”

He nods. “Yes, I love you so much. I should’ve told you a long time ago. I should have fought harder for you, and never again will I let you go. You and Olivia are my life, and I plan to keep you in here”—he places his hand over his heart—“forever. And that, Hadley Kincaid, is a promise I will always keep.”

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