Page 38 of Shielding his Legacy
“Should I keep going?” he asked.
“You don’t have to.”
To his surprise, he realized he didn’t want to stop. “There’s something nice about it—the weight of her, the sound of my hand thumping.”
She sat beside him and looked at him wistfully, a wet glimmer in her eye. “Yes.”
He cocked his head. “What’s wrong?”
Eva shrugged and looked away, wiping at her eyes. “Ugh. I’m such a mess.”
“Tell me what made you cry.”
“I haven’t had anyone to share it with, that’s all. You know? Since she’s been born, it’s just been her and me. Other than her babysitter, I’m the only one who’s ever held her.”
The engines were closer now, the noise increasing until it stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry you’ve had to do this alone. The pregnancy, the birth, all of it. I should have been there.”
She shrugged, her body lost in the quilt, looking younger than he’d ever seen her look. “You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“But how could you—” A knock on the door made her stop speaking.
Gavin got to his feet awkwardly. “That’s the guys.”
Eva held up her hands. “I can take her.”
“We’re good, aren’t we, Abby?” He walked to the door and opened it to his teammates, their faces clearly showing their shock at the sight of him holding an infant. “Hey,” Gavin said by way of greeting, and stepped back for them to enter, his hand still keeping the beat on the baby’s back.
Gavin furrowed his brow. “Where’s Trace?”
“Right behind us.” Sloan passed Gavin with a pointed look at the baby, saying under his breath, “I am so winning this pot.” He went straight to Eva, putting on his brightest, friendliest voice. Gavin knew from experience he’d win Eva over in no time. “Beautiful baby you’ve got there,” said Sloan.
Gavin pushed the door closed behind Champion. “How was the flight?”
The door opened the instant he closed it, Trace appearing in the threshold. “We almost died twice,” he said, pushing past Gavin. “It’s fucking snow-ma-geddon out there. Then it turned to freezing rain and I kept searching for emergency landing sites just in case. I was picturing us wrecked on a deserted hillside, and having to eat Sloan’s body.”
“I would be fucking delicious,” said Sloan. “Not that you’d have any idea how to cook me properly.”
Again, Gavin closed the door. He turned to face the room and found Champion with a knowing smirk on his face. “How’s babysitting?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“I’m getting the hang of things.” Gavin said, thinking of the money they’d bet and wishing he could have gotten in on that action. “But I don’t think it’s babysitting if it’s your own kid.”
Champion and Sloan’s expressions bloomed into matching wide smiles as they offered their congratulations.
Gavin shook the men’s hands, but it was Eva’s pleased expression he cared about, her smile less wide but far more fulfilling to look at than his teammates’. Hell, he’d bend over backwards every day to see her so obviously pleased.
Champion shook his head. “Just wait ‘till that little girl throws up all over you, DeGrey. The first time’s a real moment to remember. I’d had the boys a week when I lifted Toby over my head, and he threw up right in my mouth.”
“You have kids?” asked Eva.
Champion nodded once, pride suffusing his features. “Twin boys. Seventeen months old.”
She turned to Sloan, who was holding his hands toward the fire. “And you?” she asked.
“Three step-kids, ages six, ten, and twelve.”
Champion jerked his head back. “Step kids? You and Joanne tie the knot?”
