Blue Lines(123)

With a smile, she said, “He looks like you.”

A confident grin went across Erik’s face before he looked over at her. “Yup, he’s gonna have all the girl babies hollering at him.”

She giggled as she leaned her head against him while moving her fingers along Dimitri’s cheek. “He’s perfect.”

“Sure is; you did good, baby, real good.”

She smiled at him. “You helped.”

He chuckled before turning his head to kiss her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“I hurt a little, but not like before,” she said softly, cringing from the memory of intense fire between her legs.

Next time she was going for the drugs from the get-go. She’d sit at the hospital until she went into labor if she had to.

“Good. They said he is doing great and that as long as he maintains his temperature and you are okay, we can leave tomorrow.”

She looked up from her beautiful baby and into the eyes of the man she was going to love for the rest of her life. “We?”

Erik looked down at Dimitri and then back up at her. His face curved into a grin just as a knock came at the door. Tearing her eyes from his, she watched as Reese popped her head in and said, “We come bearing gifts!”

Erik let out a long breath before slowly laying Dimitri in her arms. Looking back up at her, he leaned over and kissed her lips before whispering, “We will talk soon. I think everyone is here.”

Her eyes stayed locked with his as he backed away. She didn’t want to see anyone; she wanted to know what he meant by “we.” Was he coming home with her? Were they going to be a family? Did he love her? To her, all the answers were yes, just from the way he had been acting toward her, but was that all because of the baby? She didn’t want to believe that; she hoped he wanted her just as much.

Because their beautiful baby, Dimitri, needed both of them. Together was more desirable but if that wasn’t God’s plan, then she would find a way to cope, because no matter what, she was going to be the best mom imaginable. She only hoped that she would have Erik there to help and encourage her to be the best she could be. They would be great together; she just needed him to realize that.

Reese leaned against the bed to look at Dimitri and let out a little “aw” before saying, “My ovaries are tingling. He’s so cute.”

Piper giggled. “He is.”

“I kinda want one, but then again, I kinda don’t.”

Piper laughed, startling poor Dimitri but thankfully he didn’t start crying; he only flung his arms up before nuzzling back against her hand.

“I’ll just love him extra much,” Reese declared before taking his little fist in hers.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Piper said, leaning her head against her sister’s.

“How much did he weigh?”

“Six pounds, ten ounces, and twenty inches long. They said it’s a good thing I didn’t go full-term, because he would have been huge.”

“Ugh, yeah, God, that’s what you get for making babies with a huge hockey player!” Reese laughed.

“I wouldn’t change that decision for anything,” Piper whispered as her mom and Harper came toward the bed, cooing over Dimitri.

“So what’s his full name?” her mom asked.

“Dimitri Blake Titov,” Piper said with a grin before leaning over to kiss her little guy on the head.

“So sweet,” Rowan said, staring down at her grandson. “He is perfect. Great job, honey. I heard it wasn’t easy.”

Piper shrugged her shoulders. “It was horrible, but worth it. I am thankful Erik was here. I probably couldn’t have done it without him.”

“He has really changed,” Harper said softly.

Piper looked up at her older sister; she was still a little upset with Harper because of the way she had acted during Piper’s labor. With a curt nod, Piper said, “He has.”

“I think I owe you an apology,” Harper said, looking Piper in the eyes.

“You do,” Reese said from the side, receiving a smack from Rowan. “Well, she does!”

“Hush,” Rowan said as Harper rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Piper, I was wrong.”

Piper accepted the apology and reached out to hold her sister’s hand. Everything was crazy and Piper was sure she had probably been acting a little nuts, too.

“It’s fine; now come see your gorgeous nephew.”

Harper smiled as she came closer and with a laugh said, “God, he looks just like Erik!”

Piper laughed. “Yes, he does.”

When the door opened, Piper looked up to see Elli, Fallon, and Audrey, all smiling as they entered.