Reckless (Thoughtless, #3)(138)

All of the boys were dressed differently than I’d last seen them. Kellan had gone on stage in a plain, short-sleeved red shirt, but his shirt under his leather jacket was now white. It made me smile that they’d freshened up for this.

Intent on finding Anna, Kellan didn’t see me as he walked away with the boys. Suppressing a giggle, I strode up behind him and pinched his backside. He jumped about a foot in the air and spun around. “Hey, stranger, come here often?” I asked.

Kellan relaxed when he realized it was just me attacking him. “Not if I can help it,” he answered.

Even though he’d received directions, I pointed out Anna’s room. “She’s in there.”

I bit my lip in excitement as the boys hurried to see the newest member of their family. I’d texted them after Gibson was born, to let them know Anna and the baby were okay, but we’d all decided to not tell them the sex. Anna wanted it to be a surprise.

Matt beat everyone through the door to get a glimpse of his newest relative. Evan was a step behind him. Kellan and I trailed in last. Anna was awake now, but still resting in bed. Griffin was still holding his daughter, angling her up so Matt could see her. “She’s totally got my nose, right?”

Matt was in complete shock. “You had a girl?” He looked between Anna and Griffin. “Congratulations, she’s beautiful.”

Griffin beamed like he’d done all the work, when really he’d had the briefest part in Gibson’s creation. “Thanks.”

Anna smiled at the pride on Griffin’s face, then pointed to the sink along the far wall. “Wash up and you can hold her.”

Watching these normally jovial and carefree rock stars juggling the tiny person between them like she was made of nuclear material made me laugh. When Gibson finally made her way to Kellan, he wiped his palms on his jeans. “I’m so nervous right now,” he whispered to me. “What if I drop her?”

I rubbed his shoulder as I whispered back, “Don’t worry, you’re good with women.”

Kellan rolled his eyes at me and gingerly took Gibson from Evan’s hands. The grin that came over him as he looked down on her made my eyes mist over. Kellan holding a child . . . I’d thought he looked completely natural on stage, but that was nothing compared to this. Kellan had so much love to give; it was written all over his face.

Turning to me, he murmured, “She smells good. Why does she smell so good?” Since I often wondered why he smelled so good, I could only shrug.

He lightly swayed with her as he made silly faces, trying to get her to smile. I wiped a tear off of my cheek as I watched him. When he leaned down to rub his nose against hers, and she tried to suck on it, I had to look away before I started sobbing. I could almost feel the I-want-a-child hormones kicking in. But first things first—I had a wedding to get through next month.

My eyes found my sister’s. She had tears in her own eyes as she watched her child being loved on. She pointed at Kellan and mouthed, “He needs a baby.” Then she pointed at me and gestured with her hands over her much smaller stomach. I shook my head at her and reiterated my earlier thought—First things first.

Matt was taking about a hundred pictures on his phone. I already had about a bazillion on mine, but I pulled it out again to get some of Gibson and Kellan. Grinning ear to ear, Matt looked over at Griffin. “I’m gonna send some of these to Mom and Dad. You call your parents yet?”

Griffin nodded. “Yeah, they want us to fly her out to L.A. as soon as the tour’s over.” Griffin and Matt were both originally from Los Angeles and still had family in the area, on the other side of town from where the record label’s house was. They’d both visited their parents while we’d been staying down there, but had mainly stayed at the label’s place. Griffin had told me once that it was, “Hella nicer than my parents’ spread.”

Wondering what they were going to do in the meantime, I thought about broaching the subject with my sister. Matt beat me to it, though. Face serious, he told Griffin, “The tour is moving on tonight. What are the two of you going to do?”

Griffin looked over at Anna, his face torn. “We have to be on the bus when it leaves. I have to go with them.”

Anna nodded as she swallowed. “I know.”

Looking over at Kellan, I told Anna, “I’ll stay here with you, Anna.” When Kellan swung his eyes my way, I looked over at my sister. “I’m sure you’ll be discharged tomorrow if everything looks good. Then I’ll take you home . . . to Mom and Dad. You can stay there and rest up until the wedding.”

Anna looked forlorn as she contemplated staying with our parents for the next month. What else could she do, though? If she flew back to Seattle, she’d have to fly twice with an infant during the busiest travel season of the year. That sounded really silly to me. Best to just plop her down in Ohio now. And besides, having Mom around to help would be good for Anna . . . even if she did drive her crazy.

Anna bowed her head, not thrilled about it, but clearly accepting her fate. Griffin, however, wasn’t accepting it at all. “No, I don’t think so.” Walking over to Kellan, he gently removed his daughter from his arms; Kellan seemed reluctant to let her go.

Anna snapped her head up; hope was in her eyes that maybe a better option was available to her. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wondered what option Griffin might come up with. As everyone turned their eyes to him, he locked gazes with my sister. “I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay on the bus with me.” Griffin turned to stare me down. “After they let her go, you bring her to me.” By the heat in his expression, it was clear he wasn’t asking.