The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(117)

Lala’s voice was groggy when I entered the room. “Hey.”

She held the baby to her breast. Her curly hair was disheveled, but she’d never looked more beautiful than she did lying there breastfeeding our child.

“Everyone’s here to see you guys,” I said, putting my coffee down on the table.

“Really?” She scooched up. “Tell them to come in.”

“Well, you just woke up. I figured I’d give you a few.”

My beautiful daughter was perfectly latched onto Lala’s breast, sucking away. She’d gotten the hang of it so quickly. I ran my thumb along the peach fuzz on the side of her soft little cheek.

“She’s such a good girl,” I whispered.

“She loves to eat. I was so worried I’d have trouble.”

Her tiny hand curled into a fist on Lala’s chest. I gently slid my fingers along her hospital bracelet and smiled at the name written on it: Hope Ryann Catalano. We’d decided to keep Ryan as a first-name option if we ended up having a boy someday.

“The nurse called you my wife, by the way. We need to make that happen for real,” I told Lala.

She smiled. “I know. I feel left out. My two favorite people in the world are Catalanos. I want to be one, too.”

Lala and I had decided to have a massive wedding in the near future and would start planning it once everything calmed down and we became acclimated to our new life as parents. Everything was up in the air in the best way. Lala would be taking some time off in between research projects to stay home with Hope and wasn’t entirely sure what she’d be doing in a few months. As for me? My music career was still up in the air, too.

The band hadn’t gotten any offers out of California, which gave me a bit of a reprieve from having to worry about letting the guys down. But from the moment my daughter was born, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle missing a single second of her growing up. That meant if the band ended up going on the road, they’d have to find another drummer, because I was more than likely going to quit. Personally, I didn’t look at that as a failure. It would be my choice. I knew Lala would never ask me to step away from the band, but it didn’t matter. There was only one place I wanted to be, and that was with my family. Music would always be a part of my life. It just would no longer be my life.

“Let me know if you’re ready for the storm of our friends to blow in,” I said.

She covered her breast a little. “I’m ready.”

A minute later, I went out to the hall and gave them the all clear.

Colby had taken his son out of the carrier. Little Maverick had a massive amount of black hair for a baby who was only a few months old. He looked like he was wearing a toupee.

“Look at the hair on Mav’s head!” I laughed.

Billie fluffed it. “I know, right? Where did it come from?”

The crew bustled into the room and spent the next several minutes oohing and ahhing over baby Hope. It was crazy to realize that there were now three children in the mix among us.

I looked down at my daughter and pointed to Colby’s son. “You know, these two are gonna grow up together. He’d better not get any ideas.”

“I think Ryan might find that pretty funny, actually.” Brayden laughed.

Owen nodded. “Yeah. He’d get a kick out of Holden having to protect his daughter from Colby’s son—since he couldn’t protect Lala from you. Sweet revenge, you know?”

Lala looked up. “Well, thankfully we have some time before we have to worry about that love story.”

“But you know what you don’t have all that much time for?” Colby asked.

I raised a brow. “What?”

“The minute baby Hope here can identify rodents, you’d better believe her uncle Colby is going to gift her with one. Maybe two or three.”

Billie chimed in. “Oh, you know it.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded.

Our friends didn’t stay long. I think they could tell how tired Lala and I were. I was looking forward to heading home to the apartment tomorrow. My mother and Lala’s mom were both staying in a spare apartment in the building and would be sticking around to help for a while. We certainly had no lack of love and support around us.

Lala turned on Jeopardy! as Hope lay sleeping in her arms. I sat at the bedside and alternated between looking at the TV and admiring my daughter’s little face. She looked so much like Lala. I wondered if she’d have the same crazy curls. I’d thought I loved Lala more than I could possibly love anyone. But then I met Hope. If I could cover her in bubblewrap forever to protect her, I would. I planned to drive ten miles per hour on the way out of here.

“Today was the best day of my life,” I said.

“Me, too,” Lala said as she turned to me. “Can you guess what the second-best day was?”

“Well, you once told me the best day of your life was when I proposed to you atop your parents’ roof.”

“Bingo.” She winked.

We’d been visiting our parents in Pennsylvania one weekend. Lala had gone to the grocery store, and I climbed up on the Ellisons’ roof so that when she pulled back into the driveway, she’d see me standing up there holding a gigantic Will You Marry Me? sign.

“You know…” I said. “I’d wanted you up there with me when I proposed, but I was too scared you’d slip and fall or something and hurt the baby.”