calmly. “Let’s get ready to meet your baby.”
Hunter had been there when Eli was born and had delivered three babies as part of the EMT squad, but this was the first time he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Violet was standing at Katie’s right shoulder, so he opted to go to the left, and together they held her hands and helped her sit up and became a synchronized cheering squad while she pushed.
It took a little over an hour for little Benjamin Kristoff Holden to make his way into the world, and once Katie got to hold him, everyone relaxed.
Unable to help himself, he asked, “Kristoff?”
Smiling, Katie nodded. “We promised Kira she could help name the baby. She picked Elsa for a girl and Kristoff for a boy.” She looked up at him and winked. “We never said it would be the baby’s first name, so technically…”
“You’re not breaking any promises,” he finished for her.
“Exactly.” With a very contented sigh, she kissed her son’s tiny head.
Hunter looked over at Violet and saw tears streaming down her face as she looked down at Katie and the baby.
Without being too obvious, he walked around to her side of the bed and luckily the nurses were scurrying around to help mother and baby and it was the perfect time to step out into the hallway. As soon as the door was shut behind them, he pulled Violet into his arms and she sobbed for several minutes.
Tucking a finger under her chin, he smiled down at her. “You okay?”
“It was…it was amazing,” she said softly, wiping her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. I wanted to scream at the doctor to help more and to take away Katie’s pain, but when he held Benjamin up, it was like…everything stopped.” Her eyes were wide with wonder as she looked up at him. “He was both gross and beautiful all at once, and it was crazy to believe I was standing there as he was making his entrance into the world.”
“It’s pretty incredible.”
“And I got to be there for it.” She started tearing up again. “Brian missed it, but I got to be there to see his son born. How unfair is that?”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about myself.” He held her tighter, kissing the top of her head. “I’m proud of you.”
She pulled back slightly. “You…you are? Why? I was a blathering idiot earlier.”
“No, you weren’t. You were scared, and you were worried you weren’t going to be able to help your friend. Why? Because you’re a good person, Violet.” Another kiss. “You did an amazing job in there. Katie’s lucky to have you as a friend.”
When she started to cry again, he thought he’d said something wrong, but…
“She’s the only family I’ve got,” she said against his chest. “Now she has Brian and Rose and Kira and Benjamin and…she’s the luckiest person in the world.”
As much as his family made him crazy sometimes, Hunter knew how fortunate he was to have them. There was no way he could fully understand what Violet was feeling. It killed him to think of her being all alone in the world–even though she had Katie–and it just about gutted him to know she’d be going back out into that world in a matter of weeks.
And yeah, he was pretty sure he was close to crushing her because he was hugging her so hard, but he couldn’t seem to let go.
Luckily, she was holding him just as tight.
Behind them, someone cleared their throat and Hunter turned his head to see one of the delivery nurses standing there.
“Katie was asking for Violet,” she said hesitantly.
“Thank you.” Hunter kissed the top of Violet’s head one more time and reluctantly let her go. “Why don’t you go check on Katie and I’m going to call my dad and make sure he got Eli okay.”
She started to walk away but stopped before she went more than a few feet. “Hunter?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you,” she said, and he could see her pulling herself together right before his eyes. “I don’t know what I would have done without you today.”
But before he could respond, she walked away.
It was probably for the best because he almost blurted out how he would always be there for her.
And that would have only complicated an already complicated situation.
Sighing, he raked his hand through his hair and pulled out his phone and immediately called his father. “Hey, Dad. How’s it going?”
“Hey! We’re good. Having