his favorite recliner over here to make the new mom more comfortable. After watching most of my older siblings go through this with their first babies, I know Cammie is in for a lot of sleepless nights sitting up in that chair, nursing and rocking this little thing back to sleep.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
“Still a little sore, I guess, but mostly good,” she says. “More than anything I’m just exhausted. You would think I would have figured out how this works after watching so many babies being born in this family, but damn. I wasn’t prepared for just how tired I would be all the time.”
“It won’t last forever,” I say. The baby—Emma—opens her eyelids a tiny bit and shows off her dark blue eyes. I smile down at her. She’s so tiny and fragile in my arms. “I’m taking a lot of shifts at the bar, but if you ever need an extra set of hands during the day, just let me know. I can come sit with her a while so you can rest, if you need me.”
Cammie closes her eyes and rocks the chair back and forth. “That would be heaven,” she says. “Honestly, even just an hour of uninterrupted sleep right now would feel like a year.”
I look over at my sister. She’s the closest to me in age of all my siblings and we’ve always been close. I’m happy for her, but there’s a part of me that had hoped she’d wait just a little longer to start a family. It feels strange to be the only one now not married with a family of my own.
Sometimes I think maybe I’m just supposed to be the fun uncle who comes over to babysit every once in a while but never has a wife and kids. It’s hard to imagine settling down like this, but I’m happy to help when I can.
“Why don’t you go to the bedroom and take a nap, then?” I say. “I’ve got her for a little while.”
Cammie opens one eye and stares at me. “Are you sure?” she asks. “Aren’t you working tonight?”
I shake my head. “We’re closed on Sundays,” I say. I need to think about packing up my stuff so I can move into the new apartment, but it can wait a couple hours. “I’ve got this. She just ate and she’ll probably fall asleep here in a few minutes. You may as well take advantage of the peace and quiet while you can.”
She stands and crosses over to us, planting a kiss on my forehead. “Thank you, Colton, this means a lot,” she says. “You’ll come get me if you need anything?”
I raise an eyebrow. “You’re wasting precious sleeping minutes here,” I say, teasing. “We’ll be fine.”
My sister smiles and runs her hand along Emma’s fuzzy head of blonde hair, so fine it makes her look like a baby chick.
“You’re so good with her,” she says softly. “When are you going to find the right girl and settle down with a family of your own, baby brother?”
“Not you, too,” I say, shaking my head.
Ever since she first announced she was expecting, that’s all I’ve heard from everyone around here. I’m the last to settle down and get married, so I guess that means no one is going to leave me alone until I do.
Well, they’re just going to have to wait.
“Sorry,” she says with a giggle. “You know we just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I say. “You know me. I don’t think I’m really the settling-down-type. After all, someone has to be the family screw-up around here. Might as well be me.”
“Don’t say stuff like that,” Cammie says. “No one thinks you’re a screw-up.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Maybe someone ought to tell that to Dad.”
Cammie touches my hand. “I know he’s hard on you, but he means well,” she says. “You’re the only son he has, and he wants you to be just like him. Don’t let it get to you. I love you just the way you are.”
“Thanks,” I say. “Just don’t expect me to be bringing home a baby any time soon, okay?”
“You just haven’t found the right girl yet,” she says. “But when you do, man, you’ll know it.”
My stomach flips and I adjust my position on the couch, propping a pillow under my arm and carefully avoiding my sister’s eyes. For some reason I’m afraid she’ll see something there I don’t want anyone to see.