the biggest smile I ever had in my life.
Silas picked me up and beamed with happiness and pride.
I touched his face and nodded.
He nodded back at me.
“Ready?” he whispered.
“More than ready,” I said.
He put me down and held my hand.
Today was the day Baby Hank was coming home from the hospital.
Chapter Forty-Six
SILAS
The little guy was still… little.
Very little.
But damn was he tough.
Every single thing the doctors wanted to see, they saw. Meaning he was a healthy baby boy. He’d carry the whole preemie thing for a long time, but oh well. It was nothing we couldn’t handle as a family.
And Mila was already mother of the year in my book.
I didn’t hear a word we were told at the hospital for the last time.
Dr. Frederick and a nurse talked to both of us, but all I did was stare at my son.
In my arms.
He was in my arms and coming home with us.
When he moved and squirmed, I felt his little feet kick at my chest. It jolted my heart in a way I never felt before. He turned his head a little and yawned. His lips and cheeks were perfect. Even his eyes, when shut, they were perfect. Dressed in the tiniest jeans I’d ever seen and a black t-shirt, with a black beanie on his head, the baby looked ready to take the stage with me.
My little rock star guy, huh?
Mila listened. She asked questions.
I just took in looking at him.
The night I got the call that Mila was in labor.
Getting to the hospital and it was too late.
A piece of my heart would forever ache over the fact that I wasn’t there for the birth of my son. Yet I knew Mila and her family would never mention it. They had my back. I had their back. That’s why it was only fitting that Hank’s last name be Justa. It was good for my last name to meet its end. Of course, when I married Mila, I would not be changing my last name. Which meant she’d be Rhodes. And Hank would be Justa.
Oh, the conversations we’re going to have with this kid. About family, life and love.
When all was said and done, I gave baby Hank to Mila.
She carefully put him into his car seat.
The poor kid was swallowed right up by the car seat.
Once he was secured in place, I grabbed the handle with my right hand. Then I grabbed Mila’s hand with my left hand.
And we left the hospital as a complete family.
I pulled up the driveway to our house and my heart felt way too full. Almost like I didn’t deserve any of this.
“Ready now?” I asked Mila.
“Just watch,” she said. “Get the baby.”
Another quick change in life… my truck was gone.
The backseat could have technically worked for a car seat.
I decided last minute yesterday to get rid of the truck and get an SUV.
I was officially that guy.
And I loved every second of it.
I unhooked the car seat from its base and watched Mila run toward the porch. Up she went, right to the front door.
A second later, the front door opened and she went inside.
I sighed with laughter.
I looked down at baby Hank. “Look, kid, I love you. But the love I have for your mother… I don’t even know where to begin with it.”
I walked to the front door and called for Mila, wanting to see if she wanted to watch me bring the baby into the house for the first time.
When she appeared, she had her phone in her hand, already recording.
I stepped into the house and had flashbacks to the house the first time I walked through.
How crappy it looked. The way it smelled like dirty wood and mold.
Now it was beautiful.
Tyler and his guys had done a great job on it.
Not that I would have ever questioned Tyler’s abilities… but this place…
“Come on,” Mila said.
She hurried into the kitchen.
I smiled ear to ear as I followed her.
I put the car seat on the counter and she fell into my arms.
“I’m so happy, Silas,” she whispered.
“I am too, darling,” I said. “I am so happy right now.”
Baby Hank let out his first real cry in the new house.
His voice carried through the open room.
“Sounds like his father,” Mila said to me.
“Sounds like he needs a bottle,” I said.
“Want to feed him in the nursery together?” Mila’s eyes lit up.
“I’ll get the kid, you get the bottle?”
“Deal.”
It took me a few minutes to unclip baby Hank from the car