had grown astonishingly quiet over the past while. She glanced at her sister-in-law to discover the woman’s cheeks were no longer flushed red but shockingly white. “Vicki? Sweetie? You okay?”
The young woman met her gaze across the room, glancing for a moment at the children before turning back and shaking her head slightly. “I don’t feel too good,” she whispered.
Dare swore. “Really?”
Vicki gave a sheepish grin. “The baby’s coming. I don’t think there’s time for an ambulance.”
Jaxi was already moving, popping a sleeping Royce and Ryan into the bassinets at the edge of the room. Then she and Ginny rounded up the rest of the little ones and herded them into the basement where there were toys and electronics to help entertain them.
Ginny pushed Jaxi back toward the stairs. “The kids I can handle. That?” She pointed upstairs. “Not my territory.”
Jaxi made it upstairs in time to find Dare guiding Vicki to a comfortable spot in the kitchen.
“You promised me you wouldn’t do this again,” Dare scolded with a tease. “No having babies in the living room.”
“Hey, I promised not to have a kid in my house. This is your place.” Vicki sucked in a sharp breath. “Hey, Jaxi. We called the guys and the ambulance, but just in case, did you bring your catching mitt?”
“I’m usually the one pitching,” Jaxi said with a soft laugh, “but I think we can figure it out. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.
Not even forty-five minutes later, when the front door burst open, Joel rushing in with Jesse hard on his heels, Vicki was on the couch, her baby wrapped comfortably in her arms.
Dare had one of her twins, and Jaxi held the other, and Ginny was riding herd on the rest of the children. It was the finest of chaos in Jaxi’s opinion.
Joel cuddled in next to Vicki and kissed her tenderly before accepting his baby boy into his free arm. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here this time.”
“It’s okay,” Vicki reassured him. “You’ll be here for the rest of it.”
Jaxi was still buzzing with excitement when she got to share the story with Blake that night. “It was probably one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done,” she admitted. “And one of the scariest.”
Their children were all asleep, and she and Blake were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.
He leaned on one elbow, stroking his fingers down her thigh as she sat cross-legged in front of him. “You were worried about Vicki?”
“And the baby, and just—everything.” She caught his hand and pulled it up to her mouth so she could kiss his fingers. “You’ve said it before, but I never quite understood until now how hard it is to be there and not be the one having the baby.”
She’d been running on sheer adrenaline by the end of it, wanting to take the pain away from Vicki and yet knowing she couldn’t. Hoping with every breath that things would be fine, and knowing all she could do was one thing at a time.
Blake dipped his chin. “I know they’re very grateful you were there.”
Another rush swept through her. “I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight,” she exclaimed. “They named the baby after me, Blake. Not just because of tonight—they said they always planned to.”
Joel and Vicki announcing that their little boy would be called Jackson in her honour made something magical flutter inside.
Blake curled upright, pulling her against him and surrounding her with his strong arms. “Joel told me a few days ago they planned on it. He said you were the best kind of sister ever. Someone who’d been there from the beginning. Someone who wasn’t always perfect, but when you screw up, you apologize then work to make it right. He said they looked up to you even as they feel comfortable telling you anything.” She took a shaky breath, and he squeezed her again. “It’s quite a compliment, and I agree completely.”
Great. Now she had tears as well as adrenaline running her system ragged. “It’s quite something to know that my family of choice is far more than my family by blood.”
It was easy now to let go of any final bitterness from being an afterthought to her parents. Maybe the peace should’ve snuck in a long time earlier. Maybe in some ways, it had. This moment was the icing on a beautiful cake. A sweet, pretty covering over the deliciousness she’d been enjoying for years.