Christian (The Beck Brothers Series) (18 page)

After getting hugs and kisses and assuring words from the
rest of the family, Christian turned to look at Shea. Shea raised an eyebrow at
him as if to say, “I told you so.”
 
Christian
smiled and grabbed the back of Shea’s neck, pulling him in for a quick kiss
that had the women ‘awww-ing’ and Sebastian gagging loudly.

“Nooo! Don’t do that shit in front of me!” he whined.

Everyone laughed while Raelynn slapped him upside the head
for cursing in front of the kids again.

“Alright, back to the matter at hand. What to do about this
baby,” Anne said after the laughter died down. “Are you going to go get her
tomorrow? Do you want me to come with you two?”

Christian was still in awe of his family and how well they
took the news that he was gay, that he wasn’t really listening to his mother.
It went better than he ever could have imagined.
 
Not only did they not care, but they also
already changed the subject.

“I think I just want it to be Christian and me, if you don’t
mind, Anne. But you can definitely be here for when we get back,” Shea said
softly.

Anne nodded and gave him a gentle smile. “I understand,
Shea.”

“What happens if you bring this baby home and then it turns
out that she’s not yours? What are you going to do then? Give her back?”
Raelynn asked.

Shea sighed heavily and scrubbed his hand over his short
hair. “I don’t know, Rae, I just…everything is so convoluted right now that I
really don’t have an answer to that.”

“We’re just going to have to take it one day at a time,”
Christian murmured, putting his arm around Shea’s shoulders.

Shea nodded and leaned into him, apparently needing the
comfort.

They all talked some more about the situation before
everyone went home. Christian walked them all out while Shea cleaned up some
cups left around. Christian walked with Quinn and Margot to their car.

“I told you that they would be fine with it,” Quinn said.

“Yes, you did,” Christian agreed.

“Do you feel better now that we all know?” Margot asked.

“Ugh! You have no idea!”

Margot and Quinn chuckled.

“How are you two doing? Feel any different now that you’ve
been married for two weeks?” Christian smirked.

Quinn snorted. “No, it doesn’t feel any different.”

“Oui, I agree, we are still the same.” Margot giggled.

“When are you going to have the party?” Christian asked.

“We’ll give you guys time to sort this out before we plan
anything,” Quinn said.

“Thanks, Quinn, I appreciate that,” Christian said solemnly.

“Sure, if you need anything tomorrow, just call,” Quinn
murmured, giving Christian a hug.

“Okay.”

“Let me know when you get home. I want to see the baby.”
Margot smiled, giving him kisses on both cheeks before she got in the car with
Quinn.

Christian waved goodbye then went back inside. Shea had just
walked into the living room as Christian walked into the house. Christian shut
and locked the door behind him. When he turned around, he was immediately
enveloped in Shea’s arms. Christian hugged him back, tucking his face in Shea’s
neck. Christian pulled in a deep breath through his nose, pulling in Shea’s
scent. He smelled like his body wash and laundry detergent, since he was
freshly showered and his clothes were clean.

“You okay?” Christian asked him.

“Yeah, are you?” Shea replied.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Good.”

“They all know,” Christian whispered.

“Yes, they do,” Shea said. Since his face was tucked against
Christian’s, he couldn’t see his smile, but Christian could hear it when he
spoke. “And they didn’t care.”

“You were right.”

“Aren’t I always?” Shea chuckled.

“No, shut up.” Christian snorted.

Shea pulled back from their hug first. He gave Christian a
soft kiss on the lips.

“We’re gonna be daddies tomorrow,” Shea said.

Christian shook his head at the crazy thought. “That’s
insane.”

“I know, right?” Shea scoffed.

“We’ll be fine,” Christian said, rubbing up and down Shea’s
arms.

Shea nodded, a determined look on his face. “Yes, we will.”

Holy shit Batman!
 
Shea
was nervous as hell. Christian and he were making their way up to the maternity
ward in Abington Hospital. He was actually shaking from being so nervous. They
were meeting up with Jackie, so she could go over a few things before letting
him see the baby. Christian took his hand and squeezed it as they walked
through the doors of the maternity ward. Shea took a deep breath and stepped up
to the desk.

“Hi, I’m supposed to be meeting Jackie Young,” Shea told to
nurse at the desk.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Dempsey, right?” the nurse asked as she stood.

“Yes.”

“Okay, let me get Jackie for you,” she said, walking through
a door behind her.

A few minutes later, she returned with another woman in tow.
Jackie smiled a warm motherly smile as she came out from behind the desk. She
was probably about the same age as Christian’s mother. She had soft, caring,
hazel eyes and short auburn hair. She held out her hand to him.

“Hi, Mr. Dempsey, I’m Jackie Young,” she said, introducing
herself.

“Hi. Please, call me Shea,” he replied with a tight smile.

Jackie nodded. “Okay,” she said before turning her gaze to
Christian. “And you are?” she asked, holding out her hand to him.

“Christian Beck,” Christian murmured softly and shook her
hand.

“Christian is my boyfriend,” Shea informed her.

“Oh, wow, don’t you two make a handsome couple, jeez,” she
said, fanning herself.

Christian fought not to smile while Shea couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Thank you,” he said.

“I’m so glad that you decided to take her. I would hate to
see another child go unnecessarily into foster care. I’m just going to need you
to sign some paperwork and then I’ll take you to meet her,” Jackie said.

“What will happen if it turns out that she’s not mine?” Shea
asked hoarsely.

Jackie smiled gently. “Let’s not worry about that yet.”

Shea nodded.

Shea signed a whole bunch of paperwork and let a nurse take
a swab of the inside of his cheek for the paternity test. Jackie then led them
down a hallway toward the nursery. Shea took a deep breath when they stopped
outside of the door that separated him from the baby that was possibly his
daughter.

“There is a sink just inside the door. I’m going to ask that
you both wash your hands,” Jackie said before opening the door.

Shea and Christian followed her inside and did as they were
told. After they both washed and dried their hands, Jackie led them over toward
the windows where there were a few swings set up. Shea’s heart pounded as she
stopped in front of a gently swinging swing, where the tiniest baby he’s ever
seen was sleeping. Shea’s breath caught as Jackie turned the swing off and
turned to look at him.

“You can pick her up if you want,” she said with a soft
smile.

Shea opened his mouth to decline but nothing came out as he
just stared at the baby.

“How much does she weight? She’s awfully small,” Christian
said.

“She was weighed this morning and she is five pounds, ten
ounces. Even though she was a month premature, she is in perfect health, and is
big enough to leave the hospital. She’s eating great and should put on weight
fairly quickly.”

“Shea? Do you want to hold her?” Christian asked quietly.

Shea shook his head. “I can’t.”
 
He breathed. There was no way in hell that
he could hold a baby that small.
 
What
if he dropped her?

Christian slipped his arm around Shea’s shoulders. “Do you
want me to pick her up?”

Shea nodded quickly. “Yeah, sure,” he croaked.

“I’ll give you guys some time with her while I go get the discharge
papers. I am also going to ask that you start thinking about what to name her,”
Jackie said before leaving the nursery.

“Name her?” Shea gasped. “She wants me to name her?”

Christian just smiled and leaned over to kiss him on the
cheek. “Relax, Shea.”

Shea shook his head. “I don’t think I can do this,
Chris.”
 
He choked, taking a step
back.

Oh god, how could he have ever agreed to this? That baby was
so small and fragile, and he was going to break her. He couldn’t be a father! He
needed to get out of here; he needed to find Jackie and tell her that he
changed his mind. He started backing away but Christian grabbed his shoulders.

“Hey! Shea, look at me,” Christian said, his tone clipped as
he ducked his head to catch Shea’s wide gaze.

Shea swallowed hard as Christian’s rich brown eyes bored
into his. “Everything is going to be fine. I know she is small, but she needs
us. We are in this together, Shea. You are not alone, I promise. If you don’t
want to hold her right now, that’s fine,” Christian said firmly, squeezing his
shoulders.

“I…I can’t name her…” Shea stammered.

“Sure you can,” Christian assured him. “Why don’t we name
her after your sister?”

“Skylar?” Shea frowned in confusion.

“Yes, Skylar.” Christian smiled, glancing over his shoulder
at the baby. “I think she looks like a Skylar, don’t you?”

Shea pulled in a shaky breath and peeked over Christian’s
shoulder at the tiny sleeping baby. “Yeah, yeah she does,” Shea agreed, feeling
less panicked.

Christian smiled lovingly and pulled him into a hug. Shea
sighed and wrapped his arms around Christian. “What would I do without you?”
Shea whispered.

“Die?” Christian chuckled.

“Definitely.” Shea grunted in agreement.

They separated a moment later and Christian went over to the
baby and scooped the swaddled bundle into his arms. Christian had plenty of
practice with little babies. Shea’s been there from the beginning with his
niece and nephews, but he always refused to hold them until they could hold
their own heads up. Newborns made him really nervous, he was so afraid of hurting
them somehow.

Christian cradled the baby in the crook of his arm and
rocked from side to side. Shea didn’t even think that Christian knew he was
even doing it. The baby looked even smaller now that Christian was holding her.
She made him look like a freaking giant! Shea moved closer so that he could see
her better. Christian slipped his free arm around Shea’s waist and tugged him
even closer. Shea put his arm around Christian in return. Shea looked down at
the baby girl still asleep snuggled tightly in her blanket.
Damn, she was gorgeous!
Her tiny little
hand peeked out of the top of the blanket; Shea reached over - only having to
use one finger – and slipped his finger into her hand. She immediately
grabbed on, shocking the hell out of Shea.

“She’s hanging on.” He breathed in surprise.

Christian’s response was to kiss his temple.

“She’s beautiful,” Shea murmured quietly, afraid to wake
her.

“Yes, she is,” Christian whispered.

Shea had no idea how long they stood there, but it seemed
like forever before Jackie came back with the discharge papers. Christian put
Skylar back into the swing and ran out to the car to get the car seat while
Shea signed the papers.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them were on their way
home. Christian drove while Shea sat in the backseat with Skylar – which
had been put on her birth certificate – along with his name and Tara’s
name. Jackie seemed pretty confident that the baby was his, and insisted that
he fill the birth certificate out so that the baby could have a name. She was
now Skylar Katherine Dempsey after his little sister and mother. Shea hoped
that eventually he would be able to change her name to Skylar Katherine Beck,
but one-step at a time.

The only people that were waiting at the house when they got
home were Christian’s parents. Christian told his brothers to hold off coming
over until they were settled in some, which they totally understood. Christian
pulled into the driveway and parked. He got out and let Shea grab the car seat
- he was okay with carrying her that way.

Anne clasped her hands over
her mouth and nose when she first saw Skylar, tears welling up in her eyes.
Shea put her car seat down on the floor in the living room. As soon as Shea set
the seat down, the baby started fussing.

“Shit, what did I do?” Shea
sighed.

“Nothing, she’s probably
hungry,” Christian assured him. “The nurse said she’s going to want to eat
every couple of hours and it’s about that time.”

Shea nodded tightly. Poor
guy, he was such a mess right now.

“Mom, you wanna grab her
while I make a bottle?” Christian asked and started rifling through the bag of
stuff that Jackie gave them.

There were some diapers,
wipes, binkies, nose suckers, and a few cans of powdered formula. Christian
grabbed a can and headed into the kitchen to make a four-ounce bottle. By the
time he got back, his mom was trying to soothe Skylar, but she was not having
it. She was wailing. It was the first noise that she’s made since they met her.
Shea was standing off to the side looking pale. Christian knew he was
overwhelmed and he hoped that he snapped out of it soon, because Christian was
going to need his help.

“Do you want to feed her?”
Christian asked his mom.

“Of course I do,” she smiled.

Christian put a bib on Skylar
then handed his mom the bottle. She took the screaming baby over to the couch
and sat down, propping a pillow under her arm and the baby’s head. The crying
stopped as soon as that bottle went in her mouth; it was the cutest thing
Christian’s ever seen.

His mother started cooing to
Skylar about being a hungry baby, making Christian smile. He was glad his
parents were being so supportive. His dad moved over to the couch and sat down
next to Anne so that he could see the baby better.

While those two were occupied,
Christian went to Shea, taking his hand and pulling him into the kitchen.
Christian turned to face Shea, who was looking a bit shell-shocked.

“How you holding up, love?”
Christian asked softly, brushing his knuckles over Shea’s scruffy cheek.

Shea closed his eyes and
stepped into Christian, loosely slipping his arms around Christian’s waist and
tucking his face into his neck. Christian sighed and wrapped his arms around
Shea, cupping the back of his head with one hand.

“I feel like we’ve made a mistake,”
Shea croaked. “I don’t know how to take care of a baby, I can’t…I can’t do
this.”

“Shhh, Shea, everything is
going to be fine, I promise,” Christian murmured.

Shea shook his head and
clutched Christian tighter as he pulled in a ragged breath.

“Shea, you’re just
overwhelmed. You’ve had this huge responsibility dumped on you practically
overnight, but I’m here, we’re going to do this together,” Christian tried to
assure him.

“I can’t even hold her,” Shea
sobbed, his whole body trembling as he clung to the back of Christian’s shirt.

The last time Christian saw
Shea cry was when his family died, and that was over four years ago. So for him
to be crying now meant that he was feeling lost and helpless and couldn’t see
any hope of things getting better.

“Christian, honey, can I have
a word with Shea?” Came his mother’s voice from behind Shea.

Christian looked up to see
his mother standing in the kitchen doorway, her hands clasped together in front
of her, a soft but concerned smile on her face. His mother always looked so put
together with her crisp blouses, jeans, and perfectly coiffed white hair. He
pulled back from Shea, who quickly tried to pull himself together, swiping the
tears from his face. Christian looked down at him, giving him a soft kiss on the
lips before leaving so that his mom could talk to him.

He walked into the living
room and found his dad holding Skylar while he sat on the couch - she was out
cold. The bottle sat empty on the coffee table. Christian smiled; she was
definitely going to grow fast if she ate like that all of the time. He went and
sat down next to his dad.

“How are you holding up,
Christian?” his dad asked, glancing over at him.

“I’m okay, surprisingly,”
Christian answered.

“That’s good. Shea’s falling
apart, isn’t he?” Henry Sr. frowned, his green eyes looking sad.

“A little bit.” Christian
sighed and nodded.

His dad then reached over and
squeezed his knee. “You stay strong for him, just like you did when his family
died.”

Christian looked over at his
father to find him looking at him with love and pride in his eyes. Christian
swallowed back the emotion that suddenly clogged his throat. “I will, dad.”

“You’re a good man,
Christian, and I’m glad that you and Shea are together.
 
You guys have always been the perfect
pair, and I know that this baby is in the best hands with you and Shea. She is
going to be loved and cared for and given everything that she needs,” Henry Sr.
said sincerely.