Dr. Billings and the bored nurse hauled Evan into a chair, and he woke up a few seconds later. “Wha-what happened?” His lids were fluttering rapidly as his eyes darted around the room.

“You just got a little dizzy, sir. Happens all the time,” the nurse told him kindly, patting him on the shoulder.

“Five-minute APGAR?” I called out.

“Ten!” the nurse replied. “She’s a big girl, too. She weighs eight pounds, nine ounces, and she’s twenty-one inches long.”

I reached for Evan’s hand and said, “See? She’s perfectly fine, Ev.”

A nurse brought Carrie to me and put her on my chest, and my eyes filled with tears of love. My God, she is precious. I traced a finger over her little button nose and her perfect pink mouth. She opened her eyes and peered up at me curiously, and I almost gasped at how blue her eyes were. Axel…

“Look at all this curly black hair,” Beau said, fingering one of the tiny curls. Also Axel…

“And her toes,” Evan said, touching each one reverently. “She has the cutest toes of any baby I’ve ever seen. Seriously, have you ever seen toes like this?”

“She’s perfect,” I whispered, kissing her soft forehead.

“All done down here,” Tamara said, pulling my gown down as I finally got to straighten my legs.

I handed Carrie to Evan, and as he sat back in his chair, cradling the tiny infant in his arms, he looked up at me. “This is the best day of my life,” he said through his tears. “Thank you,” he mouthed.

Beau sat on the edge of my bed and pushed my hair away from my face. “You did so good, Blair. That looked… excruciating.”

I looked over at my daughter. “Totally worth it.”

“So, have you decided on a middle name for her?”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “Lexa.”

“Alexa?” Beau asked.

“No, just Lexa. L-E-X-A. I thought it sounded cool.”

“I like it. It’s classy as fuck.”

“Thank you for that assessment, Beau,” I deadpanned.

“Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”

My stomach growled in response, and I laughed. “Starving, actually. I haven’t eaten in hours, and I could go for a burger and fries.”

“Hold on,” he said, patting my shoulder and heading for the door. He came back a few minutes later and said, “The guys are going to the all-night burger place across the street. I told them to hurry the fuck up.” My tactful, congenial brother, y’all.

A nurse came in and took me to the bathroom to get cleaned up, and when I came back out, my bed had been removed and replaced with a fresh one. “Sit down, sweetheart,” Evan said. “I’ve got your pillow right here.” I sat on my nice, clean bed, and Evan tucked my pink satin-covered pillow behind my head.