“Everything will be fine.” At the feel of Izzy’s hand on my forearm, I trained my eyes on her. “It has to be. From what I’ve heard,” she said while looking at her husband, “you’ve got a baby to make. Colin wants a brother, huh?”

Hudson shrugged and went to open his mouth, but I beat him to it. “I know, I know. You can’t keep anything from her.” At least the smile parked on my lips was now genuine. “Colin did give us his OK in that department.”

“Good. See.” She stood tall, without Hudson as support, as if that was that. All good now. I’d be fine. If only it were that easy.

“I’m supposed to be grabbing Carter and joining everyone in the other room.” I couldn’t believe I was using Carter as a way to deflect.

“We’ll meet you with the others, then.” Izzy pinched my arm, and I sent her a teasing scowl in response. It made her smile, and her smiling made me happy, so . . .

I waited for the room to clear out, realizing Carter was hanging back, more than likely to talk to me. This feels highly coordinated, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I cracked my neck as if that’d kill the tension, then walked over to him while he scrolled his phone as if he hadn’t noticed it was just us.

As shitty of an actor as I am.

“Carter,” I greeted through my teeth as he pocketed his phone.

He quietly faced me, and I thought back to the last time we’d been alone—my offer for him to hit me before we’d operated.

“I, uh, heard you saved the world or something like that.” I tipped my head to the side as if what he’d done with the help of his wife, Diana, was no big deal. “Thanks.” I cleared my throat to fill the silence as he continued to study me.

He dragged his knuckles along his bearded jawline, eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry about your son.” The words were low, deep, and not what I’d expected from him. “I can’t imagine ever, uh, dealing with that.” His gaze slowly journeyed to my face, and the hate I’d expected to see in his eyes wasn’t there. “What matters is he’s in your life now.”

I nodded, unsure what else to say to him. We weren’t exactly going to hug it out. “Yeah, well, uh, thank you for the assist today. I appreciate it.”