“I yelled at him for it. The kid will never sleep. I’d like to try for healthy sleep habits early on.”

Good luck. “I’d be worried she’d get lost in that beard of yours.” She expected a snappy retort, but Wyatt blurted the unexpected.

“We wanted to talk to you about the baby’s name.”

She sipped her beer. “Why? I think Bethany is a great name. Are you doubting your choice? Because it’s completely normal if you are. For the first few weeks, I called Caleb all kinds of names just to check.”

“It’s her middle name.” Wyatt shrugged at Carly, who elbowed him and shook her head. Clearly, he was discussing something Carly didn’t want to talk about.

“Gretchen isn’t here,” Carly said.

Wyatt’s shoulders fell. “We don’t know if or when we’ll be able to get them together.”

Jax held up her hand. “Guys. I’m right here.” Wyatt winced, and Carly covered her face with her hands. Jax racked her brain for Bethany’s middle name, but she couldn’t recall. Her birthday hadn’t exactly been the calmest day for Jax. “What’s up?”

Wyatt cleared his throat and watched the baby swing back and forth for a moment before speaking again. “You and Gretchen both came up a lot in our conversations about her name. The both of you have been there for us so much over the years, and we wouldn’t even be together if it wasn’t for you.”

Jax felt her cheeks warm. For a split second, she felt honored that they’d name their baby after her, but then their odd behavior made her think. “Look, Gretchen and I may be splitting for real, but I can’t blame you for picking the name. It’s a great name and fitting for a beautiful, strong female.”

Wyatt sat back on the couch and let out a long breath. He smiled. “Good. We were worried it would be too hard for you, especially now after everything. But we wanted to honor both of you, and this felt right.” They looked at their baby, who snoozed peacefully.

“Bethany Aurora,” Carly said with awe.

Jax’s stomach clenched. She looked at Bethany. She was alive and well and moving, along with her little baby dreams. She had the same chubby cheeks as Aurora, but her head was full of dark hair instead of the peach fuzz Jax had felt for such a short amount of time. “Bethany Aurora,” she said, reaching out to touch the small set of feet one more time. She felt a rush of sadness and stood. “I’m gonna head out. I have to stop at the grocery store.”

“Are you sure?” Wyatt followed after her as she collected her coat and knit hat. He grabbed his jacket, too.