Maddie

Everything that followed after Ethan's phone call had been a blur.

Cameron and I barely had time to discuss our plans, but we finally decided for me to fly out to Phoenix first. With my job just starting, my boss was surprisingly okay with me taking three days off. And with football taking up the majority of Cameron's calendar, he had to hang back until he would be able to find time himself to fly out.

The flight had been quick. As soon as I landed, I took a taxi to the hospital, and now, riding up the elevator to the maternity wing, I'm nervous. My own birthing experience with Izzy hadn't been the best. Her heart stopped beating on the monitors, so they rushed me to an emergency c-section. I'll never forget the agony of waiting for her to cry. Waiting to see if my daughter would be okay. Wondering why the hell I never told Cameron as they cut me open, wishing he were beside me, whispering reassuring sentiments in my ear.

The doors open, and I let out a shaky breath as I walk to the front desk. Ethan hasn't called me since he spoke several hours ago with Cameron, so I have no idea if she's still in labor or not. The woman at the reception desk gives me her room number because I've apparently been on the list of approved guests, and I practically sprint down the hallway to the correct room.

Whatever state Maya is in on the other side of this door won't matter to me. She was beside me every step of the way, and while she didn't fill Cameron's role completely, she did a damn good job of trying to do so. Not only do I have an obligation to her, I have an obligation to my brother.

Giving the door a gentle crack, I slip inside, eyeing the blue curtain hanging from the ceiling that's covering the bed. There's not a baby crying, and no one is speaking. Almost immediately, my heart drops into my stomach, and the anxiety coils tightly in my gut. I can't wait any longer, so I rip the curtain open, stilling at the sight in front of me.

Maya is asleep on the bed with my brother curled up beside her, a hand draped over her stomach as they both cradle...a perfectly healthy baby boy. Ethan smiles lazily at me, the proud grin of a new father, and it shouldn't make me emotional, but it does. I wonder what Cameron's face would have looked like if he had been in that surgery room with me.

"He was born a little over an hour ago," he whispers. Bags lay heavily beneath his blue eyes, his mop of blonde hair a mess on his head, but he's never looked happier. "Do you want to hold him?"

I nod and tentatively take a step closer to the bed, tears pricking in the backs of my eyes at the overwhelming joy I feel for both of them. "As long as it won't wake her. She needs the sleep."

Ethan quietly scoffs. "This woman can sleep through anything. Trust me." He gently removes Maya's arm, which was placed over his, and sits up straighter in the bed as I step up beside him, reminding myself of how to correctly hold a newborn. The minute that baby boy is tucked safely in the crook of my elbow, my heart melts into a tiny puddle right here on the hospital floor.

It's amazing how this brings a completely different feeling than when I held my daughter for the first time. This baby boy, my nephew, is a mixture of my best friend and my brother. Two people I love with every ounce of my being created something so beautiful. "He's absolutely perfect, Ethan," I whisper, stroking my nephew's chubby, pink cheeks.  "You guys did good. Really good."

"I'd like to think so," he says, a hint of proudness in his tone.

I sit down in one of the plastic chairs, continuing to stroke his cheeks. He's swaddled in a hospital blanket with a hat covering his head and ears, but already, he has Maya's tan complexion, and his nose looks just like a button—Ethan's nose.

"We named him Elias," Ethan says.

"Elias," I repeat, smiling down at my perfect nephew. "I love it."

With a hand raking through his hair, Ethan slumps back into the bed, releasing a sigh. "I'm tired as hell, but we both didn't want to send him back to the nurses."

"Did everything go okay?" I glance at Maya, who is still passed out. "Nothing happened to her, right?"

He shakes his head, a wave of relief washing over me. "Everything went smoothly. She did, however, tell me this was her first and only child while she was pushing. And she may or may not have cursed my dick about eighty times throughout it."

"Are you surprised?"

He smirks. "Not in the slightest. We weren't planning to have a baby. It was never on our agenda, but when we got pregnant, we took that as a sign that this was supposed to happen, you know? And now that he's here, I've never been more certain about our decision to follow through with it."

"I'm glad you did, too," I admit. "I've always wanted to be an aunt." Leaning in closer, I whisper to Elias, "You're going to be the most spoiled baby on the planet."

Ethan glances around the room, and from the flicker of disappointment on his face, I know he was expecting Cameron to be here as well. "He wanted to be here," I explain. "But there's no way he could take time to fly out. They lost their last away game, so—"

"I get it," he says. "His job is complicated. It's fine. When he gets time, he'll be here."

"Yeah," I agree, silence falling over us.

A few moments later, "How long are you here for? It must be nice to be kid-free for once."

Everything happened so quickly that I truly haven't taken the time to realize this is the first time I'm away by myself without Izzy or Cameron. "I was able to get away for three days. Plus, I won't be totally kid-free. I'll be here to help you guys get settled in and watch after this little guy so you can get some much-needed sleep."

"You don't need to do that," he explains. "Between our parents and Maya's, we'll have a whole crew to help out, but having you around will be nice."

Elias begins to stir in my arms before he blinks his eyes open, honey-brown just like Maya's. My heart melts all over again as I continue to stroke his cheeks, and he coos softly, which seems to wake Maya. Her eyes pop open, wincing as she tries to sit up quickly. "I fell asleep," she blurts.

Ethan smooths the crease between her brows with his thumb, instructing her to lean back into the pillows again. The gaze of love and admiration causes me to smile, and as I bring my gaze back to baby Elias, I just know he's going to live the happiest life with parents as cool and accepting as his.

"Oh my god, Maddie." Maya smiles brightly at me, reaching for her phone on the nightstand beside her. "Before we talk, I need to get a picture while he's not crying."

I pose with Elias for her to get a few good ones, my phone vibrating seconds later when the copies are delivered to my phone. Elias doesn't seem to like his picture being taken because he starts to cry, so Ethan rises swiftly from the bed to take him back. "He probably needs a diaper change. I'll do it."

"You already have the best daddy," I whisper before I pass him over.

With Ethan disappearing behind the curtain to the diaper-changing table, I climb onto the bed beside Maya to envelop her in the biggest hug. "He's so beautiful, Maya. Congratulations."

"Thank you," she replies. "You got here just in time. Your parents and mine are on the way here now."

Both of my parents in the same room together? That will be a treat.

"Well, I'm honored to be the first to meet him," I say instead.

Her focus shifts over my shoulder, that same flicker of disappointment reflecting in her eyes. "Cameron couldn't make it?"

I shake my head. "No, he had to stay back. He really wanted to be here, and he'll come the second he has time to break away, but it's probably best this way. He'll be there with Nina and Izzy since she just started. It makes me feel better."

Maya arches a brow. "And you're cool with them being alone together again after the towel incident?"

"Nina didn't mean to see him get out of the shower," I explain, regretting ever having told her. "She was just putting away the laundry."

"After he said he was going to take a shower," she says. "Doesn't seem like a mistake to me. She's young and beautiful and definitely not an idiot. She's trying to weasel her way into his heart. You need to be careful, Maddie. That's all I'm saying. He's the most sought-after man in the league. These girls will do anything to ruin his marriage."

I roll my eyes. "Which we both know isn't going to work. Even if she were trying to get with him, which she's not, I'm not intimidated by her, and I have complete faith in Cameron to stop it if she ever tried something."

With her arms crossed over her chest, she enters complete best-friend defensive mode. Even after having a baby, she's ready to go down swinging for me, and I love her for it. Her long, black hair is piled into a messy bun on top of her head, her lip and eyebrow piercing glistening underneath the fluorescent lights as she says, "You're better than me. I would knock that bitch into next week."

Ethan rounds the curtain, whispering to Elias, "And that is one of the many memorable quotes you'll hear from your mommy."