Untamed

The next several hours were a blur of pain, blood, gore, screaming, and name-calling, and at one point, a plastic tray of vomit was tossed across the room. Not by me. The day was seared into my memory, even the parts I wished I could forget. But in the end, when I was handed a warm, tiny person swaddled in a pastel pink blanket, it was all worth it.

“Another girl,” I whispered, in awe of the miniature version of A

Finding out the sex was another one of those moments that was forever seared into my memory. I was happy about this one though. “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Hancock…it’s a girl.”

“No fucking way!” had been my immediate response. I’d been so sure the doctor would be wrong again and I was going to have a little man to mold into another me. Oh well. I still wanted a boy, but girls were awesome too, and now Gibson had a sister to do girly things with—dress-up, tea parties. Whatever the hell girls did.

A

Reaching over, she brushed a finger across our daughter’s forehead. Her eyes were wide open; the deep gray studied me like I was the strangest thing she’d ever seen. Lifting up her crocheted cap, A

Looking down at my wife’s deep mahogany hair, I nodded. “Yeah, I think so too. Lucky girl,” I added with a playful wink.

A

My smile matched A

A

Reluctantly, I handed her back to her mother. We’d have plenty of cuddle time later. Pride stretched across my chest as I watched my wife and daughter bonding. All the women in my life were so gorgeous. I always knew I would create attractive kids. I mean, how could I not? But scoring someone as hot as A

After a few more minutes of one-on-one time, family started knocking on the door and stealing into the room to get a peek. We’d made them wait outside during the event. Mom hadn’t been too happy about that, but A

I thought Mom and Dad would be the first ones to enter, but surprising me, it was Kiera and Kellan who popped in first. Kiera looked over at her sister with an expression of Don’t hit me. “Can we come in? We waited as long as we could…”

A

Kiera’s eyes instantly filled with moisture that dropped onto her cheeks. Why did girls always cry around babies? Geez. “Oh my God, A

A mocking laugh escaped me. “Of course she is. She’s a Hancock. Did you expect anything less than perfection?” Kellan laughed at my comment, but Kiera ignored me. I was used to that. She often couldn’t handle my unique brand of awesomeness.

After washing her hands, Kiera walked over to A

When Kiera had O

While Kellan smiled and nodded at Kiera, she turned her attention back to A

Puffing up my chest, I jabbed myself with my thumb. “It was my idea.”

A

Remembering that lost negotiation, I frowned. “It’s a family name. I don’t know why you have such a problem with it.” A

A

Kiera nodded, then went back to cooing and cuddling O

Aside from Kellan and Kiera, Mom, Dad, Liam, Matt, Rachel, Evan, and Je

Everyone was all smiles as they passed O

While Kiera impatiently waited for another turn with O

A

I expected my wife’s happy buzz of newborn bliss to fade, but she looked relaxed and sleepy as she lay there, watching everyone lose their shit over her daughter. It seemed like nothing could faze her at the moment, a fact that was confirmed when she told the room, “I’m so glad you’re all here for this, and Mom, Dad, I want you to stay as long as you want! My home is your home! Invite everyone, the more the merrier!”

My eyes widened. Did she really just say that to my parents? I couldn’t help but wonder if whatever was dripping into her IV was making her loopy or if she was riding a natural high. Either way, she’d just opened the floodgates, and there was no taking it back. I could see it in my mother’s eyes. She’d been given permission to crash for as long as she saw fit, and nothing A