“Dude!” Shane shook his head. “I can’t believe you said that. This doesn’t seem real.”

But it was and two hours later, we were let into Emmie’s private room. She was lying back against the pillows, a dazed look on her pale face, but in her arms she had the most precious sight I had ever laid eyes on. Emmie grinned up at us as we fought over who got to hold the baby first.

“So,” Lana said as she took her turn holding the baby. She and Lucy had arrived an hour before, adding to our excited group. Somehow she had conned Drake into letting her be next to hold the baby, and I was itching to get my hands on the baby again. The feel of that little angel in my arms was the best thing in the world. “What do we call this little beauty?”

Emmie’s eyes widened. “I was waiting to see her before I gave her a name. But now that I have her here, I can’t decide.” Tears slipped from her eyes. “I’m a horrible mother already. I can’t even name my own child.”

“Oh Emmie!” we all exclaimed. I gave my friend a little squeeze. “Stop thinking such nonsense,” I chided her. “You’re a great mother already.”

“I have a name I like.” Nik spoke up. He was leaning over Lana, unable to tear his eyes off his baby girl. “Can I name her?”

Emmie’s tears were quick to dry up. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a name you liked?”

He shrugged, sending her a sexy smile. “I wanted to wait, like you did. But now that I see her, I think the same fits.” He took the baby from Lana and brought her back over to Emmie. Gently he placed the now sleeping baby in her mother’s arms. “Mia.”

Emmie’s face lit up. “That’s perfect. I love it,” she whispered. “Mia Nicole Armstrong.”

Chapter 20

Layla

I couldn’t lie. The weeks following Mia’s birth were not all sunshine and butterflies. If anything, they were hardcore nightmares at times. I loved Mia from the moment I laid eyes on her, but damn that little buddle of joy wasn’t exactly joyful at times.

Emmie had to spend nearly a week in the hospital. She had gotten out of bed too soon and popped her stitches, but Mia ended up staying just as long. She ended up having jaundice so bad that she looked like an Umpa-Lumpa she was so orange. She spent two days under a light, which had made Emmie hysterical.

When mother and daughter were finally home, things were great for the first day or so. Emmie was supposed to take it easy, no heavy lifting or being on her feet often. The baby was eating well and had gained weight already.  But she was on a day time sleep schedule after being under the bili light for so long.

By the third day Emmie was exhausted. Mia wasn’t sleeping much at night, and that meant that Emmie wasn’t either. Nik tried to help out as much as she would let him, but for some reason those two were arguing. Maybe it was because Emmie was going through some bad postpartum, or maybe it was because Nik had brought up the idea of getting married soon. I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t about to ask. No yet at least.

One morning when I came over to start on breakfast, I found Emmie sobbing at the kitchen sink. She had a bag of peas stuffed in her nursing bra, and her hair was a mess. I wasn’t too confident that she had showered in the last few days.

“Emmie, what’s wrong?” I asked, pulling her into my arms.

“I’m a horrible mother,” she cried, her tears soaking my shirt, and I was sure she was wiping snot on me. Not that I cared. Snot was nothing to the mess Mia had made on me the day before when she had had a very impressive dirty diaper. “All Mia does is cry. She would rather Nik hold her than me. She hates me.”

“Oh sweetie, Mia doesn’t hate you. She loves you to pieces.” I rubbed my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe my friend. “You just think she does because your emotions are all over the place.” I pulled back enough to see Emmie’s face. There were dark circles under her eyes. “When’s the last time you slept, Em?”

“I can’t remember. Maybe a few hours yesterday?”

I gripped her shoulders. “Listen to me Emmie. You are a great mother. That little girl is lucky to have someone that loves her as much as you do. But you have got to stop trying to be so strong. Ask for help. Ask the guys. Ask me!” When she had first gotten home from the hospital, she had been determined to do it all on her own. I hadn’t wanted to step on her toes, so I had tried to stay out of the way, assuming that if Emmie really needed help she would speak up.

But the silly woman was far too stubborn for her own good.

Tears were pouring down Emmie’s pretty face. “I need help, Layla,” she sobbed. “I can’t do this. I fucking suck as a mother.”

“You fucking rock as a mother!” I pulled her close again. “Everyone needs help in the beginning, honey.”

It took me a good half hour to calm her down enough that I was able to talk her into eating something. After she had eaten, I helped her shower then tucked her into bed. The guys were back in the studio finishing up, so they hadn’t been home much during the day this week.

I took care of Mia for the rest of the day. I made sure that she was in a well lit room, and I woke her often. Thankfully, Emmie had started pumping her breast milk, because I didn’t want to disturb her. The one time I had checked on her, she was in a deep sleep. It was probably the first restful sleep she had had since coming home from the hospital two weeks ago.

By the time Lucy was home, Emmie was still sleeping, so I put Lucy in front of the television and started on dinner for everyone. Lana came home, but didn’t stay. She had finals coming up the few weeks after Thanksgiving so she was studying more often than not. As long as she passed all of her exams, she was going to graduate with honors. It was her last semester of high school, and she didn’t have to go back for anything except graduation.

Last week, she had told me she had applied for early entrance to a few colleges. I knew she was going to get in, but I had no idea how I was going to afford the schools that she deserved to go to. I refused to ask Jesse for help. He was my boyfriend, not my money train.

--

Things got better over the next week. Emmie’s dark circles faded and she wasn’t as emotional as she had been. We transitioned Mia over to a night time sleep schedule and she was starting to sleep longer at night. It was getting easier for Emmie, and I was beyond relieved that the old Emmie was starting to shine through again.