My head fell back against the bed and more tears fell.

Taylor gasped above me.

I looked up at her, but she was looking somewhere past me, over my shoulder. I followed her eyes and my breath caught too.

Brody.

A sob escaped me as he whipped his coat off and threw it on the chair in the far corner of the room, still wearing his practice jersey.

“What are you— How did you—” I started to ask questions, but another contraction started. My mom stood up quickly, with tears streaming down her face, and moved out of the way, allowing Brody to have the seat next to me. “Here, take her hand. It won’t be long now,” she whispered as she kissed his cheek.

I squeezed his hand tight and pushed again.

“Five… four… three… two… one. Relax.” Taylor sniffed.

My head fell back again and I gasped for air.

“You’re doing so good, baby.” Brody leaned over and kissed my temple but didn’t remove his lips, instead resting them against my head as if he somehow knew that I needed physical contact with him.

“Good job, Kacie. The head is right here. I can see it. A head full of dark hair.” Dr. Newman’s eyes popped up over the blanket. “One more good push oughta get the head out.”

“You got this, Kacie. One more good one,” Brody whispered into my ear. “Come on. Let’s meet our baby.”

A contraction started and I bore down as hard as I could, digging my chin into my chest, using every cell in my body to try and get Little Murphy out.

“Here we go!” Dr. Newman called out. “You wanna come down and look at this, Dad? It’s pretty cool.”

Without letting go of my hand, he squatted and slid down my legs just a bit, peeking over the blanket.

“Holy shit.” He breathed heavily. “It’s here. I can see it.”

Two more seconds of pushing and I felt the head come out, sending a tidal wave of relief over me as I struggled to catch my breath. I couldn’t see Dr. Newman, but I knew exactly what she was doing as she squished and wiggled the shoulders to fit them through.

“Okay, Kacie. One more tiny push and you’ll know whether you have a boy or a girl,” she instructed.

This push wasn’t nearly as tough as the others. I barely had to struggle and the baby slid out into Dr. Newman’s arms. I waited a couple seconds and heard the best noise ever—a screaming newborn.

“It’s a girl!” Dr. Newman called out, palming the baby’s chest as she wiped her down and quickly cleaned out her mouth. That pissed her off, making her scream even louder. I lay in the bed, completely exhausted but mustering up just enough strength to squeeze Brody’s hand. He sat back down next to me and it was the first time I noticed the tears streaming down his face too.

“She’s so beautiful, Kacie. Just like you.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead over and over. “Thank you. Thank you for taking such good care of our little girl. She’s the luckiest baby on the planet and she doesn’t even know it yet.”

“Of course she is,” I said softly. “She already has a castle in her backyard.”

“Here you go, Dad.” Dr. Newman handed her to Brody. “I have to clean Kacie up a bit, but I’ll give you guys a minute.”

My mom walked over and kissed my cheek, then the baby’s cheek, then Brody’s cheek again. “I’m gonna step out. I’ll come back in a little bit. You guys need time, okay?”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

She blew me a kiss and slipped out the door.

My heart swelled as I watched Brody look at his daughter for the first time. His eyes took in every detail of her little face. He put his pinkie finger in her tiny hand and her fingertips turned white as she squeezed as hard as she could.

“She’s got good reflexes.” He sniffed, grinning at me. “Gonna be a hockey player.”

I laughed and grimaced in pain.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “You okay?”

“Just sore.” I smiled.

“If you want to come over here, she’s gonna get her first bath as I clean Kacie up, okay?” Taylor put her hand gently on Brody’s shoulder, directing him to the warming table.

That was the last thing I remember before dozing off.

After a quick yet rejuvenating nap, the baby got a bath and it was time to nurse her. She latched on immediately and ate for a solid half hour before passing right out as they were moving us to our private room.

“This place is pretty swanky.” Brody laughed as he inspected the room, opening and closing all the cabinets and checking out the pull-out bed for him.

“Knock, knock.” My mom peeked her head in the door. “Can we come in?”

“Of course.” Brody waved her in.

She came in, her eyes darting around the room, looking for the baby, with Lucy, Piper, and Fred right behind her. “I know it’s almost dinner time; we won’t stay long. They just wanted to meet her, and of course, I wanted to hold her one more time.” Mom snickered.

“Where is she?” Piper started interrogating us before she was all the way in the room.

“Right here,” I answered, nodding my head toward our new daughter, asleep in my arms.

Lucy and Piper circled around me, standing on their tippy toes to see her, as Brody videoed with his phone. Their eyes were wide, grinning at their new baby sister.

“What’s her name?” Lucy asked.

I looked up at Brody and smiled. “Go ahead.”

“Her name is Emma. Isn’t she cute?”

“She has a tiny head.” Piper craned her neck to the side, trying to get a better view of Emma’s head.

“It didn’t feel so tiny a few hours ago,” I mumbled under my breath.

Brody chuckled at my joke. “You guys wanna hold her?”

Their heads nodded up and down like bobblehead dolls as they climbed up on the couch excitedly. Brody took Emma from my arms and gently set her in both Lucy’s and Piper’s arms, right in the middle. “Okay, smile.” He took a step back and snapped the first picture of all of our girls together. “Three more and I can start my own hockey team.” He winked at me.

“Try telling me that when I’m not high on narcotics, okay?” I joked.

“She smiled at me,” Piper squealed proudly.

“It’s probably just gas, baby,” my mom said to her. “It’s too early for her to be smiling.”

“Gas?” Piper curled her nose up. “Like… farts?”

Everyone in the room laughed.

“Yes, like farts,” my mom answered.

“Sometimes I smile when I fart too,” Lucy quipped.

Brody laughed and held his hand out to Lucy for a high-five. “You and me both, kiddo.”

After an hour-long visit, I’d had all I could handle and needed a nap.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” I felt bad kicking everyone out, but I was so far past tired I felt like I could sleep for three days straight.

“No, don’t apologize. We’re gonna take the girls out to dinner and then go home and hang out. Zach said he’d take them next weekend instead, if that’s okay?”

I nodded, trying to keep my eyes open. “Thanks, Mom.”