Sawyer (Alluring Indulgence #7)(22)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“She’s beautiful,” Lorrie said excitedly when she came over to stand beside Sawyer.

Even through blurry eyes, Sawyer noticed the huge, goofy grin that each man sported. He could also tell that both of them had shed a tear or two in the last few minutes. That or they’d been asleep. After all, this little Walker was a stubborn one. Based on the news from earlier, Kylie had spent nearly fourteen hours in labor before the newest member of the family decided to make her appearance in the world.

Fourteen. Hours.

Pushing himself to his feet, he hugged his mother and shot Travis a grin.

“A girl, huh?” he asked.

“A beautiful, sweet little girl,” Lorrie said in awe.

“Congrats,” Sawyer told Travis and Gage, who were currently receiving hugs and slaps on the back from the rest of the Walker clan, who had hunkered down and spent the night in the waiting room all so they could be right there for this very moment.

Even Mason was there, sound asleep on a pallet on the small couch where Zoey and Kaleb had finally managed to get him to crash just a couple of hours before. For most of the night Sawyer had been sitting on the hard-ass floor while Mason moved back and forth between him and Ethan, Beau, Braydon, Brendon, Zane, and Kaleb. Mason had provided hours of entertainment with his high-pitched squeals and giggles, but eventually, the youngest Walker boy passed out beside his mother on that tiny little couch.

It’d been one hell of a night.

“So, what’s her name?” Zane asked when the noise level reduced to a dull roar.

Travis glanced over at Gage before turning to face them all. “Katherine Celeste Walker.”

Sawyer immediately looked to his mother, noticing her eyes were full of tears. Travis was naming his daughter after their mother’s sisters, both of whom had died when Lorrie was younger.

“Katherine was my mother’s name as well,” Gage informed them. “We’re gonna call her Kate.”

“Beautiful name,” Jessie said, her eyes just as misty as Lorrie’s.

“When do we get to meet her?” Braydon asked, pulling Jessie against him and wrapping his arms around her.

“Soon,” Travis assured them.

Sawyer wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his brother happier than he was right at that moment. Sure, in the past year, he’d seen Travis smile more than probably in his entire life, but never like this. By looking at Travis and Gage, it was apparent that the sun now rose and set with their little girl.

“Congrats, man,” Sawyer repeated, pulling Travis in for a hug before slapping him on the back.

“Thanks,” Travis said roughly.

“Why don’t we head downstairs to the cafeteria, grab some food. When we come back, she should be all set in the nursery,” Curtis said, his words coming out as a suggestion, but even Sawyer knew they were more of a demand than anything else.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kaleb stated, standing beside Zoey, who was sitting on the couch beside a still sleeping Mason.

“I’ll hang here with the boy,” Sawyer told them, smiling down at Mason, who looked so peaceful when he was asleep. The complete opposite of the wild, rambunctious little boy that he was when he was awake.

“Thanks,” Zoey said, getting to her feet and stretching. “I’ll bring you back some coffee. Want anything else?”

“Coffee’s good,” Sawyer confirmed.

It only took a minute for the waiting room to clear out, except for Sawyer, Travis, and Mason. Gage had excused himself to be with Kylie.

Travis plopped down into a chair and closed his eyes, a smile still resting firmly on his lips. “She’s beautiful, man.”

“I’m sure she is,” Sawyer said, lowering himself to the floor in front of where Mason was snoozing. He didn’t want to take a chance that the little boy would roll off the couch. He was all for being the uncle the kid wanted to hang with, but he had no interest in being the one that Kaleb would tell stories about for the rest of the kid’s natural life. “How’s Kylie?”

“She’s exhausted,” Travis said, lifting his head and opening his eyes. “That was hell on her.”

“I can imagine,” Sawyer said, unable to imagine anything of the sort, but it sounded good.

“I heard Kennedy was up here last night,” Travis stated, glancing around the room as though he thought she might just appear out of thin air.

“She brought the twins,” Sawyer explained. “They were three sheets to the wind when the call came.”

“Thank God she was there,” Travis muttered.

“Yeah,” Sawyer agreed. After the stunt Brendon had pulled a couple of months back, Sawyer didn’t trust the guy not to get behind the wheel anymore. “Oh, by the way, Mom’s gonna pick you as her new favorite, you know that, right?” Sawyer teased.