Tucker stared down at his daughter and fought back tears for the first time in his entire adult life. Hell, since grade school. He had been excited, anticipating a well of emotions, but he was sucker punched by the awe and love he felt. “Hey, cutie,” he whispered, running a finger down her smooth cheek as Elle held her against her bare chest.
The baby was crying, her face red, and she was a love taker, just like her mother. She’d stolen his heart the second she had entered the world. Elle had tears in her eyes too, but mostly she was smiling, grinning.
“I can’t believe she’s here,” Elle said, sounding exhausted but amazed.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Tucker said, in awe, brushing Elle’s damp hair off her face. “You were amazing.” His voice caught.
Elle stared at him, her eyes widening. “Are you crying, Jason Michael?”
“Yes,” he said gruffly. “What of it?”
“You got shot and you didn’t cry.”
“That’s a totally different thing. I think I passed out actually. But you’re a cold-hearted bastard if you watch your child being born and don’t feel something.” He ran his hand over the baby’s head. She had a downy dusting of black hair. “Look at all this fluffy stuff.”
“She’s perfect, isn’t she?”
“Absolutely.” Tucker felt like he had everything he could have ever wanted. “Are we definitely calling her Grace?” He’d let Elle take the lead on picking out a name. It wasn’t something he felt qualified to do.
“Yes. Grace Michael Tucker.”
“Are you sure about Michael? I don’t care but I don’t want kids picking on her.” He was pleased that Elle had wanted to name her after him, but kids were mean.
“One, this is the south. Everyone has family names that pay no attention to gender. Two, she’s our daughter. She’ll tell any little punks exactly what she thinks of them if they give her a hard time.”
“True.” That was what Elle had always done. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. Thank you for giving me our daughter.”
“Thanks for knocking me up.” She gave him a smirk.
“Okay,” the nurse said, strolling over from where she had been bustling around the corner of the room. “Let’s get Baby on the breast and then I believe you have some family who are dying to visit.”
Tucker whispered to Elle, “I love you,” before stepping out of the way. Once the baby was nursing, he went to tell the family, in the waiting room, that he and Elle had a healthy daughter. Leaving that room right then felt like the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. He wanted to spend every minute with his girls, for the rest of forever.
Grace had finished eating and Elle was covered up and holding her swaddled baby when Tucker returned with everyone she cared about: Mama, her siblings, their significant others, Tucker’s parents, River. It was a loud and boisterous entrance and she couldn’t help but smile. She was glad they weren’t in Vegas doing this alone. That was the best thing to come out of Tucker getting shot—she had realized she didn’t need to prove a damn thing.
“Holy Jesus, she’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen in my entire goddamn life,” Mama said, lifting her out of Elle’s arms with zero hesitation.
Elle laughed. “Mama, that was a ridiculous sentence and probably sacrilegious. But yes, she is cute.”
“What’s her name?” Jolene asked, peering over their mother’s shoulder.
They had kept the sex and name under wraps because Elle hadn’t wanted any opinions. “Grace Michael.”
“Oooh, I see country star written all over that,” Jolene said.
“We’ll leave that to your baby.”
Jolene was due in eight weeks and she was still rocking high heels. She hadn’t been tight-lipped at all about their baby. She was also having a girl and they were planning to name her June Hart Rivers. Elle loved the idea of Grace and June being raised up together, even if they were living a few hours apart.
Tucker came to her and she reached for his hand. “You were right, you know,” she murmured to him as everyone cooed over Grace, passing her from person to person. “I’m glad we’re here in Kentucky.”
He kissed the top of her head and winked at her. “Haven’t you figured out by now that you should always listen to me? I’m practical.”
“That’s not all you are. If you were a country song I’d call you ‘Dirty South.’ ”
That made him laugh. “And I’d call you ‘Love Taker.’ ”
Interesting. “So what are we together?”
“ ‘A Backwoods Country Love Song.’ ”
That made her sigh in happiness. It was true. She willingly allowed her twang back into her voice. “Y’all need to give me my baby back. I’ve barely even seen her.”
Shane obliged, gingerly passing her to Elle. She shifted on the bed and handed Grace to Tucker. He had only held her for a minute immediately after birth and this was his moment. Hell, his doing. Fully recovered from his injury, he took Grace and cradled her in his arms. She looked minute in his big embrace.
Elle was back home. Literally and emotionally.
There was no place she’d rather be.