Loyal Lawyer by Lauren Runow

Chapter Twenty-One

I hear my phone ring, and when I see Sebastian’s sexy face filling up my screen, I swipe on the call with a huge grin on my face. “Hey, handsome.”

“Her water broke,” he says frantically as I hear him rustling around.

“What? Isn’t it too early?”

“Yes.” He pauses, and I hear more movement. He’s most definitely talking into his AirPods and using his arms to search for something. “Shit, where are my keys?” he says more to himself than anyone around him.

“They’re in your coat pocket,” I hear Miles say in the background.

“You’re a lifesaver. Thank you,” Sebastian responds. “Cancel everything,” he yells, and I can only assume it’s because he’s out the door and Miles is still standing in his office.

“Sebastian, what’s going on?” I ask after I hear him breathe a few breaths into the phone.

“Oh God. Sorry,” he responds like he forgot I was on the line.

Hearing him so frazzled has me standing from my desk, where I was doing paperwork, and wondering if I should meet him.

“Lauren’s water broke. She’s at the hospital—has been for a few hours. Why she didn’t call me earlier, I have no clue. Now, I’m racing around like a maniac, trying to get there in time.”

“Just breathe. You have plenty of time. Labor can take hours. My sisters were in the hospital for days it seemed like.”

“She’s already eight centimeters.”

“Or not …” I say in shock.

“She’s only thirty-five weeks. This is too early. What if something happens to my son?” The panic dripping from his voice makes me grab my chest in pain.

“Don’t think like that. If she’s been in the hospital for a while, then everything is going smoothly. If there were problems occurring, she’d be in the operating room, getting a C-section, so don’t worry about anything. Hundreds of women give birth every day. Things are going to be just fine.”

I hear his engine start, and by the noise coming through the line, it sounds like he threw his AirPods down on the seat next to him, so I wait for the line to connect to his car.

After a few beats, I say, “Just be calm, okay? Don’t get in an accident, trying to get there too fast.”

He doesn’t respond.

“Sebastian?”

“I’m here. Sorry. My mind is going in a million different directions.”

“No reason to be sorry. Call me when you figure out what’s going on.”

“I will.”

There’s another pause as we both sit in silence—me thinking how our entire world is about to change and him, I’m sure, driving like a wild man through the streets of Philadelphia.

I consider just hanging up, but before I do, I say, “Hey, Sebastian?”

“Yeah?” His voice is even more distraught than before.

“You’re about to be a dad. Don’t forget that. Don’t let your worry ruin it. Take a deep breath and enjoy it. I love you.”

He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, but when he does, I hear the cracking in his voice. “Love you too. I’ll call you soon.”

He ends the call, and I plop down in my chair with so many thoughts and emotions running through me. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, jump for joy, or scream at the top of my lungs.

I know the waiting is going to kill me. I’ve tried to prepare myself for this moment, but now that it’s here, my chest is tight, and my palms are clammy.

Sebastian’s about to be a dad, and I’m sitting here, in a dump of an office, with a ton of work to do but not wanting to move a muscle, for fear that if I do, my fantasy, the life I’ve been living, will be over.

We discussed me going to the hospital, but I didn’t think it was right. When I shared my concerns, Sebastian agreed all too easily, which showed me he had my same thoughts. At the time, it stung a little, but I needed to remember that this was not about me. This was about his son being born, and whether he and I work out in the end, the memory of his birth needed to be about just him and the baby’s mother.

So, now, I wait, dying to know what’s going on but having no way of finding out until he calls me.

* * *

One thing’s for sure: Sebastian had plenty of time to get to the hospital. It’s been two hours and nothing. When Shawn arrived at work, he basically kicked me out of my own kitchen because I was a nervous wreck and he was afraid I was going to screw up the recipes and ruin entire batches.

He was probably right.

I went next door to the gym and got on the treadmill, hoping to run out my anxiety. I learned that it doesn’t matter how much adrenaline you have running through you, if you don’t normally exercise, that shit catches up to you real quick.

Not being able to breathe and having these crazy emotions running through me was not a good combination. I was afraid to shower because there wasn’t a safe place to keep my phone in the gym’s shower without risking it getting soaked, so now, I’m sitting here, a stinky, sweaty mess, scrolling through my emails that I have no intentions of actually answering, for fear I’ll screw something up there too.

I let out a huff, and when my phone rings, I swear I jump out of my chair, making my heart pound out of control as I swipe through Sebastian’s handsome face.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, sounding more like him two hours ago than I should.

“It’s more than okay. Amy, I have a son. A beautiful, perfect little boy who weighs five pounds, seven ounces.”

A weight that was crushing my chest is lifted, and I let out a gasp of relief. I cover my mouth as tears fall freely.

“You have to see him. He’s …” His voice cracks. “He’s so tiny, but the doctors say he’s healthy and that there shouldn’t be any repercussions from him coming early.”

“Oh, Sebastian. That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

I really am. I had no idea how this moment would feel, but right now, that’s all that’s flowing through me—absolute joy for the man I love, who’s thrilled out of his mind that his baby boy was just born.

“I’m going to text you some pictures. Then, I’m going to hang out for a while, but I’ll see you later tonight. At my place? Don’t wait on me for dinner. Go ahead and grab what you want. I’m sure I’ll eat here.”

“Yeah. Of course. You hang out there, and don’t worry about me. I’ll be there when you get home.”

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I pull it down to see a text message from Sebastian. When I swipe it open, my eyes take in the handsomest man I’ve ever met with the biggest, cheesiest grin covering his face as he holds a baby boy in his hands.

“Sebastian,” I say in disbelief as I bring the phone back to my ear. “Oh my God,” is all I can get out as more tears flow down my face.

Two more pictures come through. One of just Oliver—the name they chose, after Sebastian’s father—and one of a tiny black-inked footprint on the inside of Sebastian’s forearm. Both photos fill me with joy for the man I love.

Sebastian’s a father …

His life from here on out will forever be changed.

* * *

Around eleven at night, I hear the lock turn and the door open. Instantly, I sit up from where I was lying on the couch and tuck my legs underneath me as Sebastian heads my direction.

“Hey, sweetie. Were you asleep?” He gives me a soft kiss before he plops down beside me, grabbing my feet and pulling them to cover his lap.

I lift the remote and put the TV on mute. “No, I was waiting for you. Tell me all about baby Oli.”

His head drops back against the couch as a huge grin covers his face. When he lifts his head and faces me, I see the tears filling his eyes that he blinks away.

“He’s amazing. Everything about him. His little toes are the tiniest things I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to hold them in my hands while he slept. Lauren held him for a while to breast-feed. He had trouble since he’s so small, so we got a lactation specialist. Then, he had his hearing test and some other tests. When I finally got him, I just didn’t want to let go. That’s why I stayed so late. I didn’t want to leave him.”

“I’m sure you could have stayed. Don’t most dads stay?”

He sighs. “Yeah, but Lauren’s mom was there, and I could tell it was time for me to go.”

I nod slightly, feeling the awkwardness of that situation radiate off of him. “So, you’ll go back tomorrow? How long will they stay in the hospital?”

“If everything checks out, they’ll go home the day after tomorrow.”

I watch as he pauses and starts to chew on the inside of his lip. Something I’ve never seen him do.

I lower my head to catch his attention. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He rubs my leg absentmindedly. “It’s just crazy, you know? I’m a dad, but it feels so weird, being here. And when he goes home, it will be there.” He sighs. “I guess I didn’t really take in how weird that would be.”

I sit up, so I’m closer to him. “It seems like you and Lauren got it all figured out though. She said you can come there, right?”

He glances over to me, and I see the hurt in his eyes that he tries to hide. “Yeah. She did. I’m sure it will be fine.” He leans over to grab his phone from his back pocket. “Check it out. I took a ton of pictures.”

I curl up next to him with my head on his shoulder as he flips through probably a hundred pictures he took—no joke. Each one comes with a story about what was going on and how he felt at that exact moment.

I lift up and kiss his cheek.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“I’m just so happy for you. I love seeing how happy you are.”

He lets out a pleased sigh. “I really am. I had no idea I could love someone so instantly and so much. The second he came out, I wanted to scream and holler and jump for joy, all at one time. It was this rush that I’d never experienced before. Watching someone being born truly makes you feel alive. It’s still amazing to me that I made an actual human being. He’s a part of me.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “It’s mind-blowing, is what it is.”

I lean in even closer. “That’s exactly why I love you.”

He kisses the top of my head and then laughs a little. “It silly how all I can think about is what he’ll be like and all the fun things I can’t wait to do with him. Like throw a ball or take him to his first Phillies game.”

“Hold on there, Dad. He was just born.” I let out a laugh.

He turns suddenly to me, and I grin, not knowing why he jumped like that.

“What?” I ask.

“Dad.” He chuckles to himself. “I’m a dad. Holy cow.”

Elated emotion oozing off of him, and it’s contagious, making me smile too.

“What did your parents say?”

“They’re over the moon. I was so excited they were able to come to the hospital. And you were right. It was worth waiting to tell them the name until the day of. Seeing my dad’s eyes fill with tears like that was definitely a moment I won’t forget. They asked about you too. Said it was a shame you weren’t there to celebrate with us.”

I blow him off. “It’s okay. I’ll have plenty of time. How’s Lauren?”

“She’s a trooper. With him being so tiny, there weren’t any complications or tearing or anything. She still screamed like hell though.”

I playfully hit his arm. “Tiny or not, she pushed a human out of her vagina. Don’t forget that.”

“Never. I’ll never forget the gift she gave me.” He pauses and smiles from ear to ear. “That’s exactly what he is. He’s the gift that the world gave me. Something I hadn’t even known I was missing but, damn, I wanted so much.”

I lay against him as we both stare at the little boy who’s filling his phone screen, the one who made the love of my life a dad.