Reckless (55 page)

As I stroked the baby’s fingers, I asked them both, “So . . . Myrtle, huh?”

Anna scoffed. “No. There was no way I was naming my baby Myrtle. We picked something better.”

I looked between the two of them. When had they picked out another girl name? They’d been dead set on Maximus for months. Griffin smirked, and I started to worry about just what
they’d named my niece.

“Her name’s Gibson.” He gestured in the air like he was playing a guitar, and I understood the reference. Gibson was a brand of guitars. It was kind of a strange name for a
baby, especially a baby girl, but it was the perfect name for a rock star’s child. I immediately fell in love with it.

Smiling, I kissed her cheek. “Hello, Gibson, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

A thought struck me, and I glanced up at my beaming sister. My mom had been calling my sister nonstop for the last two weeks, trying to fly out to Seattle so she wouldn’t miss the birth.
Anna had been delaying her, telling her it was too soon to fly out. Honestly, I think she just didn’t want to tell her that she wasn’t in Seattle like Mom and Dad thought. Mom was going
to be furious that she’d missed her first grandchild being born.

“Anna,” I piped up. “Mom’s going to kill us.”

Anna and I both decided that we’d call our parents in the morning. They’d already missed the birth, so what was a few more hours of ignorance? And besides, Anna
didn’t want to think about what she was going to do yet, and our parents would want an answer. Anna just wanted peace and quiet with her new baby girl.

I read my book in the corner of the room while Anna slept and Griffin held Gibson. He stared down at her like he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He couldn’t stop smiling either.
I’d never seen Griffin so completely happy. Every once and a while, Gibson would do something cute and Griffin would giggle. I’d never heard him laugh like that. It was adorable, and my
book-reading quickly faded into Griffin-watching.

Adjusting her cap, Griffin stroked her thin, fine hair. Smiling, he looked up at me. “I think she’s going to be blond, like me.” He looked down at her again, adoration on his
face. “I hope she has Anna’s eyes, though.” They were a dark blue-gray now, but the nurse had told us that most babies were born with eyes that color. They settled into the color
they were going to have for life within the first year. I’d found that really interesting, but I was a little surprised that Griffin had retained that bit of information.

It was late when Kellan showed up with Evan and Matt, just on the verge of it being too late for them to visit at all. But I’d been coming back from the vending machine in the waiting
room, and I’d watched Kellan smile his way through the nurse’s station. Of course they’d let him visit. He probably could have gotten them to find him a cot and give him a sponge
bath.

All of the boys were dressed differently than I’d last seen them. Kellan had gone on stage in a plain, short-sleeved red shirt, but his shirt under his leather jacket was now white. It
made me smile that they’d freshened up for this.

Intent on finding Anna, Kellan didn’t see me as he walked away with the boys. Suppressing a giggle, I strode up behind him and pinched his backside. He jumped about a foot in the air and
spun around. “Hey, stranger, come here often?” I asked.

Kellan relaxed when he realized it was just me attacking him. “Not if I can help it,” he answered.

Even though he’d received directions, I pointed out Anna’s room. “She’s in there.”

I bit my lip in excitement as the boys hurried to see the newest member of their family. I’d texted them after Gibson was born, to let them know Anna and the baby were okay, but we’d
all decided to not tell them the sex. Anna wanted it to be a surprise.

Matt beat everyone through the door to get a glimpse of his newest relative. Evan was a step behind him. Kellan and I trailed in last. Anna was awake now, but still resting in bed. Griffin was
still holding his daughter, angling her up so Matt could see her. “She’s totally got my nose, right?”

Matt was in complete shock. “You had a girl?” He looked between Anna and Griffin. “Congratulations, she’s beautiful.”

Griffin beamed like he’d done all the work, when really he’d had the briefest part in Gibson’s creation. “Thanks.”

Anna smiled at the pride on Griffin’s face, then pointed to the sink along the far wall. “Wash up and you can hold her.”

Watching these normally jovial and carefree rock stars juggling the tiny person between them like she was made of nuclear material made me laugh. When Gibson finally made her way to Kellan, he
wiped his palms on his jeans. “I’m so nervous right now,” he whispered to me. “What if I drop her?”

I rubbed his shoulder as I whispered back, “Don’t worry, you’re good with women.”

Kellan rolled his eyes at me and gingerly took Gibson from Evan’s hands. The grin that came over him as he looked down on her made my eyes mist over. Kellan holding a child . . . I’d
thought he looked completely natural on stage, but that was nothing compared to this. Kellan had so much love to give; it was written all over his face.

Turning to me, he murmured, “She smells good. Why does she smell so good?” Since I often wondered why
he
smelled so good, I could only shrug.

He lightly swayed with her as he made silly faces, trying to get her to smile. I wiped a tear off of my cheek as I watched him. When he leaned down to rub his nose against hers, and she tried to
suck on it, I had to look away before I started sobbing. I could almost feel the I-want-a-child hormones kicking in. But first things first—I had a wedding to get through next month.

My eyes found my sister’s. She had tears in her own eyes as she watched her child being loved on. She pointed at Kellan and mouthed, “He needs a baby.” Then she pointed at me
and gestured with her hands over her much smaller stomach. I shook my head at her and reiterated my earlier thought—
First things first.

Matt was taking about a hundred pictures on his phone. I already had about a bazillion on mine, but I pulled it out again to get some of Gibson and Kellan. Grinning ear to ear, Matt looked over
at Griffin. “I’m gonna send some of these to Mom and Dad. You call your parents yet?”

Griffin nodded. “Yeah, they want us to fly her out to L.A. as soon as the tour’s over.” Griffin and Matt were both originally from Los Angeles and still had family in the area,
on the other side of town from where the record label’s house was. They’d both visited their parents while we’d been staying down there, but had mainly stayed at the label’s
place. Griffin had told me once that it was, “Hella nicer than my parents’ spread.”

Wondering what they were going to do in the meantime, I thought about broaching the subject with my sister. Matt beat me to it, though. Face serious, he told Griffin, “The tour is moving
on tonight. What are the two of you going to do?”

Griffin looked over at Anna, his face torn. “We have to be on the bus when it leaves. I have to go with them.”

Anna nodded as she swallowed. “I know.”

Looking over at Kellan, I told Anna, “I’ll stay here with you, Anna.” When Kellan swung his eyes my way, I looked over at my sister. “I’m sure you’ll be
discharged tomorrow if everything looks good. Then I’ll take you home . . . to Mom and Dad. You can stay there and rest up until the wedding.”

Anna looked forlorn as she contemplated staying with our parents for the next month. What else could she do, though? If she flew back to Seattle, she’d have to fly twice with an infant
during the busiest travel season of the year. That sounded really silly to me. Best to just plop her down in Ohio now. And besides, having Mom around to help would be good for Anna . . . even if
she did drive her crazy.

Anna bowed her head, not thrilled about it, but clearly accepting her fate. Griffin, however, wasn’t accepting it at all. “No, I don’t think so.” Walking over to Kellan,
he gently removed his daughter from his arms; Kellan seemed reluctant to let her go.

Anna snapped her head up; hope was in her eyes that maybe a better option was available to her. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wondered what option Griffin might come up with. As everyone
turned their eyes to him, he locked gazes with my sister. “I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay on the bus with me.” Griffin turned to stare me down. “After they let
her go, you bring her to me.” By the heat in his expression, it was clear he wasn’t asking.

I couldn’t help my startled expression. “You want a newborn on a tour bus with you?”

Griffin shrugged and looked around the room. “Sure. Why not?”

Anna seemed conflicted. Her maternal instincts had kicked in, and they were fighting with her natural, carefree spirit. “I don’t know, Griff. It seems unsanitary.”

Griffin snorted. “I’m probably the dirtiest thing on the bus, and you sleep with me every night.”

I tried not to laugh at that. And failed miserably. Kellan elbowed me as he shook his head in amusement. Anna still seemed uncertain. She looked from Gibson to me. “What do you think,
Kiera?” Her eyes were wide, fearful. Now that Gibson was a tangible object, Anna was terrified of doing something wrong. She was desperately afraid of making a bad choice.

I could feel Griffin boring holes into me, and I could see the hope on my sister’s face, but if I was going to honestly answer her question, I needed to put the two of them aside and think
about Gibson. What would be best for her? If she were mine, what would I do? I really didn’t know much about babies, but I knew a lot about the people on our bus. Aside from my parents, who
both had jobs that they couldn’t just abandon to help my sister, there was no one better on earth to help raise this baby than the D-Bags.

Turning to my sister, I told her, “I think in most cases, having a baby on a bus, living the life we live, is absolutely insane.” Anna frowned, and Griffin started to protest. I held
up my hand to stop him. “But in this particular case, I think it works.” I focused on Anna. “Your baby was never going to have a typical childhood, and I can’t think of
anywhere else that she could possibly be loved more than that bus.”

As Anna’s face broke into a tearful smile, I added, “Besides, didn’t the nurse say they mainly sleep, eat, and poop for the first few months anyway?”

Griffin nodded his thanks to me, then seemed to realize he’d placed quite a burden on the rest of his band. “You guys . . . cool with that?”

Kellan wrapped his arms around my waist as he kissed my neck. “I think it sounds great.”

Evan nodded in agreement; nothing much fazed him. Matt smirked. “Loud crying coming from your room at all hours of the day and night”—he twisted to look at Evan and
Kellan—“I think we’re already used to that.”

After light laughter went around the room, Kellan frowned and looked over at Matt. “We’ll have to have a talk with Holeshot.”

Matt nodded. “Deacon is pretty easygoing. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

Twisting my head, I told Kellan, “They can always hop on Sienna’s bus. Didn’t she say she was tired of riding alone?”

Kellan let out a laugh that startled Gibson. “That is an excellent idea.”

Griffin glared over at him. “Dude, keep it down. You freaked out my daughter.”

Kellan grinned at his bassist. “Sorry.” Then he made a whipping noise like Griffin frequently made. I had to bury my head in Kellan’s shirt so
I
didn’t laugh too
loud and get yelled at by the overprotective new father.

Kellan and the boys left a little while later. The show was over, and the process of tearing it down and moving on was probably already underway. I waited in the hallway with Evan, Matt, and
Kellan while Griffin said goodbye to his family. Kellan was hugging me while we waited. “I’m going to miss you,” he said.

Resting my chin on my chest, I peered up at him. “I’m going to miss you too, but you’re only going to East Rutherford. That’s not far.”

“Feels far.” He smiled at me, then looked over to Anna’s door. “Do you think Griffin will be a good father?”

Smiling, I looked over to the closed door as well. He’d been in there saying goodbye to his wife and child for over fifteen minutes. “Yeah, surprisingly, I think he’ll be
great.” I was still shocked by that fact.

Kellan turned back to me. “Do you think
I
would be a good father . . . one day?”

Tightening my arms around his neck, I eagerly nodded. “I know you will be.” Kellan smiled at the subtle promise of our future in my words. Kids wasn’t a matter of
if
for us, just
when.

When Griffin finally emerged from Anna’s room, he was subtly swiping his eyes dry. I gawked at the raw emotion on his face. I’d never seen him look so distraught. He frowned as he
glared at all of us. “What?” Then he moodily walked down the hall, away from the two people who had just become his entire world.

Matt and Evan hurried after him, Evan tossing an arm over his shoulders while Matt playfully punched him in the arm. Kellan watched them leave then sighed; his smile was a sad one as he gazed at
me. “Guess I’m off to work. I’ll see you soon.” His brow bunched in concern as he twisted me to face him. “Please be careful.”

Leaning up, I placed a tender kiss upon his lips. “I’m always careful. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

As he walked away from me, I tried to not think about how much I was going to miss him while we were apart. Watching the way his clothes molded around his body helped with that. He turned at the
door and gave me a small wave before exiting. I noticed a young nurse nearby sigh as she blatantly stared at him. Laughing a little, I waved back. When he disappeared, I exhaled just as forlornly
as the nurse had.

Twenty minutes after he left me, my phone rang. I hurried to answer it. “Miss me already, Kellan?”

“Of course.” His happy tone fell as he added, “Hey, I just wanted to warn you, there was a group of fans forming outside of the hospital as we were leaving.”

I immediately stood and looked out of the window. Anna’s room overlooked a courtyard in the center of the hospital, though, and not the front doors. “Kell-Sex fans? Here?” I
asked. “How did they . . . ?” My voice trailed off as I remembered stupidly announcing to a room full of fans that I was heading to a hospital. The more ambitious ones must have
followed me in hopes to see Kellan there . . . or possibly to confront me . . . I wasn’t sure.