“Maybe that’s the problem. In public, I am myself.”
“It’s up to you to decide what you want the world to see. For example, there are no photos of you and Baylor on your Instagram.”
“And there won’t be.”
“Why?”
I touch my lips. “Because I want to keep him to myself.”
“Did you kiss him?”
“He kissed me goodnight.”
“And?”
“It was an amazing kiss. I didn’t think he was going to kiss me. He held my hand all night. We danced and had so much fun. And I like his friends. They’re fun too. We had a lot of fun at the after party. Danced our asses off.”
“I bet you’re tired,” she says, pulling a throw over me.
“I wasn’t until I laid down.”
“Are you flying back home with us?”
“No, I have a cover shoot in New York tomorrow.”
“Who are you staying with? How are you getting there?”
“You know Mom and Dad won’t let me travel without my bodyguard, Cooper Junior.”
“Yet, you ditched him and came here by yourself,” she scolds.
“He told me Tommy yelled at him. He’s meeting me here at noon then a car is driving us into the city. Dad’s going to be in town shooting a commercial, so we’re staying with him.”
“Will you get into trouble?”
“They maybe kinda think you invited me. Does Mom know you didn’t?”
“I didn’t tell her, no,” she says with a smile.
I give her a hug. “You’re my favorite sister.”
“Get some sleep, Gracie.”
“Or I could tell you about the kiss.”
She perks up. “You could.”
I sit up and face her. I can’t help it. I’m so freaking excited, so I tell her every single detail of my amazing night.
Hotel Suite - Connecticut
RILEY
“We’ve got to go!” Dallas yells, waking me out of a deep sleep.
“What’s wrong?”
“RiAnne is in labor,” he says, his phone up to his ear. “For real this time. We’ve got to get that pretty little jet of yours in the air.” He says into his phone, “Okay, baby. Hang on.” Then he turns to me. “She wants to talk to you.”
I shake my head no, but he puts the phone to my ear anyway.
“Hey, RiAnne,” I mumble, my voice not working this early.
“If I have this baby alone, Riley, there will be hell to pay. Please—Oh, shit, that hurts—hurry!”
I hop out of bed and start throwing clothes in my bag. “Did you get Keatyn and Gracie up?”
“Gracie’s getting picked up at noon. And Keatyn’s up,” he says. I run in the bathroom to grab the rest of my things and can hear him still talking.
“Baby, it’s okay. Calm down. Worse case, I’ll video conference.”
I can’t hear what she says but I can hear her yelling. I don’t think she wants to video conference the birth with him.
“Just tell the baby he needs to wait until Daddy gets there,” Dallas says calmly. I really don’t know how the hell he’s so calm. I’m a nervous wreck. It’s my fault that he’s here in the first place. I’ll be damned if he’s going to miss his baby being born because of me.
“I’m ready,” I say, rolling my bag out of the room with Dallas in tow.
“Are you ready, Keatyn? We’ve got to go now!”
“Have you called the pilot?” Keatyn asks me.
“Shit! No!”
Dallas covers his phone. “He’s the first person I called.”
“How are you so damn calm?” I ask him.
“Baby number five, I suppose.”
He grabs Keatyn’s tote, gives Gracie a kiss goodbye, and we head out.
The elevator feels like it takes forever. Come on.
Keatyn leans her head on my shoulder. “I think I’m still asleep.”
I wrap my arm around her, imagining Aiden will not be as calm as Dallas when it comes time to have their baby. “You can sleep on the plane.”
Dallas is still talking to RiAnne. “We’ll be wheels up in twenty minutes. Six hours I’ll be there, if not sooner. I know. I know.” He turns to me. “Ri says that she hates you right now.”
Keatyn grabs the phone from Dallas. “Hey, Ri. How you doing? Just think. This is the last time that you’ll ever be in labor. Your last baby. Slow down and enjoy it if you can.”
I hear more yelling.
“Uh, okay. Um, does it help to know that Dallas bought you something spectacular for this one? Since it’s the last.”
She hands the phone back to Dallas.
“Yes, of course I did. It’s our last baby. You’ve been an amazing mother and are my beautiful Pookiebear. Spectacular is an understatement.”
Vanessa’s Estate - Holmby Hills
DAWSON
I wake up to find sunlight streaming through the windows and Vanessa gone from her bed.
I look at the clock, shocked it’s almost nine and immediately worried about the girls.
I quickly get dressed and follow the chatter out to the kitchen.
Vanessa and the girls are making pancakes together. Their conversation is loud and animated. They are chatting happily about their grandma and grandpa’s beach house. How Daddy's toe got bit by a crab.