“Beverly, I owe you a new chair,” she added as she pushed herself up, using the armrests. “My water broke about five minutes ago.”

Pandemonium broke out in the blink of an eye. Siblings rushed around the room, trying to figure out who was doing what, while my parents sat quietly on the couch. Me? I quickly made my way over to Autumn and helped guide her to my SUV out back. Beverly followed with her bags I brought inside earlier.

“Beverly, can you run tell Colton I’m heading out with her now? I think he should follow in his car, since that’s where they installed the car seat for the baby.”

“Yes, dear. Good luck, Autumn. Please keep me up to date,” she replied as she hurried back inside.

I carefully helped my sister into the passenger seat as her husband rushed out to take over the task, speaking to her in a soft, loving tone. I did my best not to overhear, but neither of them seemed to care that I was next to them, buckling myself into the driver seat.

The journey to the hospital was uneventful except for a tractor trailer accident that brought out the demon buried deep inside my sister’s soul. But the moment we broke free of the traffic, she calmed right down.

Colton must have called ahead, because once I parked the SUV and helped Autumn inside, they already had a room prepped for her. Since we were alone, I got to go into the room with her and watched as they poked and prodded her. I felt myself squirming, but the smile never dropped from her face.

“He’ll be here soon,” I said calmly as she squeezed my hand through a contraction. Autumn had every intention of getting drugs for the birth, but she wanted to go as long as she could without them, forsaking my fingers in the process.

“I’m not worried. I have my incredible baby sister with me.”

“Stop, you’ll make me cry.” She shrugged and mumbled something like “better you than me,” but I could barely hear her over the incessant beeping in the room.

“So, are we going to talk about why you’re here and not with your boyfriend?”

“Did y’all have a family meeting about this?”

“Maybe, but I want to hear it from you.”

I pried my fingers loose from her grip and tucked them into my pocket while staring out the window. “You know… we weren’t actually dating. Not in the beginning, at least.”

I glanced down to witness her eyes widening, but then she wiped away the expression in the blink of an eye. “But it turned real?”

“It did.”

“And you love him?”

“Yeah.”

I went on to tell her about his tattoo, the reason we started fake-dating, and even why he antagonized me so much in school. Autumn nearly swooned her way off the bed as she clapped and giggled.

“What are you still doing in Ashfield, Aspen?”

“He… never actually invited me to join him.”

“Do you think he wants you there?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. We always just talked about the time we’d have together during his off season. Five months is enough time. It has to be,” I whispered at the end.

Regardless of what my family thought, I didn’t want to give up my place at the farm. It was all I knew up until this point. Leaving it all behind would be a giant leap of faith I wasn’t sure I was ready for. Or if I ever would be.

Thankfully, Colton arrived, and I moved to the waiting room, where the rest of my family gathered. I messaged Owen to let him know what was going on, and five minutes later, he sent me a screenshot of a receipt for flowers and chocolates he had sent to her room.

It was around 10:00 p.m. when I walked out of the waiting area in search of coffee. I knew it wasn’t going to be great, but it was better than nothing at the moment. Colton had popped into the room a few times to let us know the baby had turned over and they were working to get the little troublemaker back into position. Then he updated us when Autumn got her epidural and was finally sleeping.

I watched enough medical dramas that I knew we could be here for the rest of the night and the next day. Mom and Dad already ushered most of our crew to a hotel close by to get some sleep. I was hopeful they’d do the same soon too, but as for me, I was invested in this birth at this point. As the person who got the honor of being the official escort, I was staying.

“Hey, getting a coffee?” Andrew called out as he exited the restroom.

“Yeah. I think the cafeteria is open for another hour or so.”

“Great. I’ll join you.”

We boarded the elevator and headed toward the cafeteria on the third floor. Thankfully, they had a twenty-four-hour coffee shop, so I didn’t have to settle for the nasty stuff out of a tap.

I grabbed a tea for Mom while Andrew dressed a decaf coffee for Dad. He’d been laying off the caffeine since his heart attack.

“So, I was serious about helping more with the farm.”

“Really? I thought you decided against it when you never mentioned it again, after we talked a couple of months ago. I figured you didn’t have any interest in it.”

“No, I mean, I’ve always been interested. I just found another passion for a while. But I’m not twenty anymore and need to look toward my future.”

“Is that why you’re moving back home?”

“Partly.”

“Can I ask why you’ve always been so… I don’t know… distant, when it comes to talk about the farm? If anyone should have taken it over, it should’ve probably been you and your kids.”

“Yes, you can ask,” he joked.

“Andrew—”

“It’s hard to take over a family birthright, when you never felt like you truly belonged. Nash isn’t my father, Aspen, and the farm belonged to his family. It felt…”

As we stepped into the elevator to return to the labor-and-delivery floor, I wrapped my arms around my brother’s waist.

“You are just as much a part of this family as any of us. You’re my brother, and Dad has always viewed you as his own flesh and blood. And don’t you ever forget it.” I poked his chest as I pulled back in mock anger.

“Yeah, okay, squirt. Calm down now.”

“But anyway, I would appreciate your help. It might be nice to have some sort of social life. I’m sure Jenna would really love it.” My best friend had a massive crush on Andrew when she was younger and made sure he knew about it back then. Thankfully she was very happy with her new beau, Derek.

Back in the waiting area, we handed off the extra drinks to our thankful parents just as the nurse popped her head in and told me we were nearing the end. It seemed a little bit of drugs relaxed my sister enough that the baby was making its entrance into the world.

At 1:30 a.m. my nephew, Elijah Henry Crawford, was born. He was the most precious baby boy I’d ever seen, and I wasn’t just thinking that because I was destined to be his favorite aunt, but because he truly was. Even the nurses were talking about how cute he was while gossiping in the hallway. Thankfully, security for Colton had arrived a few hours before the birth to keep the tabloid photographers at bay, but that didn’t mean a couple of shots hadn’t been taken of us all waiting inside the hospital.

As my siblings returned and took their turns holding the precious baby, I nestled onto the bed next to my sister, who was a rockstar by all accounts.

“How are you holding up?” I asked her. She had this glow about her, even with the tired eyes and sweat-drenched hair. Autumn had never looked more beautiful.

“I’m good. Really good.”