𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 | 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 [2]

the baby

—

After the senior scribe, Ryder took absolutely no time to go to the hospital, dragging Josie away from her conversation with Liam so she'd also be present for the birth of their new sibling.

Funnily enough, everyone else in her family was rather nervous for the birth of a new kid, while Ryder couldn't be more happy.

Had you asked young Ryder how she'd feel about another sibling, she'd probably give a look and brush off the comment completely. Now, she could jump for joy if she really wanted to.

She wouldn't, seeing as she thought that it was embarrassing to jump around like an idiot when you got excited, but it was cute to think about.

Currently, she was stood outside her mother's hospital room, Josie's hand in her own while they listened to Ramona's pain filled screams.

"Goodness, i'm never having kids." Josie winced, flinching as Ramona's screams got louder, "You know, you would think that being a werewolf would take away majority of the pain you feel when doing things."

Listening to her mother in pain made Ryder uncomfortable, even if she knew she'd be fine a few hours later. Josie drowned out the sound by listening to music and playing a game Ryder had no interest in asking about on her phone.

The one thing keeping Ryder from completely spiraling was the calm beating of Austin's heartbeat in the front waiting area.

She had suggested that he go home and get rest as the pregnancy process took a while, but instead, Austin mentioned how his mom wanted to support her best friend and that if he (along with Isaac) weren't there as well, then he'd never hear the end of it.

Speaking of the Lahey, he had grown rather close to the George family, easily filling but not drowning the void that should have been Max.

Much to Austin's surprise, Jennifer saw Isaac as Isaac, not Max. He was thrilled to know that even if his death wasn't too long ago, she was able to slowly heal from it.

Austin, on the other hand, had subconsciously taken over the role as big brother to both Isaac and Liam. Despite Isaac being taller in height and a bit older in age, Austin didn't miss the opportunity to treat him the way he once treated Max.

Isaac wasn't too aware of it, or he didn't really care as he never got any good treatment from his father, and his biological, older brother, Camden had sadly died before he was given the chance to grow a true bond.

The women may have been a little in her own world, but she was no idiot, Jennifer could easily see how her son had gotten.

Same goes for Liam.

The only difference was that the Dunbar quite enjoyed having a big brother to protect him while also bullying him for the crush he had on a girl. He liked having someone to give him the advice his own mother and stepfather couldn't offer.

•••

"How bad is it?"

"She's still screaming at the top of her lungs if that's what you're really asking." Isaac told the boy with a huff. Since arriving at the hospital, Austin hadn't stop asking the Lahey to use his abilities to check in on his girlfriend's mother. He could have easily texted Ryder, which he did, but the girl only gave vague responses.

Even after a year of being together, Ryder still sucked at texting.

"Why don't you just go back there?"

"Because this a moment between family, alright? We're just here for moral support. When the baby does come, if Ramona and Aaron are comfortable enough, we'll go say hi." Jennifer interrupted before Austin could respond.

The boys' blue eyes connected as they shared a look, she wasn't wrong.

Footsteps running into the room had the small family looking up,

"Baby's here." Josie smiled brightly, looking between the three.

Isaac had a small smile on his face, he wasn't overly thrilled, but he knew how happy everyone else was.

Jennifer began to grow emotional, tears filling her eyes at the thought of another life entering the world. One she'd be able to spoil like a cool aunt would.

Meanwhile Austin, both happy and slightly embarrassed by his mother's sudden tears, rubbed the woman's shoulder gently while looking over at Josephine,

"Is everyone okay?" He asked, "Your mom? The baby?"

"Yeah, I mean, dad almost passed out but everything's fine."

Brushing over the comment of Aaron nearly falling unconscious, they waited for Josie to finish,

"Mom says you guys are good to come back and meet her if you want."

"It's a girl?"

"I don't know." The girl shrugged, leading them towards her mother's hospital room, "I haven't gone to see. I'm just guessing it's a girl. I mean, they already have two girls, what are the odds that they pop out with boy?"

"Very high odds actually." Before Austin could go into detail about how babies are more likely to be boys than girls, Isaac shoves him to give him a look that immediately told him no one was interested in learning the new fact.

"Freaking finally." Ryder's voice is heard from in front of them, "You guys walk so slow."

Jenn smiled at her son's girlfriend, moving ahead to pull her into a hug. Ryder, still being a little hesitant to the woman's affection, stiffened before hugging her back.

"You haven't gone in yet?" Austin asked her, also going in for a hug, this one being a lot more normal to the oldest Anders daughter.

"No. Josie told me to wait."

"The wait is over." A voice called out, Aaron's head peaking through the door, a large smile on his face. The group could tell her had been crying from the redness on his waterline, "Come on in and meet your brother."

Don't get her wrong, no matter the gender, Ryder would have treated the kid the same way she's treated Josie over the years. But she could hardly handle Isaac and he wasn't even her real brother, so in that moment, Ryder's shoulder's dropped,

"It's a boy?!"

—
A/N: sorry, y'all. i've been BINGING binging ex on the beach like crazy...