A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter 5

Oh. Harper.

I'd completely forgotten about this situation. Forget his mom, Spencer hadn't met Harper yet. I suddenly remember that day Rylie and I had lunch with him, and how he hadn't wanted to meet Harper until he was ready.

Well, ready or not, here she is.

Spencer's eyes follow mine, and his face completely changes as he takes in his mom and Dillon. "Why did I think she wouldn't be here? Oh, right. Because she hasn't been there for any of us for the past two years." His voice is low, nearly a growl. I wanted to tell him about all the progress she and Rylie had made, but it wasn't my place. This was something he needed to deal with on his own.

"Hello, Spencer." Kristen says hesitantly as she takes in her oldest son.

"Mom." He responds dryly. His eyes slide over to Dillon before narrowing. "Can we talk, just the three of us?"

"Of course." Kristen says. She takes the car seat from Dillon before meeting my eyes.

"I'll watch her." I say quickly, knowing that's what she was going to ask.

"Thank you." She says as I hop up to take the carrier from her.

"Thank you." I respond. "Harper makes things feel a little better." I smile. I sit back down and place the car seat on the ground in front of me, watching Spencer, Kristen and Dillon disappear down the long hallway before sliding the soft pink cover from the car seat to get to Harper.

"Okay," Austin says from beside me. "She really is the cutest baby. And she has Rylie's eyes."

"Yeah." I smile. Harper is awake, her wide blue eyes jumping between Austin and I. She's dressed in an adorable outfit of grey overalls, a white shirt, white shoes, and a matching grey bow. A binky moves against her mouth as she sucks on it. "She's pretty adorable."

I carefully unbuckle her and lift her out of the car seat before setting her on my lap. She could finally hold her head up on her own, but it was still a little bit wobbly which made me giggle.

"You're getting so big, aren't you?" I say in my baby voice. Harper's mouth peaks up in a  grin and I laugh. "And you're adorable."

Austin and I play with her for nearly 30 minutes, but Spencer and his mother still haven't returned. A few more minutes pass before Brad enters the waiting room, and he smiles at Austin and I.

"Hey," He says, sounding tired. He glances down at Harper, and furrows his brow. "Is Kristen here?"

"Yeah, and Spencer... they're talking."

"Oh boy. This won't be good." He says with a strained chuckle. Brad pulls up a chair in front of me, and we get into a contest with Austin to see who can make Harper laugh first, and I win.

"Ha! Sorry, sorry. Not all of us can be natural with babies." I tease, and Austin and Brad shake their heads before laughing. We all stop real quick when Kristen, Dillon and Spencer enter the room again.

I'm more than a little bit shocked to see Spencer with an almost smile on his face. Not quite a smile, but almost. And that had to be good. Brad notices too, and I see his eyebrows raise slightly.

"Hey, dad." Spencer says before sitting beside me once more. When his eyes land on Harper, his expression changes, softening immensely. "Oh." He says softly, the word slipping from his lips. "This is Harper?" He asks me, not taking his eyes from her.

"It is." I reply quietly, watching the way his eyes light up, filling with an immense amount of love. Spencer tentatively reaches out a finger towards Harper's hand, and she wraps her small hand around it. He laughs, a quiet, surprised laugh.

"She looks just like Ry." He breathes. "Can... can I hold her?"

Whoa. Didn't expect that so soon.

"Of course." I reply before carefully passing Harper over. He gazes down at her for a long moment and with each second that passes, more love begins filling his eyes. "Why was I so against meeting her? She's perfect." Spencer's voice is soft.

"Because of the pain you were dealing with." I respond simply.

"I've been so stupid." He replies.

"Maybe not stupid, but definitely stubborn." Brad says, joining our conversation. "But you had every right to feel the way you did." He finishes.

Spencer glances up and looks for his mother, who is talking in a low voice in the hallway, before he continues. "I finally got to say everything I'd wanted to say since the day I found out." He says quietly. "And then I felt awful. I was a dick." His eyes snap to Harper sitting happily on his lap. "Sorry, I was a jerk." I shake my head and laugh. "She didn't deserve the things I said, but she let me say them anyway. And then when I finally let her talk, she explained everything. I think it's still going to take a lot of work to fix things, but I want to try. I'm tired of being bitter." He finishes in a soft voice.

I swallow hard, wanting to get my next words out without my voice breaking. "That would make Rylie so happy, Spencer."

"I know." He says before turning back to Harper, but I don't miss the sudden tears springing to his eyes.

A few minutes later, my mother and a man I'd never seen before enter the room, with arms full of food. I instantly wonder who this man is but as the smell from their food hits my senses, that thought is pushed from my mind.

"Mother," I gasp as my stomach grumbles loudly. "You are a lifesaver!" She laughs before setting the food down on the table Brad pulls over.

"Aspen, I know this isn't the ideal way to meet him, but this is Jay. My boyfriend." My mother blushes and I smile, trying not to crinkle my nose at how weird that sounded coming from my mom's mouth.

"Hi Jay," I take his outstretched hand, shaking it. "It's nice to finally  meet you!"

"Likewise. I'm so sorry to hear about your girlfriend. But, I hope I can be of at least some assistance." Jay replies. I turn to my mother with a questioning look.

"Jay is a cardio doctor now, but his first specialty was neurosurgery."

My jaw drops as my mother explains this. Neurologists specialized in brains, and, more specifically, brain injuries.

He might be able to help Rylie.