“As soon as Mrs. Connelly is out of recovery, she can come in here and meet your daughter properly,” the doctor said. “Until then, you’re welcome to hold her.”
“Me?” Max couldn’t imagine holding the baby before Piper—and didn’t bother to correct the doctor when she assumed the baby was his.
“The sooner she’s held, the better.” The doctor nodded at the nurse that the baby was ready to be held.
“Go ahead and have a seat in the rocking chair,” the nurse said to Max as she wrapped the baby up in a blanket, making sure her oxygen was still properly attached.
Max took a seat, his hands unsteady and his pulse pounding hard.
Ever so gently, the baby was laid in his arms. Max’s heart turned over as he held her. She weighed almost nothing and was so fragile that every instinct he had wanted to protect her.
“Don’t be afraid to hold her close and get as much skin-to-skin contact as possible,” the nurse said. “Research has found that a baby breathes better, their heart rate is stronger and they spend less time in the NICU when they have contact with their parents.”
Again, Max didn’t correct her assumption. Instead, he brought the baby up to his face and put her cheek against his own. It was so soft, he could hardly believe it. He kissed her cheek and whispered the most natural thing in the world, coming from the deepest recesses of his heart, “I love you.”
Tears gathered in his eyes again as he marveled at this tiny, perfect gift from God.
A couple hours passed as he held the baby with the nurses continuing to see to her needs. Finally, a commotion caused Max to look up.
Piper was being wheeled into the NICU, and when she saw him sitting there, cuddling her daughter, her eyes welled up with tears. He had never loved Piper as much as he did in that moment. He couldn’t even explain the feeling to himself, let alone someone else. He’d never felt anything like it in his life.
“Mama’s here,” Max whispered to the baby.
When Piper was directly in front of Max, he leaned over and passed the baby into her arms.
“Congratulations,” a nurse said to Piper. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”
Piper’s eyes shined as she looked down at her daughter. “Thank you.”
The nurse left them and went to the other side of the NICU, leaving Piper and Max alone.
“How are you feeling?” Max asked.
“I’m okay for now. The anesthesia hasn’t completely worn off yet, but I can feel my feet again.” She wiggled her sock-clad toes.
“You were amazing in there,” Max said. “She’s amazing.”
“She is amazing.” Piper brought her up to her lips and kissed her cheek.
“What will you name her?”
“Elaine.” Piper ran her finger down her daughter’s face, love and awe in her eyes. “Elaine Gwendolyn. Elaine for my mom and Gwendolyn for Nick’s mother. But I’ll call her Lainey.”
“It’s beautiful. Nick would be so proud of both of you.”
Piper nodded, but didn’t respond. It was such a bittersweet moment.
They sat there for a long time, just admiring Lainey.
“Thank you,” Piper finally said as she looked up and met Max’s gaze. “I’m sorry you had to miss the game.”
He hadn’t even thought about the game since he’d run through the hospital doors. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” He leaned forward and took her free hand in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it, his heart expanding in his chest. “For the first time in my life, I ran toward the person I love, and I knew I never wanted to run away again. I love you, Piper, with all my heart and soul.” He left his chair and knelt by her side. “I’ve loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. Some people don’t think a nine-year-old knows what they want for the rest of their life—but I knew then and I know now.” He studied her face. “I want you, I’ve always wanted you. There’s no one else on this planet I want to spend my life with. You’re the first thing I want to see when I open my eyes in the morning and the last thing I want to see when I close them at night. I love you passionately, Piper, and if you’ll have me, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.” He put his hand on Lainey’s head. It was tiny in comparison. “How much both of you mean to me.”
Piper’s gaze caressed his face, but there was a sadness in her eyes.
“You don’t have to answer me now,” Max said quickly. “You’ve just been through a really tough time and I don’t want to make you feel—”
She put her finger up to his lips to quiet him. He took her hand in his and briefly closed his eyes. He loved the feel of her.
“I love you, too, Max,” she said quietly. “Having you back in my life means everything to me.” She shook her head. “But what about Margo and California, and the opportunities her father has for you?”
“I have no desire to pursue any of that, Piper. I already had all the opportunities I wanted—and I chose to walk away.” He put his hand on the side of her face. “I don’t want anything but you and Lainey. My life is meaningless without you in it.”
“But—what about your career?”
“I’m ready to do something different. I want to start investing in Timber Falls properties and I have a few business ideas I’d like to pursue. If the football team will have me, I’ll keep coaching them—but if not, I’m ready for my life to begin, Piper—and it’ll begin with you. I really don’t care what I do, as long as I do it with you.”
She bit her bottom lip as she studied him. “Truly?” she whispered. “You don’t want to leave Timber Falls?”
He shook his head.
“You don’t want to pursue a career in the football industry?”
“I’ve had more than my fair share of that industry.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Will I be enough for you, Max?”
“Oh, Piper.” He leaned forward and put his hands on either side of her face. “You’re more than enough—you’re my everything.” He shook his head. “I’m afraid I won’t be worthy of you.”
“Max.” She smiled through her tears. “I love you. Neither one of us is worthy for the other—but we’re perfect for one another.”
He leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, or even a desperate one. It was sweet and gentle, and full of all the love he held for the woman sitting before him. “Will you marry me?” he asked quietly.
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
His heart soared and he was afraid he was dreaming.
At long last, Piper would become his wife.
The nurse returned to them, a smile on her lips. “Can I take your family’s first picture?”
“Would you?” Max asked. He took his cell phone out of his back pocket and saw that he’d missed dozens of texts.
A grin split his face. “It looks like the Lumberjacks are going on to the championship game,” he said to Piper.
Piper smiled with Max. “Congratulations.”
As Max put his arm around Piper, and smiled at the nurse as she took their picture, he knew he didn’t deserve the blessings God was lavishing on him—but he would spend the rest of his life giving thanks.
* * *
The two weeks at the hospital went by faster than Piper had expected. She was released after two days, but she was able to sleep in Lainey’s room in the infant care center at the Mother Baby Center. Those days with her baby were the sweetest times in her life, especially because Max was there as often as possible, and several friends came to visit, including Max’s mom who treated Lainey like the granddaughter she would soon become when Max and Piper were married.
Max drove just under the speed limit all the way back to Timber Falls as Lainey slept in her car seat. Piper sat in the back seat with their daughter, but several times on the two-hour ride, Max reached back and took
her hand, smiling at her in the rearview mirror.
“Are you certain you want to do this?” he asked her as they pulled into the Timber Falls Community Church parking lot just as the sun set. “Don’t you want to wait for a big church wedding, with all the trappings you usually plan for brides? Will you feel cheated?”
Piper shook her head, more certain than ever before. “I’ve planned more weddings than you can imagine, and they all have one thing in common, the most important thing—at the end of the day, two people are married. All that matters to me is that when you and I bring Lainey home, she has a mom and a dad—and you and I are husband and wife.” She reached toward him and he took her hand. “I love you, Max. Nothing else matters.”
“If you change your mind,” he said, “and you want a big party to celebrate later on, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Wouldn’t you rather be in Minneapolis with your team tonight, getting ready for the big game tomorrow?”
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and simply smiled. “You know I wouldn’t.”
A recent addition had been added to the back of the church where the new school was housed, so they had to park in the new parking lot on the west side of the building.
Max came to the back door and opened it for Piper. She stepped out and he reached in to gently remove Lainey, his careful movements making Piper smile. He put her diaper bag on his shoulder and carried Lainey in the crook of his arm, while using his free hand to take Piper’s.
Piper felt amazing being two weeks postpartum. Her incision was healing well and nothing hurt anymore. With all the help from the hospital staff, she felt surprisingly rested. She was even able to fit back into some of her pre-pregnancy clothes, though she was still wearing loose-fitting things that didn’t rub on her incision.
“Liv said she’d take care of all the details,” Piper said to Max as they walked toward the church. “I have no idea what she pulled together, but I do know we’ll be surrounded by all of our friends. What more could we ask for?”
Max let go of Piper’s hand and opened the door for her, then he followed her inside with Lainey.
Liv was waiting in the vestibule near the door, a grin on her face. “What took you two so long?”
Piper glanced at Max and he didn’t look even a little embarrassed by his excessively careful driving.
“We stopped about a half an hour ago so I could feed Lainey,” Piper said. “It took a little longer than I expected, but she should be content for another hour or two.”
“Your mom is waiting in the nursery to take care of Lainey while the two of you get ready,” Liv said to Max. “Tad will tell you what to do. We’ll meet you in the sanctuary in about half an hour.”
Max leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Piper’s lips. “The next time I kiss you, you’ll be Piper Evans.”
“At last,” she said.
He walked away from her, with Lainey in his arms, and she couldn’t help but smile, getting a little teary-eyed.
Liv gave Piper a big hug and then said, “Okay, enough with all that. You have a wedding to attend!”
Piper followed her friend to one of the new restrooms on the main floor of the church. When Liv opened the door, Piper put her hands up to cover her mouth.
There, hanging from a hook, was an elegant white gown. It had an empire-style waist, so it wouldn’t be formfitting. The skirt was long, as were the sleeves. It was beautiful, yet simple—and exactly what Piper would have chosen for herself.
“Oh, Liv!” Piper said. “When I asked you to grab one of my gowns from my closet, I didn’t think you’d go out and buy a new one!”
“Every bride should have a special gown for her wedding day.” She smiled and her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Prepare to be pampered—if only for a little while.”
There was a knock at the door and Piper’s hairdresser came in. “We don’t have much time,” she said. “But I know just what to do with your beautiful hair.”
“And I’m doing your makeup,” Liv said, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s get started. We need to get you to that sanctuary in thirty minutes or your groom will come looking for you.”
Piper pressed her lips together, trying not to cry. “Thank you,” she said.
Liv winked. “You’re welcome. You deserve the best, Piper.”
Thirty minutes later, Piper left the ladies’ room feeling like a completely different woman—and definitely not a woman who gave birth to her first child just thirteen days ago.
Liv wore a pretty soft-pink gown, since Piper had asked her to be her maid of honor. Tad would serve as Max’s best man and Piper planned to walk down the aisle by herself.
When they got to the lobby just outside the sanctuary, two gorgeous bouquets of soft-pink roses were waiting. One for Piper and one for Liv.
“You thought of everything, didn’t you?” Piper asked Liv.
“I hope so,” Liv said as she moved one of Piper’s curls over her shoulder. “If not, I’m not very good at my job, am I?”
Liv stepped in front of Piper and knocked on the doors, which were opened from within.
The music shifted from Canon in D to Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March.” Piper stared in amazement as the congregation rose to their feet.
It was no small wedding, by any stretch of the imagination. Friends, neighbors, church family and Max’s entire football team, including their parents, were waiting in the sanctuary. They weren’t in Minneapolis, after all.
They had come to support their coach.
Max stood at the front of the sanctuary in the suit he’d worn to the homecoming dance, his hair combed and his beard freshly trimmed. His eyes glowed when he saw Piper and she felt like the most beautiful woman in the whole world. He didn’t look at anyone other than her as she walked down the aisle to join him.
Mrs. Evans sat in the front row with Lainey in her arms, tears sliding down her face as she smiled at Piper.
Pastor Jacob Dawson and Tad stood near Max, and when Piper finally arrived at the altar, her legs weak and her hands trembling with joy, Max took her hand in his and drew her to his side as if he had no intention of ever letting her go.
And perhaps, he didn’t.
“We are gathered here today to celebrate with Piper and Max as they proclaim their love and commitment to the world,” Pastor Jacob said with a smile. “We are gathered to rejoice, with and for them, in the new life they now undertake together. Let us pray.”
The ceremony went by in a blur, but after she and Max declared their intention to wed, and said their vows and slipped gold bands on each other’s fingers, Pastor Jacob declared that they were husband and wife.
“What God has brought together,” the pastor said, “let no man separate. You may kiss your bride, Max.”
Max put his hands on either side of Piper’s face and gently kissed her.
Piper felt the kiss all the way to the tips of her toes and out to the ends of her fingertips. Her body hummed with the joy his touch gave her and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. The congregation cheered and they pulled apart, Piper’s cheeks aflame with embarrassment.
As the pianist played a recessional, Max took Piper by the hand and led her to his mother where he took Lainey from her and cradled her in his arm.
“This is what God has brought together,” he said to Piper. “From this day forward.”
They walked out of the sanctuary and stood in the lobby, waiting for their guests to come out and greet them, but before they did, Max leaned over and whispered in her ear, “The night before my high school championship game, I made the biggest mistake of my life and lost you. I’m so happy that the night before this championship game, I made the best decision of my life and now you’re mine forever.”
Pleasure filled Piper’s heart and she s
tood on tiptoe to kiss her husband.
Forever didn’t seem long enough.
Chapter Sixteen
Max stood on the sidelines at the Vikings’ stadium, his heart pounding as he watched the last play in the Timber Falls Lumberjacks’ championship game. There were thirteen seconds left in the final quarter and the Lumberjacks had possession of the ball. The score was twenty-four to twenty-eight and they were only five yards shy of the goal—and the win.
As Tad broke up the huddle and the offensive line got into position, Max held his breath. Several scouts were in the audience, watching Tad’s every move—but it hadn’t seemed to phase Tad. If anything, his brother was playing the best game of his life.
From where Max stood, he couldn’t hear his brother give the call, but the team went into motion and Tad dropped back, his hand on the ball as he scanned left and then right, and then threw the ball to his buddy, Aiken Hendrickson, their wide receiver. Aiken was right where he was supposed to be and the ball sailed through the air, past several players and landed in Aiken’s hands, as if there was no one else on the field.
A roar went up from the crowd as the clock ran out and the refs threw their hands up, indicating a successful goal.
Max yelled and jumped, energy and adrenaline coursing through his body. Everyone rushed the field and lifted Tad and Aiken onto their shoulders.
Up in the stands, Max’s mom was waving and cheering and clapping, and Max could almost imagine seeing his dad sitting next to her, a grin on his face.
The only thing that would make this moment perfect was if Piper and Lainey could be there, but he had to take solace knowing they were back in Timber Falls watching the livestream, cheering and clapping along with everyone else from town.
Max had finally redeemed his past mistakes and given Timber Falls a championship title, in the very same stadium where he’d played his last game in the NFL.
As Max lifted his hands toward heaven to praise God, he was also lifted onto the shoulders of his team and he met Tad’s happy gaze. They were brought together and Max gave his little brother a hug.
A Home for Her Baby Page 17