After being at the hospital for fifteen hours, I stepped out of the delivery room to give everyone another update. The moment I appeared, Ky came straight up to me. Having him there provided me more comfort than I could have imagined.

“How are you doing?” Ky asked quietly, clearly reading my thoughts. “Any news?”

“Not yet. Soon though. Ky, I’m going to be a dad. Have I got everything we need? Does the baby need anything else? What if I fuck this up? You and I both know that I’ve fucked up a lot. I can’t fuck this up.” My insecurities were no longer hidden, and I couldn’t stop spilling my thoughts.

“You are a Crawford; we don’t do things half-assed. You are going to be a great dad, and Ash is going to be an incredible mom. Your little one is lucky to have parents like you. And come on, me as an uncle? That kid can’t do any better.”

“And everyone says I’m the cocky Crawford.” I laughed, and immediately a sense of calm swept through me. “Can you tell everyone that things are going okay? Ashlyn is absolutely amazing. I’ll be back out when the newest Crawford is unleashed into the world.”

“There you are.” A flustered nurse appeared and hurried toward me. “It’s time. We have to go now.”

The moment the nurse said those words, I increased my pace.

“I can’t. Josh isn’t back yet. I am not doing this without him.” Ashlyn’s panicked voice floated down the hall as I made my way back to her.

I burst through the door, and rushed back to her bedside. Relief immediately spread across her face, and I encased her hand with mine, kissing her forehead tenderly.

“I can’t do this, Josh. It hurts too much,” she whimpered in a voice that broke my heart. Seeing my girl hurt or in pain was something I didn’t deal well with.

“We just need one big push, Ashlyn, and your baby will be here,” the nurse said in encouragement. “I can see the head,”

She could see my baby’s head.

“Let’s become a family, Ashy. Our little one wants to meet us,” I said through a thick voice, as the thought of our duo about to become a trio slammed into my heart.

Her grip on my hand intensified, and she nodded in silent acknowledgment. Ashlyn was my past, my present, and my future, and seeing her once again about to give me another life-changing gift was indescribable. I couldn’t put into words what this moment felt like. No words would ever be enough. I would show her what this meant to me by giving her endless love, forever devotion, and a life where she never doubted her worthiness again.

“Team Joslyn,” she whispered and offered a sweet smile.

The sound of her inhaling sharply sounded, and her eyes slammed shut. I watched in complete fascination as a strength I’d never witnessed before washed over her. After what seemed like forever, everything around me went silent, like the world had stopped spinning. It was that split second before new life was brought into the world that things decided to change. Ashlyn’s grip on my hand lessened, and her eyes shot open. Our gaze locked fiercely on one another, before we both looked at the nurse.

Then we heard it.

The sound of life.

The sound of forever.

The cries of our baby.

“Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl,” the nurse announced with a congratulatory smile, then turned her attention to me. “Would you like to cut the cord?”

Holy shit. We were parents. We had a baby girl. We had a little Princess Crawford.

Ashlyn’s loud sob of happiness echoed through the room and she squeezed my hand tenderly. I leaned down and kissed her hard. I fed her my love, devotion, and happiness in that one kiss. “I love you so much, Ashlyn,” I whispered against her lips.

I freely allowed my emotions to bubble over as my eyes first connected with our baby girl. With a head full of hair, the poutiest lips I’d ever seen, and a tiny button nose, she was beyond perfect.

I wasn’t a man that often showed his emotions, but as I cut the cord, and then when our baby was placed on Ashlyn’s chest, I let my tears freely fall. Suddenly, I was invaded with an overwhelming sense of reason and meaning.

This was what it truly felt like to be a man.

Aria Joslyn Crawford was born to an ecstatic father and an exhausted mother at just after one P.M. on a sunny Monday afternoon. From her very first breath, she took complete ownership of my heart.

Our little princess.

Our miracle.

Our forever.

After both of us were cleaned up and Aria had been checked over, she was placed on my chest and was now fast asleep. It was Josh, me, and Aria in the silence of the room; my beautiful little family. Contentment flooded me. Happiness engulfed me. Peace owned me.

“I never would have believed that this type of love could exist,” Josh whispered from the chair beside the bed. His gaze was locked with mine, and the devotion he showed me was heart stopping. “Ashy, I’ve never been as in love with you as I am right now. You were incredible.”

“You constantly make me swoon, Josh Crawford.”

“I can’t believe she is ours,” he said with worship and admiration caressing his words. Shifting in his seat, he ran his finger over our daughter’s delicate features and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “We did good, Ashy.”

“We did,” I replied through a voice that was cracking with emotion.

“You should get some rest. I’ll spend some daddy time with my little princess, because we have a lot to discuss.”

“Josh,” I said softly, and his eyes left Aria to meet mine. “I’m crazy in love with you.”

He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on my lips, then let his mouth hover over mine. “Let’s be crazy in love together.”

An hour later, I fluttered to consciousness at the sound of Josh’s soft voice beside me. I rolled my head to the side to see Josh curled up in the visitor’s seat, with Aria snuggled against his chest and his hand protectively resting on her back. A grown man with a tiny baby in his arms was the most exquisite sight in the world.

“I’ve loved your mommy since we were in college, but you have to wait till you’re at least thirty to even think of boys. I know for a fact that your uncles and I won’t let them near you. Did you know that your Uncle Austin is a police officer, and Uncle Ky is the coolest guy I know? I’m going to take such good care of you, my little princess. I love you and your mommy so much, and I can’t wait till we get to take you home to the beach.”

During my fifth month of pregnancy, I fulfilled one of my biggest dreams. We moved to Lilac Cove. We left New York behind us, and moved to the one place that made me feel alive, the only place I envisioned raising a family. Our house was near the beach, allowing views of the cove, and was the perfect place to spend the last few months of my pregnancy getting ready for this exact moment.

“I don’t know how I’m going to handle not having sex with you for six weeks. Seeing you being all cute with her isn’t going to do my lady parts any favors.”

Josh looked up with a smirk, and gently covered Aria’s ears before he said, “I don’t know how I’m going to stop myself from fucking you right now. Ashy, you were beyond incredible. I am in complete awe of you. Look at what you . . . we, created.”

Josh climbed up onto the bed beside me. Then, with Aria lying on his chest, he took out his phone, and we took our first photos as a family together. An hour later, a soft knock on the closed door shunted me out of my happy place, and the nurse popped her head into the room.

“We have a lot of visitors out here wanting to come meet her and give her cuddles.”