“Thanks.” Adam gestured toward the door. “After you, Laynie. I know she’ll be happy to see you here.”

I nodded, surprised and touched that he thought I meant that much to his wife. I made my way inside. Hudson followed close behind me, but not so near that we were touching.

“Mira.” I offered a warm smile.

“Hey! You came!” She tried to reach toward me, but the cuff on her arm kept her trapped.

“Of course we did. Don’t be silly.” I stepped aside for Hudson to slip in, eager for him to get a chance to connect with Mira as well. Hudson was family. I was only the girlfriend. And maybe I wasn’t even that.

“Hudson.” Mira smiled up at her brother. “Thank you for being here.”

He nodded and it struck me that he was too overcome with emotion to speak. I remembered then how hard it was for him to say how he felt—not just with me but with everyone. Mira had once told me Hudson never gave out I love yous. Even to her. But the look in his eyes said he felt it for her in spades.

Was that the way he looked at me? I wanted to say yes, but it was hard to be objective.

Hudson patted his sister’s hand then stepped away, turning his back to her momentarily. He was getting himself together. More than anything I wanted to go to him, to reassure him. But his body language so far had shown he didn’t necessarily want it.

My eyes stung. Again and again he shut me out. Even with something as normal as sharing concern over his sister, he couldn’t let me in. Didn’t he know how much it killed me?

This wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Forcing my smile in place, I stepped near Jack and gave my attention to Mira.

“I have to tell you,” she said to no one in particular, “this whole incident has proven one thing—labor is going to be a bitch. Those contractions hurt like a mother and when they hooked me up to this thing—” She gestured to the monitor. “They barely registered.”

Sophia sat in the armchair next to Mira. “Has this finally changed your mind about taking Lamaze?” Her condescension suggested this had been an ongoing battle.

Mira rolled her eyes. “It’s changed my mind about wanting drugs. I’d like them as soon as I arrive, please.” She hooked eyes with Adam, who had slipped in on the other side of her. “Can you add that to the birthing plan, honey?”

“Add them? I’m demanding them.” He brushed her hair from her forehead. “Sorry, but you’re not a nice person when you’re in pain.”

Mira’s eyes flared. “You keep that up and I’ll exclude you from the birthing room.” Adam hadn’t been kidding when he’d said she was feisty.

Chandler laughed. “I don’t think she’s joking.”

“Do they know what caused this in the first place?” Hudson’s question drew the room’s attention back to him. Though he was engaging now in the conversation, he still wasn’t huddling close like the rest of us.

Mira’s gaze flicked from me to Hudson. “A combination of dehydration and stress. Stress. Do you all hear that?” She narrowed her eyes and scanned the room. “So you two right there—” She gestured to Sophia and Jack. “You need to get your shit together because you are hurting me and my baby.”

Sophia’s mouth tightened, but she refused to look at Jack who stared after her tenderly. Man, he really did love her.

“And you two—” This time Mira pointed to me and then Hudson. “Don’t think I don’t notice how you’re standing apart. And you’re barely looking at each other. I don’t even want to know what the hell is going on with you right now. Go work it out.” The cuff on Mira’s arm began clicking as it tightened around her. She turned her attention to the numbers on the screen next to her.

I froze, not sure if she was actually sending us away or if she meant for us to work things out later.

Chandler seemed to get the sense that she meant now. “Are you kicking out Mom and Dad too?”

“No. Their crap is too messed up to fix on demand. But those two—” She sent us both scathing looks. “You better not be that messed up.”

“Might as well get comfy then.” Chandler settled on the couch and began playing on his phone.

I exchanged glances with Hudson. Shit. He wanted to be with Mira—and she was wrong, our crap was too big to solve quickly.

Hudson stepped toward his sister. “Mirabe—”

“I’m not kidding, Hudson. Leave. I don’t want to see either of you until you’ve got that happy glow again.” The machine next to her flashed a readout. “See? My blood pressure is spiking. Jesus.”

“Mira,” Adam said, “just take deep breaths. Settle down. Stop yelling at everyone.”

“I’m not yelling at everyone. I’m yelling at them!”

Adam turned to me and Hudson, his expression apologetic.

“We’re going.” Hudson gestured for me to proceed in front of him. “But we’ll be back,” he said over his shoulder.

“Happy and glowing,” Mira yelled after us.

We walked in silence toward the waiting room at the end of the hall. With each step, my heart grew heavier. This was wrong. I shouldn’t be there at the hospital. Hudson should. As for working things out, it was going to take him opening up. And he was certainly not ready for that. His attitude to me since we’d arrived proved that.

At the waiting room, Hudson held the door open for me to go in first. It was a small room, completely enclosed with several couches and a counter with coffee supplies. It was empty, thankfully. Babies might be born at all hours, but no one was expecting one at the moment. At least that gave us privacy.

I turned to face Hudson as he shut the door behind him. “I know you want to be in there with your sister. I can leave. Or we can pretend things are all hunky-dory, if you’d rather. I’ll under—”

Hudson cut me off. “Don’t leave.”

His desperation stunned me. Did that mean he did want me there? The man was a bunch of mixed signals. This signal I liked. I’d cling to it, if he’d let me. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

“For Mira.”

My spirits plummeted. “For Mira. Of course.” Not for him. He didn’t want me to stay for him.

All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure if I could do it anymore, if I could remain self-controlled around him. I turned away and made my way to a couch. With shaking knees, I took a seat.