Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 10) (30 page)

Summer was sitting up again, a soft smile on her face when he crossed back to her. He sat one hip on the edge of the bed and eased the baby into her arms.

She cradled him to her chest so naturally, her expression so full of maternal love and pride she was practically glowing. One of the nurses took pictures of them with Adam’s phone but he barely noticed her, too caught up in the moment with his little family.

“He really is perfect,” Summer breathed, stroking a fingertip down the side of his little cheek.

Adam wrapped his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her sweaty temple. “You were amazing.” But God, he was just so glad everything had turned out okay and that she wasn’t hurting anymore.

She let out a dry laugh. “I’ve never been in that much pain in my life, but it was worth it.” She bent to place a gentle kiss on Sam’s forehead. “You were so worth it, little man.”

The doctor finished tending to Summer and then a nurse encouraged her to try and feed Sam. After that, they told her she could have a shower. Adam steadied her as she gingerly eased her way over to the edge of the bed. “Want me to help you?”

She grimaced as she shifted and handed the baby to him. “No, I’ll be okay. Can you take him out to show my family? I know they’re dying out there.”

“You don’t want to do it?” he asked in surprise. He’d called his family when Summer had gone into labor and would call again soon to tell them the news. As soon as he did, his parents would undoubtedly be on the next flight up here.

“I don’t want to make them wait and I really want to clean up before I see anyone.”

“All right.” Cradling his son to his chest, Adam stepped out into the hallway. Summer’s parents and sister all jumped out of their seats, identical expressions of wonder and joy on their faces. “It’s a boy,” he told them. “This is Sam.”

Summer’s mom and sister were both crying as Adam placed the baby in his grandmother’s arms. He took pictures of them and posed for others, enjoying the obvious love everyone had for little Sam.
You are one lucky little dude
, he told his son silently as Summer’s dad handed him back.

“You look pretty natural, holding that baby, son,” he told Adam.

“I’ve had some practice,” he said. “One of the guys on the team just became a father a few months ago.”

“We met one of your teammates a little while ago,” Summer’s dad said. “I went into the waiting room to grab a coffee and I saw him in there. Brad Tucker.”

Adam blinked in surprise. “Tuck was here?”

“Still here,” Summer’s dad corrected. “He said he wanted to wait in there to give us all some privacy.”

Adam was touched that Tuck would come here. The team had been out on a late night training mission and would only have finished up in the last hour or so. He nodded toward the end of the hallway. “I’ll just say a quick hello and then come back. Summer said you guys can come into the room once she’s all cleaned up.”

He carried Sam to the end of the hall and pushed the door open. And stopped dead at the sight before him.

Tuck was there, all right. Along with their five other teammates and DeLuca. All of them were still dressed in their fatigues, clearly having come straight here from the training.

All the guys stood up, big smiles on their faces when they saw Adam holding the baby. “Hey, congrats, Dad,” Bauer told him, the first to break away from the group and approach him.

“Thanks. This is Sam,” he told everyone.

A chorus of cheers and congratulations went up. Sam jerked in Adam’s arms at the sudden noise, his little arms flailing for a moment, but then he went right back to sleep.

To Adam’s surprise, Bauer reached for the baby. Adam handed him over, the sight of Sam held in Bauer’s huge arms making his chest go tight. These guys weren’t his blood, but they might as well be. They’d had his back from day one, and his teammates being here right now meant the world to him.

“God, I’ve forgotten how tiny they are when they’re first born,” Bauer murmured, a big grin on his hard face as he stared down at Sam. He looked up at Adam, let out a soft chuckle. “You look like you’ve been through a war, man. How you doing? Pretty surreal, right?”

He still felt a little dazed by it all. “Yeah. It’s hard to believe he’s finally here.”

“Well, all I can say is it’s a good thing you’re no stranger to handling sleep deprivation. The first few months are fun times.”

“I’m up for the challenge.”

“How’s Summer doing?”

“Good. Great, actually, all things considered. I thought I knew what to expect through the birth, but…” He blew out a breath, shook his head. Watching her suffer like that had ripped his guts out.

Bauer nodded. “I know. It’s intense and scary as hell, watching your wife go through that. I almost fucking fainted when Zoe—” He winced, looked down at Sam in apology. “Sorry, buddy. You’re not even an hour old yet and you’ve already heard your first curse word.”

“Pretty sure it won’t be his last,” Schroder remarked dryly, and Adam couldn’t help but grin.

Bauer grunted and looked back at Adam. “Anyway, I remember how it was when Libby was being born.” He gave a mock shudder. “Never seen anything like that and not sure I want to again.”

Intense didn’t even cover it, but he knew his teammate perfectly. “Yeah. Me neither.”

Bauer glanced over at the others. “Anybody else wanna turn holding this good-looking little dude?” When nobody moved he started to hold the baby out to Schroder.

The medic held up his hands and backed up a step, shaking his head, clearly terrified to touch the baby. “Uh, no, I’m good. Thanks.” Cruzie, Vance and Evers all backed up with him, looking slightly worried, like Sam was a live grenade or something.

Bauer snorted and tucked the baby back against his chest, glowering at them. “Pussies.”

“I’ll take a turn,” DeLuca said, and all eyes turned to him in surprise. He and Briar had just gotten married a couple months before, eloping on a day off. “What?” he asked with a scowl. “I’m planning to be a dad someday, so I might as well start getting the hang of it now.” His expression melted into a smile when he took Sam from Bauer. “He’s a handsome little guy, all right,” he said to Adam. “Must take after his mama.”

Everyone laughed but Adam nodded. “I can’t argue with that.” Next Tuck took a turn holding the baby before carefully handing him over to Adam.

Adam held Sam close, already feeling more comfortable, already in love with and feeling insanely protective of his son. This was by far the best day of his life, bar none.

Looking around at his teammates, he cleared his throat. “I appreciate you guys all coming down here.” They were no doubt all beat up and tired, probably dreaming of a hot shower and their beds, yet here they were, on their own time, to support him and Summer. “It means a lot.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t miss it,” Tuck said, slapping him on the back once. “We’re really happy for you guys.”

Adam nodded. “Thanks.” It had been a long, hard road for him and Summer to get here, but that only made him more appreciative for what he had. A loving wife and a beautiful newborn son. “Well. Guess I’d better get this little guy back to his mama.”

“Give Summer our best,” DeLuca told him. “We’ll see you back at work in a few days.”

“You know it.”

Heading back down the hall to Summer’s room with their son in his arms, Adam gazed down at little Sam and couldn’t help but smile.

Yeah. Best day of his life by a long shot.

—The End—

Thank you for reading RECLAIMED. I really hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll consider leaving a review at one of your favorite online retailers. It’s a great way to help other readers discover new books.

If you liked RECLAIMED and would like to read more, turn the page for a list of my other books. And if you don’t want to miss any future releases, please feel free to join my
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http://kayleacross.com/v2/newsletter/

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Hostage Rescue Team Series

Marked

Targeted

Hunted

Disavowed

Avenged

Exposed

Seized

Wanted

Betrayed

Reclaimed

Titanium Security Series

Ignited

Singed

Burned

Extinguished

Rekindled

Bagram Special Ops Series

Deadly Descent

Tactical Strike

Lethal Pursuit

Danger Close

Collateral Damage

Suspense Series

Out of Her League

Cover of Darkness

No Turning Back

Relentless

Absolution

PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Empowered Series

Darkest Caress

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

The Vacant Chair

EROTIC ROMANCE (writing as
Callie Croix
)

Deacon’s Touch

Dillon’s Claim

No Holds Barred

Touch Me

Let Me In

Covert Seduction

Many thanks to my team for helping me with this story! This is a bittersweet moment for me, ending this series when I’ve become so attached to this cast of characters.

NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and family.

You can visit Kaylea at
www.kayleacross.com
. If you would like to be notified of future releases, please join her
newsletter
. Direct link:
http://kayleacross.com/v2/newsletter/

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