Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1) by Faith Loveright Page A

where the good doctor was concerned went. “Say no more. I get it. Trust me, there’s a reason why I donate my sperm. I have no interest in settling down and making a family. That’s more Eric’s speed. He fell in love at a really early age. They were practically babies when they got married. I knew then that as happy as it made me to see him like that, I had no longing to go there myself. Losing her the way he did… well, it did something to my brother. It was as if we’d buried both of them instead of just her. I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes me, to see him acting like he’s coming back to life again, thanks to you.”
    “It isn’t because of me,” Madeline argued, shaking her head in denial. “It’s because of Lillie Rose.”
    “Lillie Rose?” he asked, cocking his head in confusion.
    “Our daughter,” she answered, grinning widely. “As I said before, he’s over at the nursery with her right now, if you’d like to go see him. He wanted to leave me alone in peace so I could get some much needed sleep.”
    The hint was hardly subtle and he nodded his head, turning around and shutting the door behind him as he headed down the hall towards the nursery. It was time to congratulate his big brother and remind him that he was alive and that his daughter needed him to act the part and not as if he was half dead and buried. He had seen the way Madeline’s eyes had lit up when she’d talked about Eric. Even if there was any doubt about what it had meant, there was no denying or arguing with the fact that she’d referred to the baby as “our daughter”… signifying the fact that she’d accepted Eric as a very important person in the life of the little girl she loved.
    “Hey, big bro,” Jeff said as Eric spotted him and stepped out into the hall to see what he wanted. “I guess congrats are in order,” he said, nodding towards the baby girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs as the nurse stuck a needle into the bottom of her tiny foot.
    “I never thought I’d see the day,” Eric whispered softly, looking back through the window with so much love in his eyes, it almost broke Jeff’s heart.
    “Vic would want you to enjoy the moment… to love your daughter… and to go with your feelings for the woman who gave this precious little girl, life. She would want the three of you to be a real family, bro.”
    “I do love that little girl… More than I ever knew it was possible for me to ever love another human,” Eric admitted, turning fully towards the window to watch as the nurse ran a damp cloth over the baby’s head. “She’s so beautiful,” he whispered huskily.
    “You are so thick headed!” Jeff grumbled sourly. “Everything I said, and the only thing you heard was my telling you to love your daughter. You’ve got nothing to say about the mention of Victoria… or of Madeline. You didn’t even comment on my suggesting you need to get a life.”
    “I’m not ignoring you,” Eric grumbled under his breath, refusing to look at his little brother. “Really, I’m not. As a matter of fact, just before Madeline went into labor, I almost…. That is… we nearly…”
    “Why, you old snake in the grass!” Jeff accused, crossing his arms in disbelief. “You were holding out on me. Details… What? Did you send her into labor? Were things that intense in the sack between the two of you?”
    Eric laughed and turned away from his brother to look at his daughter. “You are such a perverted little cuss, you know that, right?” he teased, shaking his head in denial. “Things never got that far. Really, we never made it past some heavy flirting before she went into labor.”
    “Well, it’s better than nothing,” Jeff chuckled, feeling happy for his big brother. “Just, do yourself a big favor. Don’t blow this. That woman is sweet, beautiful and very much into you. She already loves your daughter… This could be the real deal, bro.”
    “I had the real deal once,