It was amazing at how the past twenty-four hours had solidified Jason’s place in her heart. The process had begun before they’d been released, but being able to see him, and hold him for longer than just a few minutes at a time, had helped her bond with him in a way she’d missed out on during the days and weeks following his birth. But now, with the help of rest and food—though she knew she had a ways to go until she was full strength, her lethargy was leaving her —and taking with it her inability to see a future for herself and Jason.
Smiling, she ran her fingers through his silky dark curls, then leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. She felt his fist bop against her neck and pulled back to look into his dark eyes. He paused in his sucking and then, to her surprise, his lips curved up in a gummy smile around the bottle’s nipple. Her heart expanded with love as she realized this was the first time she’d seen him smile.
Looking up, Hannah found Ryan watching them with an intense gaze. His image wavered as moisture cast a film over her eyes. “He just smiled at me.”
A bit embarrassed by the emotion in her voice and her tears, Hannah bent her head, looking down at Jason once again.
“A baby’s first smile is a precious thing,” Emma said softly.
Though Hannah had no idea if this was actually Jason’s first smile, she appreciated Emma’s words. Even if this wasn’t his first smile, it was his first for her, and that was all that mattered. Thanks to Ryan and the people who’d worked for their release, she had a lifetime of Jason’s firsts ahead of her.
As the descent of the plane became more obvious, Hannah looked out the window to see the city of Winnipeg sprawled out below them. She’d never been there before, but it appeared Winnipeg was going to be her home for the foreseeable future.
The blanket of white over the city reminded her that they’d gone from a relatively mild winter to a fierce one. Hopefully someone brought warmer jackets to the airport for them because Hannah doubted that what they were wearing would hold up against a February winter on the prairies.
Nervousness grew within her as the ground rushed toward them. The meeting with Ryan’s family was closer now than ever, and Hannah was still uncertain how she felt about it. Grateful, of course, but what would they expect from her? What sort of relationship would she have with them? If they were anything like Ryan, she was probably going to have more friends than she’d ever had before in her life.
When the plane landed, the captain came over the intercom to let them know that they had to remain on the plane until a representative from Immigration Canada boarded.
“Looks like we’ll have to meet with a government official, after all,” Ryan said with a sigh. “Hopefully they’re informed on our situation, so it’s not a hassle.”
When the man from Immigration Canada boarded the plane, he was all business, but he also did seem aware of the circumstances of their arrival. He checked the passports for everyone else on the plane, then asked a few questions of Hannah and Ryan before giving them permission to deplane.
The flight attendants handed her and Ryan a couple of heavier jackets. Those who had come from Winnipeg had their own winterwear that they pulled on. Emma came and helped her switch Jason into a heavier sleeper and then showed her the covering they had for the car seat that would keep him warm. Emma also draped a blanket over the handle of the car seat.
Once they all had their jackets and winter gear on, they gathered up their things, then, one by one, they headed down the stairs of the plane to the tarmac. Ryan carried Jason’s car seat, but when he got to the bottom of the stairs, he handed it to one of the other men and was grabbed into a tight embrace by a tall, dark-haired man. Neither seemed inclined to end the hug quickly, which led Hannah to believe that this was one of Ryan’s many brothers.
When they finally separated, both men had damp eyes that they swiped at with no sign of embarrassment.
“Hannah, I’d like you to meet my older brother, Bennett.” The tall man smiled at her, the skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “Benn, this is Hannah Walsh.”
Bennett held out his hand and gave Hannah’s a firm shake when she took it. “It’s a real pleasure to meet you, Hannah. Welcome home.”
“Thank you,” Hannah said.
“And this is baby Jason,” Ryan said as he took the car seat back from the man waiting next to him.
Bennett bent and lifted the corner of the blanket to peek at Jason. “Oh boy, is Olivia going to love you.”
“Olivia is Bennett’s daughter,” Ryan explained.
Bennett dropped the blanket and straightened. “Yep. She’s two now, and all about the babies.”
“We’re off,” Emma said, slipping an arm around Hannah’s shoulder and giving her a quick squeeze. “Remember that my card is in the pocket of Jason’s diaper bag. Call me at any time if you have any concerns.”
“Thank you so much for everything.”
“You’re more than welcome. Take care of yourself.”
“My car’s over here,” Bennett said once the others had said their goodbyes.
Their job for this part of the journey was done, though Hannah looked forward to seeing Emma and her husband again at the follow-up appointments.
At Bennett’s vehicle, which had a business logo on the side doors, Ryan strapped the car seat in while Bennett loaded the few bags they had into the back. After Hannah was situated in the backseat beside Jason, grateful for the warmth of the vehicle, Ryan and Bennett climbed in the front.
“Hope you’re ready for a load of tears, bro,” Bennett said as he guided the car away from the plane. “Mom’s been weepy ever since news of your kidnapping came, but today, when you’d think she’d be happy, she’s been teary every time we turned around.”
“I’m not going to begrudge her any tears since I have a feeling I’m going to shed a few myself,” Ryan said, emotion clear in his voice. “It was hard not to wonder at times if I’d ever get to hug her—or any of you—again.”
“Yes, we’ve all been feeling that way about you too. I can’t tell you how ecstatic we all were when Marcus called with the news of your video. What an answer to prayer.”
Hannah smiled as she listened to Ryan try to get all the news out of his brother.
“If it’s not my news, I’m not allowed to share,” Bennett said, glancing over at Ryan with a grin. “But there is news, I will tell you that much.”
As Bennett drove them out of the city, Hannah looked down to find that Jason was asleep. She hoped that his ability to fall asleep quickly and apparently sleep for a solid stretch of time would continue. Though she wanted to be able to care for Jason herself, if he was up a lot during the night or fought going to sleep, it was going to be a struggle for her given that she was still low on strength and needing extra sleep herself.
But before she had to worry about how they would do with sleeping that night, she had to face Ryan’s family. It appeared that was going to happen shortly as Bennett turned the vehicle off the main highway onto a long driveway.
As they rounded a curve, Ryan said, “Is everyone here?”
Hannah leaned to look between the two front seats and saw what looked like a parking lot in front of a large two-story home with a wide verandah that ran all the way across the front.
“I think I’d have an easier time telling you who’s not here,” Bennett said as he came to a stop behind a large white truck. “Basically, just Kenton.”
He’d barely stopped the car before the front door opened, and people began to stream out. Ryan pushed open his door and was out and running toward them. Hannah sat for a moment, uncertain what to do, but then her door swung open, and she looked up to see Bennett standing there with a smile.
“Come on out. They won’t bite,” he said. “I’ll get the baby.”
Hannah slid out of the vehicle and stepped back, pulling the collar of her jacket up around her cheeks to ward off the cold. It was clear Bennett had experience with car seats because he had it out fairly quickly.
She walked beside him to the front door, trying to prepare herself for what lay ahead. The group that had been on the porch had already retreated back inside, no doubt to escape the cold.
Bennett held the door open for her, and Hannah walked in, her nerves flaring as she spotted the people gathered in the foyer. Immediately, a slender, dark-haired woman with dark eyes separated from them and came towards her with a friendly smile on her face. Before she could even say anything, the woman wrapped her arms around Hannah in a tight hug. Hannah couldn’t remember the last time she’d experienced such an embrace.
When the woman stepped back, she said, “Hi, Hannah. I’m Maya. Welcome home.”
With the way the woman said the words, it was like she truly believed that Hannah was home, and not just in the general sense that Canada was her home. “Thank you.”
“This little guy is Jason,” Bennett said as he uncovered the car seat.
“Oh my goodness, he’s so cute,” Maya said as she dropped down in front of him. She looked up at Hannah. “Can I take him out?”
Hannah nodded as Bennett said, “Maya is married to our brother, Gabe. She’s also Max Zavardi’s daughter.”
The name was one she’d heard only in the past few days even though it seemed as if she should have known of him before. Ryan had mentioned he was a family friend, but not that his daughter was married to one of his brothers.
Maya stood with Jason in her arms, bouncing and swaying lightly as she held him. “What an answer to prayer to have the three of you here. I can’t wait to get to know you better. I hope you don’t feel too overwhelmed. I know how it can be with this family.” She gave Bennett a wink. “I hope you’re ready for an instant family because you’ve got one now. I had parents, but they still adopted me. And my parents too.”
Bennett laughed at that. “I guess we kind of did, didn’t we? But don’t worry, Hannah, we don’t quiz people on names for at least a day or two after you meet us all.”
Suddenly they were joined by a man with dark blond hair who had a slight limp as he walked. He slipped his arm around Maya’s shoulders. Looking down at Jason, he reached out and ran a finger along his cheek. “And who do we have here?”
“This is Jason, babe,” Maya said as she glanced up at him. “Isn’t he cute?”
“He’s absolutely adorable,” the man—Gabe, Hannah presumed—said. “But my answer is still no. I want you to myself for just a little while longer.”
Maya sighed as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “One of these days I’ll wear you down.”
“But first things first,” he said. “Now that Ryan’s home, we can go on our honeymoon.”
“Oh my goodness,” Maya said. “Your priorities—”
“Are straight. And I have a feeling that Ryan would agree with me,” Gabe said then turned to smile at Hannah. “By the way, my name is Gabe, and I’m the better-looking twin. If you see some guy wandering around that looks like me, and you think to yourself, hey, he isn’t as good-looking as the last time I saw him just know that you’re looking at Mitch.”
Before Hannah could respond, a blonde woman walked up beside Gabe and bumped his shoulder. “You’re never going to convince me that’s actually true.”
“Well, you’re his wife, so I can accept that you might be blinded by love.”
Hannah frowned at Gabe’s comment. She recalled Ryan talking about his twin brothers. One had been engaged and planning a wedding, which she’d assumed was Gabe, but now it sounded like Mitch was married too.
The woman held out her hand to Hannah. “Hi, Hannah. I’m Belle.”
Hannah shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Are you the wedding planner?”
Belle nodded with a smile. “That would be me.”
“Ryan mentioned that you were helping plan a wedding, but he didn’t say anything about you dating Mitch.”
“That’s because we weren’t officially dating when he was last here. We’d spent a lot of time together, and Mitch wanted us to be dating, but I was stubborn. Once we got things straightened out, we decided we didn’t need a long engagement or a fancy wedding. We ended up getting married in a double ceremony with Maya and Gabe.”
“They surprised all of us,” Bennett said. “It was like they eloped but didn’t.”
“It was a beautiful evening,” Maya said, a dreamy look on her face. “What a way to ring in the New Year.”
“It’s almost like a family thing now, to share a joint wedding.” Another blonde woman joined them, this one with a little girl in her arms. The toddler had two pigtails that curled just above her ears. She had originally started to reach for Bennett, but then her gaze fell on Jason who was still in Maya’s arms.
“My baby,” the little girl announced.
“Sorry, sweetie,” Bennett said as he lifted her from the woman’s arms. “That’s not your baby. That’s Hannah’s baby boy. Jason.”
“Nana’s baby?” Her tiny forehead furrowed. “Not my baby?”
Maya walked to Hannah and let her take Jason into her arms. “See? This is Auntie Hannah, and Jason is her baby.”
Hannah wondered if she’d just made an enemy of the toddler who didn’t look happy at all that she had a prior claim on Jason.
“I’m Grace,” the woman who’d arrived with the toddler said. “And this little girl is Olivia.”
“Why don’t we let Hannah get a little further into the house,” Bennett suggested. “At least let her find a seat before she has to meet the rest of us since we’re all here. Well, except for Kenton, but he’ll be calling when he gets a chance.”
“Come on into the living room,” Maya said, slipping an arm around her shoulders again. “I know my dad would like to meet you.”
Hannah was already feeling slightly overwhelmed, but she owed these people everything, so if they wanted to talk with her, she felt she needed to at least be present. She allowed Maya to guide her into the large living room. There were even more people there, but her gaze immediately sought out Ryan.
She found him seated on a large couch beside an older woman that she assumed was his mom. The older woman had both of Ryan’s hands gripped in hers, and her cheeks were damp with tears. An older man sat at her side, his arm around her.
“Why don’t you sit here with Belle?” Maya suggested as she gestured to a loveseat where the other woman was sitting.
As Hannah sat down, holding Jason close, Belle smiled at her and patted the shoulder of the man who was seated on the floor by her legs. “Mitch, this is Hannah.”
The man had a familiar look, but his smile wasn’t quite as gregarious as Gabe’s had been. “Nice to meet you, Hannah, and your little guy too.”
Hannah shifted Jason around so that he faced Mitch and Belle. “This is Jason.”
“He is so adorable,” Belle said. “It will be nice to have a boy to balance out all the little girls in the family.”
As they sat there, Belle pointed out more of the family members, naming them one at a time. Maya returned to where they were sitting with a middle-aged man and woman. Hannah realized that they were her parents. When she started to get to her feet, the man gestured for her to stay sitting.
“Hannah, this is my dad, Max, and my mom, Yuka.”
The man dropped to one knee in front of her, bringing them almost to eye level. “How are you doing, Hannah?”
“I’m doing well, thank you.”
“Excellent. Were the doctors I sent over able to help you?”
“Yes. Emma was of particular help with Jason since she watched him while I slept. I’m not up to full strength yet, so that was a tremendous blessing. Thank you for sending them to us.”
“They’re the best,” Max said with a smile. “Also, I want you to know that for the time being, there will be a night nurse available to help with Jason.”
As much as she wanted to be able to care for her son herself, Hannah felt a rush of relief at his words. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m sure that it might take you
some time to regain your strength, so this will allow you to get rest and hopefully hasten that process along.”
As if understanding that her gratitude was triggering emotions that made responding difficult, Maya squeezed her shoulder. “And there are tons of us available to babysit at other times, so don’t ever hesitate to ask. We all love babies. Well, except Gabe. Apparently, he doesn’t because he doesn’t want us to have one of our own.”
Mitch laughed. “Gabe is still so much a child himself that there’s no way he can be a dad yet.”
“That’s not a problem,” Maya said. “I’m fully prepared to parent both of them.”
Hannah was grateful for the laughter around them which gave her a chance to get her emotions back under control. In the short time she’d been there, she could already see how close this group of people were. She’d never had this many people in her life at one time before. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ryan looked around at all the people he hadn’t been sure he’d ever see again, so grateful to finally be able to hug his mom and dad and each of his siblings. He’d been surprised to discover that he now had two new sisters-in-law. One he had known he’d be getting, but the other… What a surprise—a pleasant one, however—to learn that in the time he’d been detained, Mitch and Belle had not only decided to date, they’d gotten married as well.
Though he was sad to have missed the big New Year’s Eve double wedding, he was thrilled that they were all married. He was relieved that they’d gone on with their lives. It would have been difficult to hear that they’d put everything on hold, just waiting for him to return.
He noticed that Hannah was sitting with Belle, Jason held close. Maya was there with them as well, and as he watched her interact with Hannah, Ryan hoped that they would become good friends. Maya was gentle and patient in a way that not many people were. Hannah could do a lot worse than having Maya as a friend.
From conversations they’d had, Ryan got the feeling that Hannah didn’t have many friends and that she appeared to be okay with that. He had no idea how she’d cope with having his whole family willing to befriend her, but perhaps she’d settle on just getting close to one or two of them.
A Little Ray of Sunshine: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 7) Page 10
