“My God, I think this just might be the worst machine-dispensed coffee I’ve ever had.” A beat later, she was turning her attention back to Valentina.

“Smith is the most driven of all of us,” Lori told her and Valentina knew how extraordinary a statement that was, considering how successful each and every one of the Sullivans was. “I used to think that he was waiting to hit a certain stage of his career before he gave his personal life the same priority. But now I know that wasn’t it.”

Lori smiled at her with such open affection that Valentina felt the tightness in her chest start to fade.

“He was simply waiting for the right woman.” She squeezed Valentina’s hand. “I’m so glad he’s found you.”

* * *

Smith found Sophie and Jake bracing for a contraction when he walked into their room wearing the scrubs the nurse had given him. His heart stopped for a moment as he saw his elegant and soft-spoken sister gritting her teeth and groaning low and long as the pain hit her. Her husband had one hand in hers, the other brushing back the damp hair from her forehead as he whispered encouraging words into her ear.

His mother put her arm around him and said in a low voice, “The anesthesiologist has just been in. Her pain should be lessening soon.”

Smith could barely swallow past the lump in his throat. He couldn’t stand to see his baby sister in pain, even if giving birth was supposed to be the most natural thing in the world. Yes, he and Tatiana had played this out on screen, but pretending to be in labor was very, very different from actually going through it.

Finally, when the contraction finished having its way with her, Sophie looked up through eyes blurred with pain and gave him a weak smile.

“Smith. You’re here.”

He quickly moved to the open seat at her other side. “Of course I am, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and took her hand in his.

Seven months ago, the four of them—Sophie, Jake, his mother, and Smith—had been in another hospital room together. He’d flown in from Australia not just to make sure his sister had come through her emergency surgery in one piece, but also to give a piece of his mind to the man he’d called a friend. The man Smith believed had betrayed them all by seducing his sister.

It hadn’t taken him long, fortunately, to accept the love between Sophie and Jake, and to understand just how long in coming it had been. His mother, it turned out, had always seen it, but then again, when had she ever missed one single thing for any of them? And, of course, Mary Sullivan was the first one Smith had confessed his own feelings to. Because he’d known she’d understand and support him, no matter whom he loved, or how difficult it had been to convince that one precious woman to love him back.

“Yes, I love him,” Valentina had said. And there had never been sweeter words spoken, or ones that touched his heart so deeply. And even if the first time he heard her say those words had been to a bunch of paparazzi, instead of directly to him, he wouldn’t ever want her to take them back.

“How is Valentina?” Sophie asked him as if she could read his mind. She grinned before he could reply and said, “You knew Lori would tell me about the two of you.”

“Amazing,” he told his sister as he thought of the way Valentina had faced the paparazzi and sacrificed herself to their spotlights—for him and for his family—without fear, without hesitation. “She’s absolutely amazing.”

“Oh Smith, I’m so h—”

Her words were cut off by another contraction. Her hand clamped down on his so hard he heard his joints crack at the force of her small, strong fingers wrapped around his much bigger fingers.

Every last ounce of Jake’s concentration was on his wife, and soothing her pain, even though it was clear to Smith that he was barely holding on to his own control. If Smith had any final reservations about his friend’s love for his sister, they were all dispelled as he witnessed Jake’s utter devotion to Sophie.

When the contraction finally passed, and her grip had loosened the slightest bit, she gave them both a watery smile. “I think that one was a little better.”

“You’re doing so great, sweetheart,” Smith told her, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m so proud of you.”

She smiled at him, such a pure sweet smile full of love, and in that moment she was again the quiet little girl he’d always taken special care of, making sure that his louder brothers and sister didn’t run roughshod over her.

But, just as he’d said to Valentina, Sophie was a heck of a lot tougher than people gave her credit for. Tough enough to withstand the pain of yet another contraction as it hit her like a Mack truck.

Smith turned to meet his mother’s eyes and even though he knew she didn’t like seeing her daughter in pain any more than the rest of them, it was clear where Sophie had gotten her strength from. Mary Sullivan looked delicate, and was just as beautiful now as she’d been in her modeling days...but they’d all learned their strength from her.

Looking back at his sister, Smith saw that Sophie’s head was buried in the crook of Jake’s shoulder as she worked to get her breath back between contractions. Smith would always be there for her, but now he finally realized she didn’t need him to protect her from the world anymore.

She had Jake. And Smith knew with utter certainty that her husband would never let any of them down. Especially not the woman who meant absolutely everything to him.

With another kiss to her cheek, Smith said, “I love you, Soph. And I can’t wait to meet your babies.” He silently passed on his trust, and faith, to Jake, who accepted it with a nod.

Smith slipped his fingers from hers and left his sister with the two people he trusted with her life. Sophie had found the forever love that she’d been looking for.

And so had he.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Valentina was sitting with Lori in the waiting room when Smith emerged from Sophie’s room. Both of them immediately jumped up as Lori asked, “How is she?”

Smith smiled. “She’s great. Better than great. The contractions are pretty rough,” he said as he flexed his hand to try to get the bones back in the right position, “but I don’t think it will be long now.”

Chase’s wife Chloe was holding onto her baby daughter in the waiting room, clearly close enough to her own birth experience to sympathize. “God, I swear I can feel her pain even from here.”

Baby Emma chose that moment to reach out and grab Heather’s ponytail with a happy giggle. Everyone laughed along with the baby, who looked around at her big family with glee.

Zach’s fiancée took the baby when Emma reached out for her and together Heather and Zach pressed kisses to each of her soft cheeks so that she giggled even louder as she really got a good hold on Heather’s ponytail.

But even though Smith absolutely adored his little niece, he couldn’t take his eyes off Valentina. Every moment he’d been with Sophie and Jake, he’d been thinking of her. Now, even with his entire family surrounding them, it was as if they were the only two people in the room.

For the first time in his entire life, he was so overcome with love he simply couldn’t get any other part of his body to work, save his heart, which beat only for her.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes,” he said, both for the knowledge that Sophie was in good hands...and for the very, very sweet knowledge that Valentina loved him.

Conversation flowed around them, but Smith was happy just holding Valentina in his arms. She was quiet and warm against him. A short while later, his mother burst out of the double doors with the biggest smile he’d ever seen on her face.

“She did it!” Her eyes overflowed with happy tears. “Oh, they’re so beautiful. Sophie and Jake can’t wait for all of you to meet their little girl and boy.”

Mary Sullivan was one of the most even-keeled women on the planet. She’d had to be to deal with eight rambunctious children, but for the first time ever she almost seemed unable to pull herself back together.

Marcus and Lori were the closest and they flanked her on either side as she said, “They named their daughter Jackie, after Jack.”

Smith felt his own eyes go damp at the tribute to his father, and was glad when Valentina moved even closer to him. This moment wouldn’t be nearly as good—or anywhere near complete—without her there to share it with him.

“And they named their son...” Mary looked at Smith and smiled through her happy tears. “They named him after you, Smith.”

Jesus. He’d never thought how much something like that would mean to him, but now he knew.

It meant the world.

“Oh, Smith,” Valentina said as she looked up at him with eyes that were so soft and warm they took his breath away just as much as hearing his sister had named her son for him. “That’s so sweet.”

Their mother wasn’t the only one sniffling now and when Marnie, the obstetrician who had also delivered Chase and Chloe’s daughter Emma earlier in the year, came out, she graciously accepted their thanks for another delivery gone well.

“Sophie and Jake were the ones doing all the work, but I’d be lying if I said a bottle of bubbly would be refused,” she said with a wink in Marcus’s direction. As everyone laughed, she said, “They’re all cleaned up and ready to meet their aunts and uncles now, although two or three at a time should be more than enough chaos for our nursing staff back here.”

Marcus, the oldest Sullivan, took a silent vote from his siblings before turning to Smith and saying, “Go meet Smith Junior and Jackie. But remember, the rest of us are waiting.”

Smith pulled Valentina through the double doors before she could protest that she wasn’t family. Of course, he’d also been banking on the fact that she clearly had a thing for babies.

There were scrubs and hand sanitizer waiting for them both outside Sophie’s room and he had to press a kiss to the back of Valentina’s neck when she automatically turned to have him tie the cotton strings together in the back. He loved the little shivers that moved through her as she leaned back into his arms for a moment.

But neither of them could wait another second to meet the two new additions to the family, so they quickly broke apart and stepped into Sophie and Jake’s room.

A soft sound of wonder fell from Valentina’s lips as she got her first look at the newborns. It shouldn’t have been easy to tell the little baby girl from the boy, but there was something undoubtedly male about Smith and sweetly female about Jackie.

Smith’s hands were already outstretched by the time he made it across the room to his sister’s side. She didn’t hesitate to place her son into his hands.

“He’s perfect, Sophie.”

Valentina was still standing by the doorway when Jake said, “Would you like to hold Jackie, Valentina?”

She was clearly overwhelmed by the offer. “I would love to,” she said softly, before finally saying, “Congratulations, they’re absolutely beautiful. I’m so happy for both of you.”

Smith could barely take his eyes off his little nephew, but when Jake handed Jackie to Valentina, he was beyond glad he didn’t miss the moment when she smiled down at the baby. She looked as open, as joyous, as she did whenever she was in his arms.

A moment later, she looked up and her gaze connected with his. This time Smith was the one with tremors moving through him.

Some people would say that as a movie star he’d already had everything. But he hadn’t. Not until Valentina. And now, he wanted it all. Not just Valentina’s love, not just a promise of forever in his arms and with her by his side, but family and babies and laughter and tears. He wanted to share every precious moment with her, every single one that really mattered.

Neither of them noticed the look Sophie and Jake gave each other or the pleasure on Sophie’s face at the realization that she was getting to witness her beloved big brother finally giving his heart completely away.