Текст книги "Ever Enough"
Автор книги: Stacy Borel
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
“Wake up Tiny Girl.” I felt something nuzzling the underside of my ear. I was warm and cozy and I’d just had the best night’s sleep in a very long time. Still half asleep I moaned. It had been the best dream ever and I refused to wake up. I was dreaming that Finn had stayed in bed with me after an amazing night of foreplay and heartfelt conversation. Scooting in closer to my warm spot, I drifted deeper into my happy haze.
“Em, are you going to sleep the day away?” There was that voice again. It was speaking so softly that I wanted to roll around and wrap myself up in it. I felt a small tickle on the side of my neck. “My sweet girl…” I opened one eye and looked around the room. Where was I? Turning my head a bit, I opened the other eye. Oh that’s right, I was in my room.
“There’s those bright blue eyes.” I suddenly shifted to face where the noise was coming from. Finn was lying beside me, his arms wrapped around my center, and a hand on my stomach. Holy cow I hadn’t been dreaming! He really did sleep with me last night. While I lay there sifting through the memories of last night, I realized he was talking to me and I hadn’t been paying attention.
“I’m sorry, I guess I’m not totally awake yet. What did you say?”
He chuckled. “I said, did you sleep well?”
Covering my mouth, I stifled a yawn, “I slept well. I could probably sleep the whole day away.” I closed my eyes and started to drift again.
“Em…” Finn said again against the shell of my ear. “Tiny Girl, we have your appointment soon. You need to wake up.” The soft air that was swirling around my ear was giving me goose bumps and doing things to me that made me want a repeat of the night before. I re-opened my eyes and looked at the clock. Holy shit I’d slept until eleven!
I flew up out of bed quickly. Well, as quickly as a five-month pregnant woman can move. “Son of a bitch, I’m going to be late!” I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom to get dressed. I vaguely heard Finn laughing as he shuffled towards the door. Not wanting him to see me naked again—and definitely not in the bright morning light—I threw on my pants and shirt just before the bathroom door opened.
He was standing there in the doorway, a pair of boxer briefs sitting low on his hips. I couldn’t help but stop and admire the godly man before me, taking in everything from his long lean legs, to that perfect V that led up to his tightly packed abs; his broad chest, to his gorgeous face. I sighed loudly. Even his hair was a perfect sexy mess that I wanted to run my fingers through. Despite his Adonis-like body, it was his eyes that stood out the most. With the sunlight shining through the bathroom window, his eyes were a crystal-clear blue that hypnotized me. I was getting the full effect of them as he stared right at me like he wanted to devour me. Holy shit I wanted him… like right then!
He took a step towards me, and I stood as still as a statue. Gulping hard, he came forwards until he was directly in front of me. Finn brought his hand up and brushed it across my cheek. He slid his large, yet graceful, hand behind my neck and bent down to place a soft kiss on my lips. Pulling back slightly, he said “I didn’t get a chance to say good morning before you went all frantic on me.”
I just stared. I couldn’t respond, and I don’t think I wanted too. Well I did, but it was in the form of sexual favors. His look had me frozen in place. His eyes searched my face, as concern replaced the light-hearted morning kiss he’d just given me.
“Em, you okay?”
“Huh?” My eyes roamed his thick dark lashes, before moving down to his full lips. Hello horny preggo here! Why were we even talking? In fact, why was he even wearing clothes? Clothes shouldn’t be allowed on him.
“I can practically hear your thoughts Tiny Girl.” His voice deepened. “And if you’re thinking what your face is telling me, I’m more than happy to help you out with that.” He gave me a cocky smile. Leaning in to whisper in my ear, he brushed his chest against my covered breasts, “But it’s going to have to wait until later, because we need to get going.”
He turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me to watch his fine ass moving away. I wanted to whimper. Not to mention I was slightly embarrassed that I wanted to push him down and fuck him on the tiled floor. I scrubbed my hand down my face and finished getting ready.
About fifteen minutes later I went out into the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice. Today was my ultrasound and I’d heard that juice helped to make the baby move around a bit more. Finn followed in behind me. He smelled amazing. He was freshly shaven and the aftershave invaded my senses. I was going to have to get control of myself if I planned on learning to be with Finn objectively. I couldn’t keep mentally undressing him, and giving in to my every hormonal whim. How was doing that ever going to teach me to trust that he was sincere about not leaving me again? If I kept throwing myself at him, it was possible I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between him actually wanting to be with me, and him wanting just that part of me.
Snapping back to reality, I picked up my cell phone and called Harper. She answered on the second ring.
“Hello Ms. Large and In Charge!”
“Ha ha! Not funny.” I was smiling anyway.
She giggled. “What’s going on hon?”
“My parents are cooking dinner tonight and they’ve invited us over and want Finn and Ky to come to.” I glanced over at Finn, who had been playing with his cell phone but had stopped to look at me.
“I’d love to come to dinner, but are you sure it’s a good idea to bring the asshat?”
“I’m sure Ky will be fine around my parents.”
“Are we talking about the same guy Em? The guy has no filter.”
I laughed. “Umm…hello, pot, I’ll introduce you to kettle later.”
“Bitch, shut up.” I could hear her smile.
“Awwww… that hurts. Is that any way to talk to your baby Momma?” Harper was full on laughing now. Finn smirked at the one sided conversation he was hearing. Looking down at his phone, his grin melted away.
“Okay enough small talk, I have to email out some information to a new client. What time do you want me to be there? And you’re not expecting me to bring Kyler, are you?”
“You don’t have to but it would be nice if you could bring him with you. Maybe put the fear of god in him so he doesn’t embarrass himself too much.” I was hopeful but it likely wouldn’t happen. The good news was, my parents were not only used to Harper’s mouth, they knew how Kyler was too. “Dinner starts at six.”
She groaned. “Okay, but can you call him and let him know? I don’t want to call him myself in case he starts accusing me of wanting him.”
“Don’t you?”
“You’re pushing your limits preggo. I’m not afraid to slap you around a bit.”
“Just stating the facts.”
“Uh huh,” she said. “I’ll be there, just call him for me and let him know he better be ready or I’ll leave his ass to walk.”
We said our goodbyes and I was left wondering when Harper would realize that she might actually have feelings for Ky. He genuinely was a good guy and frankly, a great match for my feisty best friend. They dished shit back and forth on equal grounds. I resolved to talk to Harper about it. She was certainly stubborn enough to ignore any feelings she might have for him.
I grabbed my slip on shoes that were under the table and put them on, and looked up to see Finn still messing around with his phone. His brows were down and his mouth was in a straight line. Whatever he was doing, he was serious about it.
“Hey, you ready to go?” I said to him.
He didn’t hear me. What on earth? I walked over to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and put his phone down to where I couldn’t see the screen.
“Did you hear me?”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” His face was etched with something I couldn’t put my finger on, but it made something in my stomach flip.
“I asked if you were ready to go?” I repeated myself.
“Oh… yeah sure. I’m sorry.” He got up and grabbed his car keys. He led me out of the house with his hand on the small of my back.
When we got in the car, I looked over at him.
“Everything okay Finn?”
He didn’t answer right away which made me feel uneasy. “Everything is fine. I’m sorry for not answering you in there. Just some shit in California that needed my attention.”
He gave me a tight smile. I wanted to believe him, but my gut was telling me there was more to the story. Not wanting to talk about it, I decided to drop it and we drove to the doctor’s office.
After sitting in the waiting room for twenty minutes, I was called back to the exam room. I’d been in here with Harper, but having Finn here felt funny. Not funny in a bad way, just… different. I sat down on the table and the paper crinkled beneath me. Finn was walking around the small room, taking inventory of everything there was to see. He stopped in front of all the posters, picked up the lids on a couple of jars sitting on the counter, and even opened a few drawers. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said he was nervous.
“Everything to your liking?” I teased.
His eyes were still searching the room. “Very funny Em. I just want to see what they have in here.”
“It’s a pretty standard room Finn, you can sit down and relax.”
“I am relaxed.”
“You could have fooled me. You’re pacing around, checking everything out like it’s some foreign environment.” He looked over at me, and I grinned at him. He rolled his eyes.
“I hate this place. Needles give me the heebie jeebies.” He actually shivered, which made me laugh.
“You don’t have to be in here with me you know. I am a big girl.”
He turned to face me, and his eyes held a solid promise. “I will be in here with you for every appointment Em. I’ve already told you, you’re not doing this alone anymore.”
“But I’ve never been alone. Harper can always still come with me.”
“No.”
His no was obviously the end of discussion. Which was actually good because Dr Monroe came in, rolling in with him a computer-looking thing with a large screen and keyboard.
“Hello Emilyn. Have you been feeling okay?” He looked over at Finn, who was now standing over the top of me in a protective manner.
“I’ve been feeling great, thanks for asking. This is Finley Morgan by the way. He will be with me for the rest of my appointments.”
Dr. Monroe reached out and offered his hand. Finn took it and they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you Finley. I’m glad Emilyn has another friend to come with her.”
Finn visibly bristled at the word ‘friend’, but that one didn’t need to be explained. In fact I wasn’t sure I could explain it even if I wanted to. I had no idea what Finn and I were right now. I don’t think we could exactly be called boyfriend and girlfriend. We seemed a bit more than such a cliché classification. Except, were we really? That was something I’d have to think about another time because I was about to see my baby on the ultrasound screen.
“Alright, let’s get started. I need you to lie back and lift your shirt. I’m going to put some of this jelly on your stomach again. It’s going to feel a bit cold again, I apologize for that.”
Finn stood up by my head while I did what Dr. Monroe asked.
Dr. Monroe squirted some blue gel on me and then ran the wand over my rounded stomach. He began moving it around in slow motion and an image appeared on the screen. I immediately recognized the fluttering as my baby’s heart.
“So here is the baby’s spine right here,” he pointed at a long boney looking image. He tapped the keyboard a couple of times, taking some measurements. “Here’s a little foot kicking around, which I’m sure you can feel fairly well by now.”
I smiled bigger than I already was and nodded my head.
“Right here is where the placenta is, and the cord coming out of it to your baby. It looks like everything is flowing properly.” More tapping on the keyboard. “Do you see the profile? What a perfect little face,” he practically cooed at the screen.
The baby really was perfect. I watched in awe as the image of my child moved around the screen. I’d never seen something more perfect. It was then that I remembered that Finn was standing by me. I was so consumed that I’d forgotten he was in the room too. Looking up at him he was watching the monitor and his eyes looked a bit glassy. Was he tearing up?
Not sure if I was making the right move, I reached up and laced my fingers through his hand that was resting by my head. He looked down at me then. He gave me one of the most loving and glorious smiles I’d ever seen. And if I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I’d seen love in them. Whether it was love for me, or for my child, I didn’t know. But at that very moment, Finn and I connected in a deeper way than we ever had before. He was here for me and my child. The look on his face was a look I’d expect to see on a father seeing his baby for the first time. This obviously wasn’t Finn’s child but looking at him now, you would never know the difference.
After some more tapping on the keyboard, Dr Monroe asked, “Would you like to know the sex of the baby?”
Looking away from Finn, I turned back to the doctor. I had thought about this for the past few months. Just as I opened my mouth to respond, Finn piped up.
“Yes. We definitely want to know!” He wasn’t even looking at me.
Dr. Monroe looked down at me and waited for confirmation.
“No, actually I don’t want to know.”
“What? Em…” Finn stopped talking when I turned my head back in his direction.
“I don’t want to know Finn. Not knowing what you’re having can be one of the great mysteries in life, and it’s just something that I’d rather be surprised about.”
He searched my face, trying to understand. “But what about planning and decorating the baby’s room? If we know, we can add pink or blue to go with the new yellow walls.”
I shrugged my shoulder, the paper beneath me creasing. “I’m fine with neutral colors.”
His brow furrowed, eventually looking away from me to the doctor. “I guess we don’t want to know.”
Dr Monroe gave me a kind smile. When he was done wiping the gel off my stomach, he went over to turn the lights on. I pulled my shirt back over my rounded tummy and Finn put a hand behind me to help me sit up. Dr. Monroe came over to the opposite side of the bed from Finn. Placing a handing on my shoulder he leaned in slightly.
“I love a good surprise! Here,” and he handed me a photo he had taken of the baby’s profile. “Just stop on the way out at the desk to schedule your next appointment and I’ll see you in another four weeks.” And with that he walked out of the door.
Left in the room with just Finn, it was silent. For some reason I couldn’t look at him. I expected him to be angry with me for not wanting to know the sex of the baby, but I also wanted to stand my ground. This was my child, and I hated to make it sound like I was being territorial but Finn wasn’t the father. If he wanted to be in our lives, I was more than okay with that, but as far as I was concerned I was the parent and I made the decisions, and this was something I didn’t want to know.
“Hey.” He was trying to get my attention. “Are you upset?”
I finally met his eye. “No, I’m fine. Are… are you upset with me?”
He was confused. “Why would I be upset?”
“Because, you wanted to find out and I didn’t.”
He shook his head, “Tiny Girl, if you didn’t want to know, then that was your choice. It would have been fun going out and buying pink or blue things, but I’ll just take this as a challenge. Bring on the neutral!” He smiled a sweet smile at me. I gave him a grin in return.
“Thanks… you know… for being here with me for this.”
He leaned in and touched his forehead to mine. “Always Em, always!”
I’d never been a big baby person, but holy shit that was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. There was an actual human being growing inside Emilyn. Standing there looking at that screen, it was hard to wrap my mind around the whole thing. I’d be forever grateful that she let me be in there with her. What’s more, Em had always been one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever laid eyes on, but after that experience I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone more beautiful than her. She was an incredible woman.
The rest of the day passed quickly and before long we were back in the car on our way to her parent’s house. She was quietly humming to herself from the passenger seat. I felt myself growing anxious about seeing her parents again after so long. Especially knowing that they’d witnessed first-hand what I’d put her through. I didn’t know if they would be angry with me? Had they held a grudge? We were around the corner when Em looked at me and gave me a dazzling smile that lit up her whole face.
“My Mom is making ribs and potato salad, I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course.”
She looked at me as if she expected more of an answer.
“Oh my gosh!” She was smiling now. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. She was staring at me. I was white knuckling the steering wheel.
“What?”
“Holy shit!” Okay, now she was flat out laughing.
“Really Emilyn, you shouldn’t curse. It’s bad for the baby.” I said, keeping my eyes on the road.
That made her laugh even more. She was doubled over holding on to her stomach and wiping tears from her eyes.
“You’re scared to see my parents again, aren’t you?”
I didn’t find this very amusing. “No, why would I be?”
“How about you tell me!” I watched her take deep breaths, and it looked like she was trying to make an honest attempt to stop laughing.
“I really don’t know why you’re laughing, but if you keep it up you’ll be paying for it later.”
That shut her up really quick. Now I was the one chuckling.
“So in all seriousness, are you worried about seeing them again? You look like you’re about to take a chunk out of the steering wheel Finn.”
She was right. I loosened my grip and decided to out my pansy ass.
“Yes, okay? I’m nervous to see them again. I loved your parents, but they were the ones that were here with you after… well you know. I’d understand if they didn’t ever want to see me again. Hell, I wouldn’t want to see me again either. If I could, I’d kick my own ass for what I did to you!”
Rolling her eyes she said, “Finn, enough! They’re fine with it. I’ve seen them both since you’ve come back and they obviously know that I’m living with you now. Really, truly, it’s all going to be fine. They know that we’ve talked quite a bit about everything that happened, and as long as I’m fine and moving on then so are they, okay?”
I wasn’t so certain, but I’d accept her answer for now. Who knew what Richard and Tessa would do or say to me when Em wasn’t in the room. Either way, I’d man up and deal with whatever they wanted to dish out to me because I deserved it. We pulled up to her parents’ driveway. Harper and Kyler weren’t there yet, which sucked because they would have acted as a great buffer for any potential awkwardness. Parking the car I turned to face her.
“What?” She cocked her head to the side.
“That laughing fit? Totally unacceptable. You should be worried.”
And with that I got out of the car, closing the door while she yelled my name. I walked around to her side and helped her out.
When she got out we made our way to the front door.
“What do you mean I should be worried?” She was chewing on her bottom lip. Holy shit that was turning me on. Simmer down boy. Let’s not give her Dad more ammo to fire at me.
“We’ll talk about it later.” I kissed the tip of her nose, and used my thumb to pull her lip out of her teeth.
We made our way inside and Em called out to her parents.
We found them standing in the kitchen talking. Emilyn’s Mom came and greeted her with a hug, and then her Dad did the same, kissing her cheek, when they pulled away and saw me still standing in the doorway.
“Finley Morgan, how are you honey?” Tessa came over to me with open arms. This was so not the greeting I had expected. She gave me a tight hug and pulled back to give me a once over. “Oh my word, have you gotten bigger since the last time I saw you? In fact, I think you’re even cuter now too.”
“Mom!”
I chuckled. “It’s fine Em. Thanks for the compliment.” She was still holding on to my arms. “Yes Tessa, I hit another growth spurt just after high school. I didn’t realize boys kept growing for another few years. Pretty certain I’m done now though.”
Looking down at Tessa it was like seeing what Em would look like in twenty years. She was a very beautiful woman. Richard cleared his throat.
“Finn, it’s nice to see you son. I hear you’ve been doing well.” He reached his hand out for me to shake.
I gladly took it, and let the warmth of his greeting wash over me. I hadn’t heard him call me son in ages. Now that I was hearing it again, I realized that I’d actually missed it. Just like Kyler’s Dad, Richard was a man that I looked up to and respected. After my Father died, he had stepped in and made me feel like I was a part of this family and started calling me ‘son’. Not wanting to get emotional, I greeted Richard with a hello.
“Nice to see you too Richard. Business has been doing well.”
“I’ve heard some of your songs on the radio. I’ve got to say, it’s kind of neat that I know that you wrote them.” Richard complimented me.
“Oh yes, and I’ve even caught him singing along to them in the car.” Tessa said grinning at her husband.
“Can it Tessa. The boy doesn’t need to know all of my secrets.” They smiled at each other in a loving way.
Em laughed and looked up at me with her radiant smile. The conversation between the three of them continued until the doorbell rang.
Emilyn went to answer it, while I stayed in the kitchen and offered to help Tessa with setting the table. She handed me some plates and I made my way in to the dining room table. I walked back into the kitchen to be greeted by a very annoyed looking Harper swiftly followed by Kyler—a shit eating grin plastered all over his face. Tessa clapped her hands excitedly.
“Oh my, it’s my lucky day! Another handsome boy to sit at my table. Kyler honey, how are you?” She gave him the same hug she gave me.
“Hi Mrs. Tucker, how are you?” Kyler actually lifted her off the ground.
Emilyn covered her face with embarrassment.
Harper walked over to kiss Richard on the cheek.
“Hey Dad, dinner smells good.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear, but what she said was loud enough for all of us to hear. “You going to let that asshat manhandle your wife like that?”
He chuckled. “Eh, let her have some attention from a younger man. Does her good sometimes.”
Harper grinned at him and he gave her a look of a loving father.
Ky walked over to the stove and picked at the ribs, before licking his fingers. “Mmm… this tastes amazing Mrs. T.”
“Ky man, would you get your fingers out of the food?” I shook my head at him.
“What?” he said innocently. Harper rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you kids go sit down and Richard and I will bring the food through in just a second.” Tessa said.
We walked into the dining room. I pulled the chair out for Em and took the seat next to her while Kyler and Harper went to the other side. Ky sat down leaving Harper still standing.
She grabbed her chair and pulled it out for herself. “Rude.” She said under her breath, flopping down in her seat. Ky didn’t even notice.
“Hey, Shorty?” Ky leaned across the table toward Em.
“What?” She said.
The look on his face said he was about to say something genius. “Did you ever realize what other meaning your Dad’s name has?”
She looked at him confused. Oh shit, he was so not going there. Okay, he actually was.
“What’s another name for Richard?”
“Jesus.” Harper said.
“What are you getting at Ky.” Em still wasn’t catching on.
“Dick. Dick is short for Richard. So did you know that your Dad’s name is also Dick Tucker?” His shoulders started shaking from laughing so hard.
Being male I couldn’t help myself… I may have laughed silently as well.
“Ow!” Ky yelled from across the table. He was rubbing the back of his head where Harper had slapped him.
“Now that’s funny!” She laughed.
We were all laughing at Ky as Em’s parents came into the room. Dinner went fairly smoothly after that. Harper got a few more digs in at Ky, and Em shared her news about the ultrasound. The girls all gushed and asked questions. Richard sat back beaming at his daughter, clearly happy and excited to be a grandpa.
“Oh my god, my baby is giving me a grandbaby.” Tears filled Tessa's eyes. “Richard, our baby is having a baby.”
“Baby’s having babies.” Harper teased while laughing.
“Better catch up woman! I’m no baby. I’m the same age as you and you’re not getting any younger.” Em poked at her.
Harper rolled her eyes, but looked over at Ky. He was devouring his ribs, effectively ignoring the conversation. Harper’s look wasn’t lost on me though. Em caught it as well.
The rest of the dinner went well. Kyler wised up and kept any smart ass comments to himself, Harper joked with Em’s Dad, Tessa couldn’t keep her hands off Em’s belly, and my stomach was puffed out and stuffed.
As we were all getting up from the table to start clearing our plates, my cell phone started ringing. The Black Eyed Peas were singing ‘My Humps’. What the fuck? Looking over at Ky, I could see he was almost on the floor laughing. Emilyn’s parents stopped what they were doing and looked at me questioningly. Yeah… a song about my lovely lady lumps wasn’t embarrassing me at all!
Pulling my phone out of my pocket I asked Ky, “How in the hell did you get a hold of my phone again?”
“Oh wise one, I will never tell you of my secrets. I’m stealth… like a ninja.” And with that, he continued to laugh.
Jesus Christ I was going to have to put a password on my phone. Looking down at the screen I saw Val’s name. Shit! I cleared the called and hoped Em hadn’t seen who it was calling me. She looked over as I put my phone back in my pocket.
“Didn’t you need to get that?” She clearly didn’t get a look at the name—much to my relief.
“Nah. It was just a telemarketer.” I hated lying to her but I wasn’t going to let Val ruin my night with Em and her family, especially when everything was going so well. Her parents hadn’t even brought up the time I left. They were just interested in talking to me about my music and how it felt to own a house at home. I thought I’d dealt with the Val issue when she was texting me this morning, but I obviously hadn’t been clear enough. She’d wanted to know where I’d been and why I wasn’t in LA. I explained to her that I had moved back home and that I was trying to fix things with Em. She needed to know that things with her had never been serious for me. So I had no idea why the hell she was still bothering me.
“Are you about ready to head home? I’m tired and I have to work early in the morning.” She said, accepting my lie too easily.
“If you’re ready to go, then let’s get you in the car.”
“Finn, would you mind stepping in to the living room so we can talk for a second?” Em’s Dad quietly asked me.
I nodded, feeling my heart thundering in my chest. Shit, here we go. He was going to tell me that I was the world’s biggest douchebag, and to stay away from his daughter. Em was talking to her mom, but glanced over at me before I walked out of the room with her dad. She didn’t seem worried at all.
He stopped short just inside the living room, turning to look at me.
“Thank you for taking care of my daughter Finn. She looks happier than I’ve seen her in years.”
This was definitely not what I had expected from him. Shocked, I tentatively said, “You’re welcome?” Richard heard the question in my voice and grinned.
“I figured you’d be a bit uncomfortable around Tessa and me, but don’t. Let me lay it all out there so you know where we stand.” This was good I thought to myself. “We knew you had to have had your reasons for leaving all of those years ago. We didn’t like what it did to our daughter, but we respected your choices. Tessa and I always thought you were a good kid Finn, and we still do. I should have never pushed her to be with West like I did. For the past ten years we’ve had to sit back and watch the light in her eyes fade...” He stopped and looked down, then glanced back up at me. He seemed to be collecting himself. “Today is the first day I’ve seen my daughter truly happy in almost a decade, and it’s all because of you son.”
The emotion in the room was nearly choking me. Richard had tears in his eyes, and I was not far off either. “Wow, Richard I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything son. Just know that you are always welcome in our home, and Tessa and I are thankful that you are in our lives.”
Shit… I coughed and then took a deep breath to push back the lump in my throat and clear the tears in my eyes. “Thanks. That means a lot. And I want you and Tessa to know that I never stopped loving Em. Even now with the pregnancy, I still love her. I’m never leaving her. She’s my whole life.”
My response was enough for Richard, because he reached out and gave me a tight hug that meant he appreciated what I said. “Better get back in there, and take my baby girl home. She needs to rest and keep my growing grandchild healthy.” He smiled at me.
Richard was a good man who loved his daughter. I was relieved that we’d cleared the air and he knew where I stood with Em. When we walked back in the dining room I saw my Tiny Girl’s beautiful smile, and she warmed every inch of my body. It was time to get her out of here so I could take her home and hold her close to me.
We said our goodbyes by the front door. I hugged her Mom again, and her Dad shook my hand and brought me in for a hug. They told us to come back soon and Em promised her Mom she’d call her the following week. Harper and Ky left together and I was curious as to whether he would try and stay the night at her place. Despite their constant bickering, the looks they’d given each other throughout dinner indicated that something might have been going on. I’d be asking him about that tomorrow while we worked on new music. Helping my Tiny Girl into the car, I felt a sense of relief that this hurdle was over. Her parents accepted me back into their lives, no questions asked. I was exhausted and ready to get myself and Em in bed. All I could think about on the drive home was wrapping my body around her tiny frame and holding her close. This day had been more than I ever could have asked for.
