Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
The only thing my biological father ever gave me was a cool last name.
“I can’t wait to meet our little Lily,” I said when I backed out of the gravel driveway. “I hope she looks like you and not me.”
Still holding on to my hand, she laid it over her stomach, and an itty-bitty foot kicked against my calloused palm. I couldn’t wait to see that tiny foot clad in pink sneakers. “Stop it,” she said. “You’re gorgeous. If she has your smile, we’re in trouble. She’ll get away with anything.”
“She’s not allowed to date until she’s twenty-five. That’s the rule,” I said, only half teasing.
Brianna just grinned. “Reality check, honey. She’s going to date long before that, whether we like it or not.”
I knew she was right. I’d have to work on not being too overprotective. “I just want to be a good dad…”
That was my number one fear—not being a good father. I had no positive male role model growing up. The only glimpses I saw of good parenting were on television.
“You will be. Trust me, she’s going to adore you just as much as I do. She’ll be a daddy’s girl.”
I can only hope.
The hospital was thirty-five to forty minutes away on a good day with no traffic. I worried with the snow falling that the usual ten-minute drive down the mountain from our small town to the main highway could stretch out to twenty minutes.
“Babe, are you sure we have enough time to get there? I don’t want our baby being born in the back seat.”
Laughing, she rubbed her thumb across my knuckles. “We’re fine, love. The doctor only wanted us to come in right away because of the snow. I still haven’t even had a contraction yet. We’re all good.”
“Okay, just making sure.” I wanted to do everything right. I had a deep need in the root of my soul to be the perfect husband and father. I’d never mess this up like my old man and my foster father had. My girls would never know fear or hunger like I had. They’d never hear me raise my voice or see me drunk. They’d never go to sleep feeling unloved or abandoned. I’d be their protector, their best friend, their rock. No matter what.
Brianna pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket. “I’m going to send a text to my sister to tell her what’s going on and ask her to watch Cherry ’til we’re home,” she said as her red nails pushed the tiny keys on her new flip phone—her favorite gadget. “I’ll text my parents, too.”
The vein in my temple twitched at the mention of my in-laws. From the moment they met me, her father made it clear he didn’t want his youngest daughter with the boy who was found abandoned, living in trash, at ten years old. My hair was too long. My car was too shitty. My hands were too dirty. My heritage was unknown. My mere existence was not good enough. His hatred for me grew with every milestone of our relationship. I expected the gates of hell to open and swallow me up the day she told them she was pregnant. Flames will probably shoot out of my father-in-law’s ears when Lily is born. With any luck, his nasty ass will spontaneously combust during his fit.
Screw him.
“I asked my sister to stop at the pet store and get my Cherry Pop a new ball and a stuffy toy. I’m worried she’s going to miss me. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her.”
“You gonna spoil the baby as much as you spoil that dog?” I tease.
“Yes!” She laughed and crinkled her nose—an adorable little thing she did sometimes. I don’t even think she knew she did it, let alone how much I loved it.
“Good, ’cause I plan on spoiling all of you.”
She rubbed our hands over her belly again. “You’re going to meet your crazy parents really soon, Little Lily.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror and my breath hitched when I saw the empty back seat. “Shit,” I muttered. “I forgot the baby seat.” It was in a box by the front door. Waiting.
“It’s okay. You’ll have time to go back and get it. Or someone can bring it to us. It’s not a big deal, hon.”
My gut twisted and sent a burn up through my chest. The snow started to fall even faster, the flakes smaller, morphing the road in front of us into a dizzying, hypnotic tunnel. The windshield wipers squealed against the glass trying to keep up with the falling flakes.
“It is a big deal,” I said, shoving my hand through my hair. I was failing my daughter already, and she wasn’t even here yet. Maybe I didn’t deserve Brianna and the baby. Maybe I really was too stupid. Maybe her father was right and I—