Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I couldn’t help the grin tugging at my lips. “I’d argue, but I’m not sure there will ever be a good time.”
“OK. I’ll clean us both, then you can tell me what you need to.”
It didn’t take him that long. He even brought a warm, wet cloth to clean me up. Once he’d finished with me, he knelt to place a kiss over my pussy before tossing the rag toward the bathroom and climbing back into bed.
Once he had me settled, he kissed the top of my head briefly. “Now. What’s goin’ on, honey?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You are… perfect, Tiny. Perfect for me. For the girls. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us, and I will never take anything you do for us for granted. However long you let us in your life.”
“Penny” -- he pulled back slightly so he could look at me -- ”I’m not leaving. I’d never hold you against your will, but I will do everything in my power to keep you happy and to do right by Kira and Zelda in every way I can. You know that. Right?”
I smiled up at him. “Yes. I think I do. But that’s not what I need to tell you.”
“I’m listening, baby.”
“My mom was a drug addict. I think I took care of her for more of my life than she took care of me.” That part hurt almost as much as the rest of it. “She OD’d when I was eight, and the state took me in.” I paused to take a couple of fortifying breaths before I continued. “Zelda and Kira aren’t Andy’s daughters. I had them when I’d just turned sixteen. It was one of my foster fathers. The last one, actually.” Tiny didn’t say anything, but I was pretty sure I felt a growl deep in his chest. “I ran away. The police took me back to CPS. They didn’t believe me and put me in a group home with other kids they consider unplaceable.”
“Sounds like the fuckin’ system let you down from the get-go.” His voice was tight, and I knew he was holding on to his anger, though not at me. On my behalf.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t like it there.”
“What did they do to you, Penny?” He spoke softly but I could hear his anger. He ran his hand up and down my back and I wasn’t sure if it was to soothe me or himself.
“They wouldn’t let me have an abortion, but they didn’t want me to keep the baby either. In fact, when I got there, and they got my lab work back, they insisted I sign away my rights and give the child up for adoption.”
“They wouldn’t let you have an abortion?”
“No. They tried to keep me on lockdown, knowing I was out of there the first chance I got. Unfortunately for them, I’d spent my entire life surviving on my own. I ran away the next day. Tried to get an abortion, but I was fifteen and the state required consent from a guardian.”
“Which was the state.”
“Yep. I tried to get what they called a judicial bypass, but that was only available when the minor didn’t have a guardian. I had one. But the state wouldn’t grant me an abortion. At the time, the judge actually told me he wasn’t going to allow abortion to be used as a form of birth control just because I got myself in trouble.”
“The fuck?” Tiny actually jerked back from me, looking down at my face in shock.
“My lawyer had pretty much the same reaction, but her hands were tied. The state simply didn’t have a provision for a minor in state custody to get an abortion, even if I could have proven I was raped by my foster father. By the time the whole mess was sorted out, the kids would have been a couple years old or better.”
“So you had the girls. Obviously you didn’t give them up for adoption.”
“Nope. Not for lack of trying on the part of the state.”
“I’m not going to like this part either, am I?”
“Likely not. They tried to make me stay in the group home. But I split. Left Memphis and came to Nashville.”
“Why Nashville?”
“I’m not really sure. It just… seemed like a place I could get a fresh start. I was also away from that bastard of a judge and the state’s attorney handling my case. Besides, it was the farthest bus trip I could take with the money I had. I put three hours between me and those bastards, hoping it would buy me enough time to get a job, have the baby, and show I could provide for both myself and my child. Except for the fact I had two babies instead of one.”
“Why do I get the feeling having twins made you even that much more determined to succeed?”