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I’m angry with Avery for not telling me about our daughter, but I’m also scared shitless that this little girl in front of me now owns my heart completely and she doesn’t even know me yet.
But that’s going to change. From this point on, I’m going to be there for her—for both of them.
“I know this is a lot, and I want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you. I just wanted you to meet her.” Avery reaches over and places her hand on my forearm. “Come on. Let’s eat and I swear I’ll answer any question you have.”
Desperately needing answers, I follow her into the kitchen while attempting to reconstruct the shattered parts of my mind and wrap my head around the fact that I’m a father.
AVERY
I fully expected Tyler to go ballistic on me once he discovered I’ve kept our daughter a secret from him. I know I would’ve gone nuts if I were him, but I hope he understands that I did what I thought was right at the time. I was afraid of him hurting Maddie if he ran out on her someday like he did on me.
His life seems so busy, and I’m not sure how much time he’ll have for her, but at least now the decision is on him. If he chooses not to be a part of her life, I will understand. It will hurt like hell, but I won’t force him to be around her if he doesn’t want to be.
I’ve been supporting the two of us for years, and I plan on keeping that up no matter what happens. I like standing on my two feet, and proving to myself that I can be an independent woman. That’s really important to me because I don’t want to be anything like my mother.
Going back to school was no longer an option those first couple of years after my little girl was born. Luckily Granny was there every step of the way with me. She’s taught me how to be a good mother—how to really take care of someone other than myself. She and I have raised Maddie together.
Granny’s at the stove, pouring all the food out of pots and into bowls. She turns and notices Tyler standing there.
A smile crosses her face and she opens her arms to him without any reservations. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? It’s good to see you, honey. I hope you’re hungry because I went all out today. We’ve got fried chicken, mashed potatoes—the works.”
Tyler laughs. “I’m starving and it sounds amazing. Between you and my mom, if you guys keep feeding me like this, I’ll be five hundred pounds when it’s time for me to go back out on the road.”
Granny waves him off. “Pfft. Now you’re startin’ to sound like Avery when she first came here a few years back—worried about maintaining her girlie figure. Ain’t nothing wrong with having a little meat on your
bones. It’s healthy. It took me a while to convince Avery that it was okay to eat more than a goddamn salad.”
“Granny,” I scold her while I set Maddie down in her booster seat and push her up to the table. “Language.”
Granny grimaces. “Sorry. Old habits and all that are hard to break. I’ve been doing my best though to cut out the cursing completely now that we have a little set of ears takin’ in everything we’re sayin’.”
Tyler laughs because he’s been around my granny enough to know that’s no easy feat for her. I think her favorite word in the world is damn.
I chuckle to myself as I turn around and grab the plate of chicken off the counter and place it on the table.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Tyler asks me.
“We got this, but it would be great if you could keep Maddie entertained until we’re ready.”
He bites his lip and looks hesitantly down at the daughter he’s only just met. It’s like he needs a bit of reassurance to talk with her. “You sure?”
I smile. “Of course. You’re her father. She’ll love getting to know you.”
Tyler pulls out the chair next to Maddie and sits down next to her. “Hi, Maddie. How are you?”
“Good,” she answers but never really looks at him as her eyes are trained on the lock-and-key toy sitting on the table in front of her. She bites her tongue—something she’s been doing more and more of lately as she focuses on whatever task is at hand. She tries to stick the key in the lock, but it won’t budge. “Fix it, Daddy.”
My eyes widen and my heart does a double thump behind my ribcage. The use of the word daddy is so natural that it takes me back a bit.
Tyler’s eyes widen and then flick up to mine. “Did she . . .”
I set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. “She did.”
“How did she know that I’m her dad?”
I stare down and watch Maddie as she continues to work on the toy in front of her. “When we were getting dressed for dinner, I explained to her that she would be meeting someone special, and when she asked me who it was, I simply told her that she would be meeting her daddy. I never dreamed that she would call you that right away.”
“Child’s smart,” Granny says, butting into our conversation. “Hopefully even smarter than you two.”
