I know what she’s doing, but I’ve still allowed them to get to me. My mother never got to hold my children and now I’m having baby number three, and it will be a void I can’t ignore once again.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Wyatt rushes into the nursery as I sit sobbing.
Shoot, I didn’t hear him return. Quickly, I hide the pictures behind my back and swipe at my tears. He comes to sit on the floor and tugs me into his arms.
“Baby, this is getting out of hand. I’m worried. Maybe you should talk to someone; this can’t be good for the baby. I know how much you miss her, but this isn’t healthy,” he murmurs as he holds me tight and rubs my back.
“I’ll be fine. It’s not what you think,” I choke out.
“Then do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Hearing the concern in his voice, I know I can’t keep hiding this from him. I’m struggling to deal with this on my own. I know anyone I tell will want to handle that bitch and her mean ass.
Pulling from his arms, I go to sit back on my butt. Wyatt’s gaze lands on one of the pictures as I move away.
He picks it up and glares at it. “Where’d this come from?”
“Kennlee,” I murmur.
“Your father’s wife?”
“Yes.” I hand him the rest. He might as well see them all now.
I watch him as he flips through them. Realization colors his face as he flips through for a second time. He lifts his gaze to mine and bites his fist as rage rolls off him.
“How long?” he says, eerily calm.
“The first set came after the wedding. Peaches reached out recently, and I let it slip that I’m having another baby. That’s when Kennlee started with the latest batch.” I sniffle.
“This is why you’ve been missing Nora so much? She’s taunting you.”
“Wait, what are you doing?” I say as he gathers the pictures with rage still written all over his face.
“I’m getting this shit out of here. I’ll reach out to Peaches and ask her for photos of her and the baby, but these are trash. I’m not allowing you to torture yourself looking at these. This shit is evil as fuck,” he snarls.
He stands and walks out with the pictures in his hands. I lie down and curl into a ball. My mind is spinning.
I can’t help wondering if my father even cares. He hasn’t seen Nora and Evan but a handful of times. I’m surprised my brother and sister even know about me.
“I want you to forget about all of that. None of us can ever replace your mother, but we’re all here to love and care for you. Baby, I’m so sorry,” Wyatt says as he returns and wraps around me.
I try to reply, but my emotions get the best of me, and I can’t do anything but sob. Wyatt kisses the top of my head and tightens his hold on me.
“I love you so much. Tell me how I can make this better. I hate seeing you like this and not knowing how to help.”
I turn in his embrace and look up into his eyes. My heart is so full as I see the love he has for me. I cup the side of his face and press my lips to his.
He returns the kiss hesitantly. When I reach beneath his T-shirt to run my hand over his abs, he deepens the kiss. Grasping my breast, he groans and rolls me onto my back.
“I just need you. You make me feel whole. I love you too.”
He groans and pulls away. A dirty grin comes to his lips. “I know just how to get your mind off this.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” he says as his gaze roams over me. “Stay here, don’t move.”
I knit my brows, but do as he says. He hops to his feet and jogs out of the room. When he returns, he has that spreader that came in before we left for New York.
