Page 147 of Over Time Advantage

“I doubt that.”

“Dad,” she pleads, “you love each other. You’re both unhappy without the other. She made you a better man. A happier man. I know you made her happy too. You need to find your way back to each other. You belong together.”

I shake my head. “I tried. She doesn’t want me anymore. I…may have overreacted about her hiding your pregnancy from me.”

“It wasn’t her news to share with you. I’m not a child.”

I nod. “That’s what she said.”

“She’s right. She’s one of those annoying people who are always right. Just do whatever she says and you’ll be fine.”

I try to offer a small smile at her attempt to lighten things, but I’m pretty sure I fail miserably. “It’s over. Even if she gets past how horribly I treated her, she wants to have kids. I can’t give her that, and I won’t take it away from her.”

“Why can’t you give them to her?” she challenges.

“Newsflash, I wasn’t very good at the parenting thing the first time around. I’m pretty sure you know firsthand.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s why you don’t want to have kids with her?”

“Of course. I was a horrible father to you and Pierce. Why would I bring more kids into the world just to fuck them up? It’s not fair to them.”

She’s silent for a bit, as though she’s gathering her thoughts. “Did you ever love Ginny?”

Now it’s my turn to be silent. How do I tell my daughter I never loved her mother? I soften it as best I can. “Not in the way a man should love his wife.”

She nods in understanding. “Did she trap you by becoming pregnant with me?”

I shake my head. “Having you is the greatest accomplishment of my life. Nothing, Kennedy, I mean nothing, brings me more joy than you.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “That wasn’t an answer, but in some ways, I guess it was. I always knew you fudged the date of when you got married. I found your marriage certificate when I was eight. That lowlife cast out a line to catch a soon-to-be-wealthy pro quarterback, and you were the unlucky victim. Did she poke holes in the condom?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

My jaw tightens. “I don’t know what she did or didn’t do. I was too drunk to even remember,” I bark out before I have the chance to take back the words. I regret them immediately.

Sitting up, I grab for her hand. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

She swallows as a single tear falls from her eye before she quickly wipes it away and straightens her shoulders. “It’s nothing I didn’t suspect. It’s fine.” She offers me a small smile. “If I didn’t look like you, I’d tell you to ask for a paternity test.”

I sink back into my chair and admit, “I had one done before we got married. Lucky for you, you’re definitely mine,” I add sarcastically.

She nods as she points to her stomach. “This kid was created by two people who hated each other, got drunk and married in Vegas, and were too horny one night to remember to put on a condom until it was too late.”

“I didn’t need to hear that articulated,” I grumble. “But you love each other now, right?”

She nods. “Yes. Very much. I’m happy with how everything turned out. I love him, and I know he loves me.”

I shake my head. “I can’t believe you’re married to Daylen Humblecut.”

She smiles. “That makes two of us. But maybe sometimes good things can come from not so good circumstances.” She widens her eyes in insinuation.

I take her hand again and kiss it. “I love you. You are truly my greatest blessing in this world.”

She nods. “That’s how I view my peanut. Do you want me to tell you what we’re having?”

“You guys know?” That’s news to me. Daylen refers to the baby as a girl, but I’ve learned it’s because he wants it to be a girl, not because they know anything for sure.