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“Love you, little sister,” Trevin says, closing the door. “I have to give her hell because she’s my little sister, but I’m so fucking glad that she was the one watching Hazel.”
“She’s amazing, and she’s been a huge help to me with Hazel. She was there for me while I was pregnant and during and after delivery. She and my best friend, Shelby. I couldn’t have done any of this without them.”
“I doubt that. You’re an amazing mother.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Bullshit. I see how happy Hazel is. She’s healthy, and you came right away yesterday. You’re the best momma this little angel could ask for. Her daddy too.”
“You got her?” I ask, changing the subject. I still feel a mound of guilt resting on my shoulders, that due to my actions, Hazel lost time with her daddy. Sure, she’ll never remember, but one day she’s going to ask why he was never in any of my pregnancy photos, or photos of her the first three months of her life. I’m going to have to answer for that. “I’m going to make us some breakfast.”
“I wanted to have you for breakfast.” He smirks.
“No condoms,” I remind him.
“Don’t need them for what I have planned.” The devilish smile tilting his lips tells me exactly what that is.
A shiver of anticipation races down my spine. “Real food first, and then we’ll see.”
Snaking an arm around my waist, he pulls me into him and presses his lips to mine. “It’s going to happen, baby. I promise you that.” He smacks my ass and struts back to the living room to finish giving Hazel the rest of her breakfast. I can’t help but wonder how this is my life.
It turns out I had a hard time pulling Trevin away from Hazel. He insisted he hold her while we ate our own breakfast. He played with her until she was too fussy to keep going. She was a handful as he tried to get her to sleep, but he insisted that he could do it. My mom instincts told me to just take her from him, but then I reminded myself that he is her father. More importantly, he’s here and wants to help take care of her. He wants to learn our routine, what she likes, and what she doesn’t. How do I get in the way of that?
“I have to admit,” Trevin says, coming back to the living after laying Hazel in her crib. “I wasn’t sure I was going to be successful at getting her to sleep.”
“She fights it sometimes. My guess is that she was having too much fun playing with you, and she didn’t want to miss it.”
“Yeah?” His eyes light up.
“Yes.”
“I love her, Cadence.” He shakes his head, and the look on his face tells me that he’s in disbelief. “I never thought—” He smiles. “She’s perfect.”
“She is. She’s such a good baby.”
“You’ve done an incredible job with her. Thank you. I know it was hard for you to do it all on your own. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for both of you.”
“It was unavoidable. The past is behind us.”
“Moving forward,” he says, offering me his hand. “I believe I made you a promise.”
“I’m not going to hold you to that. We really need to get ready.”
“We have time,” he says, not bothering to glance at the clock. His phone rings, and he grins when he looks at the screen. “Hey, Mom.”
I freeze when I hear the word “Mom” come out of his mouth. My attention is focused on him as I wait to see what’s going to happen. Will he tell her about Hazel? About me? My hands grip the hem of his T-shirt that I’m still wearing to keep from wringing them together. Will they hate me? Will they accept her? There are so many questions filtering through my mind.
“Oh, she did, did she?” He grins. “Yeah, I do have some news. Hold on, let me switch to video, and I’ll show you.”
I shriek and take off, running down the hall. His laughter follows me. “That was Cadence,” he explains. “She’s special.” I hear him tell his mother.
I’m in my bedroom with my ear pressed to the door. I’m not ashamed to be listening to his conversation. I would have remained out in the living room, but the last thing his mom needs to see when she meets me for the first time, via video or in person, is me in her son’s T-shirt sans bra, and my hair a mess from our lovemaking the night before.
That’s a hard pass for me.
I’m sure it’s going to be a hard-enough battle when she finds out I kept Hazel from him, even though it was beyond my control. I’m glad Thea understands the entire story. She knows how the night went down. I hate that she has the intimate details of my time with her brother, but at least she knew the story before he appeared back into my life.
