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Her eyes washed with emotions as she became choked up. “How do you do that?” she whispered as she looked up at me with her brown eyes. “How do you make the aching parts of me feel at peace?”
“The same way you did it for me.”
I set Stella up in my bedroom—our bedroom as of late—with a romantic comedy, then waited outside of the guest room where Jeff was crashing. It took him hours to wake, but when he did, he grumbled about his headache. It could’ve been from my fist to his jaw or the alcohol he’d drowned himself in. Either way, he was in pain.
“What the…?” he muttered, standing up and walking to the door. “What happened?”
“You passed out,” I told him. “After treating Stella like shit.”
“It’s been a long day. It’s not every day you find out you have a kid on the way.”
“Yes, but there’s no excuse for how you spoke to her. You need help, Jeff.”
“I know. That’s why I came here, to get money to pay off my loans and—”
“I mean professional help for your drinking.”
He shot me a harsh look. “Listen, guy. The last thing I need is for you to tell me what I need to do.”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do. But Stella? She’s pregnant, and that child deserves a father. Every child deserves a father, but that doesn’t mean every father deserves his child. Do better. Be better.”
“I don’t have money to get help,” he said.
“I’ll pay for any clinic you find. Money isn’t an issue.”
He huffed. “You think you’re some kind of superhero, huh? You think you’re better than me?”
“No. I don’t.”
He raced his hands through his hair. “I need to talk to Stella.”
“Not now. You need to go home and decide what you really want and how you want to be in this child’s life.”
He grumbled but agreed. As he walked out the front door, I watched him from the front porch. I slid my hands into my pockets. “Jeff?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t ever show up to my house uninvited again, and if you ever take one too many steps toward Stella aggressively again, I will snap your neck in half.”
He parted his mouth to reply, but no words came out.
I wasn’t kidding, either. I’d break that man into two if it meant protecting Stella and that child.
“Jeff, wait,” Stella said, appearing behind me. He looked up and waited for her commentary. She walked over to the table and grabbed her purse. “Do you want to be in this child’s life, or do you want money?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Do you want to love this child, or would you rather have money?” she asked straightforward. She pulled out a checkbook. “Because if it’s money, I don’t want you to be in our child’s life. If you’re just looking for a quick way to get money, I don’t want that for this baby. So you can either be a part of our lives and be a father…or I can write you a check.”
“Stella,” I warned.
She held up a silencing hand.
Jeff raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ll pay you to leave us alone. How much do you want?”
He lowered his brows. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to sign a contract, giving up the rights to raise the child. You won’t be in their life,” Stella told him.
“Half a million,” he said without thought.
I saw the color drain a bit from Stella’s face as the realization settled in that Jeff was nothing more than scum.
I think her gentle heart had hoped for a different answer and a little bit of her light faded at that very moment. I hated that. I hated that her gentle heart was beginning to harden to the world. Don’t become like me, Stella. Stay forever you.
She blinked a few times then began scribbling down the check. “I’ll give you half now and then half when the contract is signed.” She ripped the check out and held it toward Jeff.
He took it without a moment’s thought and scurried away like the rat he was.
As his car drove off, I turned toward Stella.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“I overheard you both talking,” she said with a smile that sadly looked more like a frown. “You were right. Every child deserves a father. Not every father deserves a child.”
I took her hands in mine and pulled her closer to me. My forehead rested against hers. “Don’t let this harden you,” I whispered. “Don’t let people like Jeff harden your heart.”
“How could my heart harden when it’s surrounded by you?”
I heard her words but felt a slight bit of coldness. I knew what it felt like when a heart began to close. I kissed her forehead. Stay with me, Stella. “Do you want to go to the ocean with me?”
