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“Son. Sydney,” Mr. Rhett says. Gulping, I face him. Would anyone think I’m crazy if I suddenly break down into tears? Ian takes my hand and squeezes it hard. Mr. Rhett steps forward and hugs me. Me! I don’t think he’s ever hugged me. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers, his voice rough like Ian’s when he first wakes up in the morning.
That breaks my already fragile state and I start crying.
“Worst decision in all my life,” he adds quietly.
“Okay, Dad, give her back to me,” Ian orders. Mr. Rhett releases me and Ian pulls me into his arms, my face going straight to his neck. “What’d you say to her?”
“He said sorry,” I answer for him.
“Can you give us a second?” I hear Ian ask. A moment later, his lips are lightly brushing against my ear. “You okay, babe?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I look up at him. With a hand on each side of my neck, his thumbs wipe away my tears. “I panicked because I remembered my last conversation with him, and I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about what happened with you and your dad. Not me and him. I’m good now. Let’s not make it any more awkward by making him wait longer.”
He hesitates for a moment before nodding. Thankfully, Ian keeps his dad talking as we leave and head home to where Logan is entertaining Savannah until we can get there. I hope today goes well.
“I decided on Grandad, by the way,” Mr. Rhett tells Ian when there’s a lull in their conversation.
That’s good to know. When we arrive to the apartment, I walk in first.
“Mommy! Mommy!” She runs into me, her tiara falling off from the impact. Savannah picks it up, places it on her head, and grins at me.
“Someone is very excited for her birthday party. Back up, buttercup. We’re trying to come inside.”
“Who you are?” she asks the moment she sees we have company.
Ian crouches to be eye level with her and Savannah takes a step closer to him. “I’m your daddy, right?” She nods. “That’s my dad. He’s your grandad. So, you have Papa, Gramps, and now you’ve met Grandad.”
She studies him for a moment. “Hi.” There’s a touch of shyness in her voice, but that’s it.
“Hey, Savannah. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He holds out his hand, but Savannah shakes her head.
“Fist bump. Z does it.” She holds up her little fist and bumps it with Mr. Rhett’s. She turns to Ian after th
at. “Is that my presents?” She points to the bag in his hand.
“Present?” Ian gawks. “Are you supposed to get presents for your birthday?”
She giggles. “Yes!”
And that’s how the day goes. Someone is always around to make Savannah laugh. It ends up being Mr. Rhett and Logan while Ian and I wrap her presents in our bedroom and do other things here and there to get the house ready. Then, Mom and Chris arrive with my dad, who they picked up from the airport for us since his flight came in later; he’ll be going back home tonight, so I don’t have to worry about where he’ll sleep. They came early to spend more time with Savannah, even though I told them not to make it too early so she could spend time with Ian’s dad with as few people around as possible. I worried that she’d ignore him.
Nope. She hangs out with him and asks him a bunch of questions. She reminds me of Sylvia when I first met her and the other wives and girlfriends. Sylvia was on me like I was fresh meat that night. Savannah is too interested in the new guy to care about Lo-Lo, Nana, Papa, or Gramps. She did introduce him to everyone else, though. Ian went behind her to say their actual names, so Mr. Rhett, who I’ve been told to now call Jimmy, would know what to call them.
Soon, the apartment is overflowing with people. Savannah is loving all of the attention, of course. Ian seems to be in an element of sorts with having so many people around. It’s nice to see him be around both his teammates and Savannah. There’s a knock on the door, and finally, Carey is here.
I stop short when I open it and see her. She’s with her ex-boyfriend, which means they must be back together. No wonder she didn’t want to tell anyone and was being all hush-hush!
“Hello to you too,” Jerry says when I can’t find any words to speak. God, I hate him now as much as I did before. Why did Carey give him a second chance?
“Are you going to let us in?” she asks.
“Oh, sure.” I step aside for them to walk by.
Logan hobbles over within seconds. “What the fuck, Syd?”
“I know, right? What is she doing with him? How could she forgive him after what he did to her?”
“Hell if I know. This is why she was hiding her new boyfriend; because it’s him.” The distaste is obvious and I can’t blame him. “Go drag her over here, so we can talk to her and ask her what the fuck she’s thinking.”
