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“And for kissing Luna?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You know about that?” Ashton took a step back.
“I do. I won’t kick your ass now, but you touch her again and I’ll make my mother come out of retirement.” I spun on my heel and headed down the driveway.
Once I was seated in my car, my phone rang. I frowned, wondering who the hell could be calling me so damn early.
“Porter,” I said, placing my phone on speaker and setting it on the passenger seat beside me.
“Zach,” came a feminine whisper.
“Mom?” I picked up the phone. “What’s wrong?”
“Your father.”
My heart jumped to my throat.
“Zach,” her voice wavered. “He had a heart attack.”
Zach
“WILL YOU ALWAYS BEmy father?”
Coby frowned. “Of course I will, buddy. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well…” I chewed my bottom lip. Although I wanted to tell him what was on my mind, I didn’t want to upset him. I didn’t want to give him any reason to hurt me.
“Hey.” Coby dried his hands and hung the towel over the edge of the sink before turning around to face me. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t know how,” I confessed.
“Okay.” Coby pushed away from the sink and sat at the table beside me. He grabbed my hands. “Listen. I’m going to tell you a story. Brogan and I wanted to have a baby. We wanted so badly to have a baby. We tried. For many months, we tried.”
I didn’t understand exactly how babies were made but I listened intently, interested in what he had to tell me.
“One day, we found out that we were successful. We were so happy. Your mo—Brogan was pregnant. We celebrated that night by going out for supper. But a week later, God decided to take that baby home with him.”
“How come?” I asked, my eyes wide.
“Maybe he felt this world wasn’t safe for a baby.” Coby leaned forward. “I know you’re a smart boy.”
“I’m almost twelve,” I told him.
“You are.” Coby grinned. “I also know that you’re strong and you can handle this world. Your life may have started out rough, but I know that it’ll shape you into one of the strongest people I know. Maybe the strongest.”
“So you think God took your baby home because they couldn’t handle the world but gave me to you because I can?”
“Exactly.” Coby looked down at our joined hands.
I followed his gaze.
He turned my hands over, palms up, and slid his hands beneath them with mine resting on top.
“I know we’re not blood. I know Brogan didn’t give birth to you. But we love you, Zach. We love you with every inch of us. You’ve made us stronger. You’ve made our love for each other grow. You’ve made us happy. And I promise to take care of you. To help you be the best man that you can be, and I also promise, to show you the motherfucking world.”
After I got off the phone with my mom, I sped across town to the hospital my father was at. The tires screeched as I turned into the parking lot. Thankfully, I found a free space rather quickly.
I couldn’t think straight.
