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I just need to be by myself—figure out what I really want out of my life.
Chapter Two
Hank
“Daddy?” I hear the hushed whisper of my son, Tripp. “Daddy, wake up.”
I peel one eye open and grin.
“Come here, boy,” I tell him, my voice rough with sleep. He climbs on, and I wrap my arm around him, hugging him tight. “Did you have a good sleep?”
He nods and burrows under my chin. The scent of his shampoo wafts up into my nose. This little boy is the hardest and greatest thing I’ve ever done. Honestly, he saved me at a time when I was grasping for anything to pull me out of the pit of despair I was in.
“Yep, and now I’m hungry.” My son can pack it away. Mom says I was the same way when I was his age.
“Okay, bud, I’ll get up and feed you. Go watch cartoons, and I’ll be out in a minute.”
Tripp kisses me before sliding out of bed and running out into the living room. I roll to my back and stare up at the ceiling. My mind immediately goes to Brooke. I was surprised to see her last week.
Over the past five years, she’s practically disappeared—I’ve only caught glimpses of her in passing. If it wasn’t for my mom, who Brooke still visits regularly, I would’ve thought she moved away. I don’t blame her because I wasn’t there when she needed me most.
I know she saw me at the coffee shop, and what did she do? She hid in the bathroom…I did that. Or I caused that.
“Daddy,” my son shouts from the other room. “I’m hungry.”
Duty calls, and I climb out of bed. After using the bathroom, I head out to the living room and find Tripp sitting on the sofa with the remote in his hand. His blond hair is standing up all over his head.
He looks at me and smiles. “Waffles?”
“Yeah, bud, I’ll make you waffles.” In the kitchen, I grab the box of frozen waffles…yeah, yeah, I know. I pop his in the toaster and then make a pot of coffee.
Once his is done, he comes running into the kitchen. While he eats, I slam down a cup of joe.
I hear keys in the door and then, “Where’s my grandson?”
“GiGi, I’m in here,” Tripp shouts with a mouth full of waffle.
She comes around the corner, smiling. “There are my handsome boys.” Mom kisses me on the cheek and then goes to her grandson, doing the same. “After you finish eating, go brush your teeth,” she tells him before grabbing a cup of coffee for herself.
“What’s on the agenda for the two of you today?” I ask.
Tripp goes to preschool three days a week and Mom keeps him after school and on the days he doesn’t go. She has been such a big help to us.
Tracey, Tripp’s mom, took off when he was two months old. Four months after that, I was served with papers that she was relinquishing her parental rights. I haven’t seen her since.
Mom stepped in from the very beginning, along with the old ladies from the club. They taught me how to bathe him, change his diapers, make his bottles, and how to burp him. They were all there but backed off when they thought I needed to learn to do it on my own because Tracey had no desire to be a mom.
Luckily our custom bike business is thriving, and since Dad is the prez, Mom doesn’t really need to work. It’s a win for me.
“We’re going to get groceries, then make cookies, and maybe go to the library.” She smiles at her grandson while she says it.
I kiss her temple and then head back to my bedroom to change for work. Since I get filthy when I’m working on bikes, I don’t shower until after I’m done. After throwing on my normal uniform; jeans and a Harley T-shirt. I grab my cut, throwing it on.
In the kitchen, I see Tripp’s got two more waffles on his plate. See, he eats a lot. I stop next to him and ruffle his hair. “You be good for GiGi, and tonight, we’ll order pizza.”
“Okay, Daddy! I love you.” Every time he tells me that, my heart swells.
I bend down, kissing his forehead. “I love you too, little man.” I kiss my mom’s cheek before I head out to my bike.
