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“She’ll be home soon,” Katie’s quietly spoken words have me pulling my gaze from my nephew to stare at her. It’s in this moment I realize how much Saint and I fucked up the night we found out she was pregnant.
“I’m so fucking sorry for how we acted and what we said to you that night. We should have been there for you. I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how fucking sorry I am for how we treated you. Adalyn is a gift and I’ll never take that for granted again. Forgive me please, Katie baby.” Her eyes grow misty with unshed tears as she looks at me, her bottom lip wobbling as she nods her head.
"I love you.” Hearing those words out of her mouth has a renewed sense of determination flowing through me to bring our baby and our man home.
“I love you too, always and forever, baby.”
“Oh my God.” Katie and I both snap our gaze to the others to find Leah and Val both staring at us with open mouths. “That was the cutest fucking thing I have ever heard.” Darius groans and rolls his eyes at Leah.
“Jesus Christ, do you want me to get on my hands and fucking knees every day just to please you? Is that what it’s gonna take for you to look at me the way you look at Beck and them?” Leah narrows her eyes.
“I don’t look at you the way I look at anyone else, because when I look at you, I see my heart. I look at them like this because it’s cute to see how happy our friends are. Not everyone is a grumpy prick like you.” Her words seem to ease the worry inside my friend. Darius smirks cockily and winks at his girl.
“I know, I just wanted to hear you say that shit in front of your brother.” Leah giggles while Corvin flips Darius off.
“Okay, let’s focus here and come up with a plan to get Saint and our niece home.” Katie sucks in a sharp breath at Beck’s acknowledgment of our daughter.
“I think it’s time you tell everyone the whole story, babe. They need to know everything,” Nathan says from across the room, the sound of his voice grating on my nerves. Katie takes a shuddering breath as she stares at her friend. They look at each other, not saying a word, but it’s like they are having a private conversation through their eyes. “I’m right here,” he says softly, those three words seem to be what eases her enough to tell her story. I’ve heard parts but never the whole thing from her point of view.
“Okay.” She shoots me a look over her shoulder. I smile encouragingly and nod my head for her to speak her truth. “Okay, after I left here to go home and heal and recover from losing my baby, I started getting sick again, then went to see my doctor only to find out I didn’t lose the baby. I had a condition that meant I would bleed throughout my pregnancy. I told Nate, he was only supposed to stay a couple of weeks until I got on my feet, but when he heard the news he chose to stay and help me.” That I didn’t know. “My family kicked me out, I had no money, no job and I knew the guys didn’t want the baby so I thought the only option I had was adoption. I didn’t think I would be a good mom and I wanted my baby to have a loving family. I chose to put her up for adoption.”
Guilt gnaws at me. I know she thought she wouldn’t be a good mom because of the shit Saint and I said to her that night. We had no right to ever project our own shit onto her, we’re in this mess because of him and I, not her.
“How did Devon manage to adopt your baby?” Corv asks.
“I chose closed adoption. I thought that way it would be easier so no one would be able to find her and she would be able to live her life happy, loved and with a family that adored her. It wasn’t until the day came, I saw Jackson when I had to give her up to go to her new family that I knew something wasn’t right. There was nothing I could do, I had just signed over my rights—”
“Yeah, and he signed over ours,” I grit out as I pin Nathan with a hateful look. The fucker doesn’t back down, he pushes off the wall and moves to stand behind where Corv and Lexi sit on the couch.
“Yes. I did that because I thought I was doing what was right not only Katie but for Adalyn as well. Maybe if you and Saint had pulled your heads out of your asses and didn’t accuse her of trying to trap you, or making her believe that she would be a shit mom because she didn’t know which of you fuckers was her baby daddy, things would have been different.” I tense and grit my teeth. What he says is true, we did say some fucked up shit.
“Nate—”
He cuts Katie off. “No, they need to hear it. You can hate me all you want but you weren’t fucking there,” he roars. “I picked up the fucking pieces of her heart when you both abandoned her on the floor of her dorm, then when her parents disowned her, I picked her up. I was there for the pregnancy and all the scares she had when she thought she lost Addy each time she bled. I held her hand through the birth. I was the fucking one who tried to convince her she was worthy of that little girl and promised to care for her and Addy as if they were my own. You and Saint can both choke on my dick and shove your judgment up your asses, because I did what any good fucking friend would do.”
I sit here with my mouth open staring at Nathan, shocked and speechless for a moment. “You tried to keep… Adalyn?” I breathe out.
“Yes, asshole. Regardless of what you both thought, I knew my girl would be an amazing mother to that little girl. We may be poor and struggle weekly to make ends meet but we would have made it work. I would have made sure that Katie and Addy had everything they needed, even if it meant I had to drop out of school and work full-time to provide for them both.” I lift Katie off my lap and stand, she darts in front of me pushing against my chest.
“Don’t you dare touch him!” she shouts as Darius, Beck and Corv all leap to their feet. I grab Katie's wrists and meet her gaze so she can see the truth in my eyes.
“I’m not, I swear.” I release her and move toward Nathan. The guys all follow me but I ignore them. Nathan straightens the moment I stop an inch away from him. Before he can say a word, I draw the fucker in for a hug and say low enough for only him to hear.
“Thank you for being there for them both when we couldn’t. We owe you more than we can repay. You have my word that I will do whatever it takes to get Adalyn back and make Katie happy.”
“Just be good for them both and then your debt to me is repaid,” he says. We pull apart but maintain eye contact. Nathan owed none of us anything and yet, time and again he has proven to be there for each of these girls and shows up to pick up the pieces whenever we fuck up. He really is a good guy.
“You got it.” He nods, but I can see it in the depths of his green eyes he thinks I’m talking out my ass. That’s fine, I’ll prove him wrong over time.
“You should also know, Jackson has been doing back door shady shit that Katie has info on. If you plan to take down Devon, then you’re gonna need the dirt Katie has on that prick.”
I snort. “Don’t think much of my cousin either, huh?” I tease.
Nathan rolls his eyes. “He’s a slimy piece of shit that needs to be taken down a peg or ten.”
My gaze softens. “He treated you badly because of your sexual preference, didn’t he?”
Nate’s gaze hardens. “Yes. I don’t expect everyone to be okay with who I am, but I also won’t tolerate someone using my preference of bed partners to paint me as a bad parent and say that Adalyn would be better without my influence in her life.”
