Chapter 1
one
CAL
NOW
“Where is she?” I demand, not for the first time. My voice is dripping with frustration. Every muscle in my body is tense, and my hands are clenched so tightly into fists that my nails are digging into my skin.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Griffin, but we need to wait for the test results before allowing you to see her,” the nurse tells me again.
“You can’t call me and tell me I have a fucking daughter and then not allow me to see her!” I yell, slamming my fist against the desk and causing both the nurse I’m speaking to and the one sitting next to her to jump.
“As I’ve told you before, we called on the request of the mother. Since she can no longer give consent, we need to wait for the tests to confirm you are, in fact, the father of the baby.”
I take a deep breath, trying with everything I have left in me to keep my composure. The last thing I need is to be thrown out of the hospital before figuring all this out.
“I’ve got them expediting it, Cal. We’ll have the results within the hour.”
I turn to see my lawyer, Frank, still sitting in the chair in the waiting room. I called him the moment I got off the phone with the hospital. I hadn’t even made it out the door before I had him agreeing to meet me here.
“Do I want to know how much that cost me?” I ask, taking the seat next to him and trying the breathing exercise I learned in yoga that one time Mav talked me into going with him.
“He wanted a signed guitar from Kai,” Frank says, still tapping away on his phone.
I snort. Frank is the only one who knows I’m here. I can’t wait to tell Kai I have a daughter and that I need one of his guitars. There’s no way that won’t go well. Him and Belle have been blowing up my phone. They’re looking for me, but I can’t talk to them right now. So my phone is off.
“Callahan? What the hell is going on?”
My eyes shoot up to meet my dad’s. “Dad?” I turn to glare at Frank, who just shrugs without even bothering to look at me.
“You needed support,” he says simply.
“That’s why I called you ,” I mutter, standing to greet my father. I hear Frank chuckle. We both know he’s great at what he does, but the man is not warm.
My dad wraps me in his arms and some of the tension instantly releases. Dad has been and always will be my biggest supporter. I should’ve called him myself, but I haven’t been able to tell anyone what’s going on. I’m too overwhelmed.
He releases me and turns to Frank, holding out his hand. “Thanks for calling me.”
Frank takes my dad’s hand and nods. “It’s good to see you again, Jason.”
“Now, are you going to tell me what’s happening?” Dad asks, turning his attention back to me.
I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck, my nerves taking over. “I might have a daughter.”
Dad’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, and his eyes are so wide I’m afraid they’ll fall right out of his head. He regains control of his expression as he processes my words. “What do you mean, you might have a daughter?”
“We’re waiting for the DNA test to confirm before they let me see her,” I explain, feeling both embarrassed about the situation and angry we’re even in it. I should’ve known. Someone should have told me. This shouldn’t be the first time I’m learning I’m a father.
“The mother doesn’t want to let you see her?” My dad asks. It’s a fair question, but it puts a lump in my throat.
“She died. Overnight. Hemorrhage.” Frank supplies when he senses I’m having trouble answering. “The hospital hasn’t been able to contact any next of kin. So until the baby is confirmed to be Cal’s, we have to wait out here.”
“Who was she?”
Shame floods my system as I shrug. My dad looks disappointed but is waiting for me to speak before he says anything. He’s always been good at letting us plead our case before he gives his judgement.
“They won’t tell me that either. I didn’t know anything about a baby until a few hours ago.”
Dad’s expression softens. “You’re going to be a great dad, Callahan. Whether that day is today or years from now.”
I nod, holding back the tears threatening to spill. It’s not that I mind crying. Honestly, I find it pretty cathartic. I just know there’s going to be a lot more emotions playing out soon, and I need to keep it together for now. For my daughter. Something in my gut tells me she’s mine, and I haven’t even laid eyes on her yet.
“Mr. Griffin? The test results are back. Would you like to come meet your daughter?” the nurse I’ve been borderline yelling at for hours asks me with way more compassion than I deserve.
My dad squeezes my shoulder and leads me down the hall after the nurse. She leads us to a nursery with several babies sleeping soundly in their little bassinets.
“Have a seat in that chair, and I’ll bring her over to you.”
I nod at her instruction and sit where she told me to, too shocked and scared to form words. I feel my dad still standing by my side, his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
“Here’s your perfect baby girl,” she whispers before handing me my daughter. And she was right. The most perfect little girl I’ve ever seen is cradled in my arms.
“What’s her name?” I whisper, scared to wake any of the babies in the room.
The nurse gives me a sad smile. “Her mom didn’t give her a name yet.”
“Do you know her mom’s name?” Dad asks.
The nurse carefully pulls out my daughter’s foot from the blanket she’s wrapped in. I consider tugging my daughter closer to me but realize how insane that seems. This woman is a nurse and has been caring for my daughter while I couldn’t.
“Her name was Bailey Young.” I realize she was reading it off the anklet around my daughter’s leg.
My eyes go wide, and I gently remove the pink hat from my daughter’s small head. “You have your mama’s hair,” I whisper, letting the tears finally fall and carefully touching the bright red hair on my baby’s head.
“You remember her?” my dad asks, emotion thick in his voice.
“She worked sound for us on part of the last national tour. Bailey was fun to be around and didn’t want a relationship any more than I did.” I shrug, trying not to be angry that she kept this from me. There’s no point in being angry with the dead. “I wish she told me,” I whisper.
“It’s okay to be angry,” my dad says, reading my emotions on my face. “But you need to be grateful too. Bailey gave you a gift. This little girl is a gift.”
I nod, unable to take my eyes off my daughter.
“We have bottles and formula we can send you home with. Diapers too. You’ll need to get a car seat before you can take her home. I can also give you a list of suggestions for cribs and other baby essentials you can get when you have a chance,” the nurse offers.
“The car seat should be here. Frank probably has it with him right now. I ordered it to be dropped off the moment I got here.”
The nurse seems surprised but doesn’t say anything. She just hands me a folder with paperwork in it. My dad takes it and skims it over.
“You need to name her,” he says, pulling out the paperwork to register the birth with the city.
“Cora,” I say immediately.
“I like it, but how did you come up with that so fast?” Dad asks, smiling down at his granddaughter. I can see he’s itching to hold her, but I can’t give her up just yet.
“I was looking at names on my phone while I was waiting. I really liked Cora.”
“Cora it is. Any middle name ideas?” he asks, filling out the paperwork for me.
“Cora Bailey Griffin,” I say, and my little girl smiles up at me. From my hours of reading while in the waiting room, I know that it’s probably just gas and not an actual smile, but I decide to ignore that information.
Once the paperwork is filed and the hospital officially discharges Cora, we’re on our way home.
I was taking my daughter home.
Holy shit.