Chapter Thirty-Two
JAKE
THREE MONTHS LATER
When my phone rings at four in the morning, I’m really tempted to just ignore it. Who the fuck is calling me so early?
The ringing stops but then starts right up again.
I glance over at Abbie—she’s sleeping right next to me, and her eyes are already open—then I roll over and grab the phone off the nightstand.
When I see Carter’s name flashing across the screen, my heart leaps, and I immediately sit up.
There’s only one reason he’d be calling me at a time like this.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Jake!” Carter exclaims. “It’s happening! Sophie’s in labor.”
He’s clearly freaking out, so I keep myself calm and collected. “Okay, we planned for this, man. Bring Chase over and we’ll get him settled for the night.”
“Okay,” Carter murmurs, sounding breathless. “Yeah, yeah, okay. We’ll be there soon.”
I hang up the phone and lay back down, releasing a long breath.
Abbie sleepily asks, “Everything okay?”
I roll over and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her in to kiss her on her forehead.
“Sophie is going into labor,” I tell her. “They’re bringing Chase over.”
“Oh,” she murmurs. Then, “Oh! We need to get the pull-out ready.”
I grin and love the fact that we’re in a position to help like this so Sophie’s parents and Vivianne can be at the hospital with them.
Since our place is on the way to the hospital, it’s convenient and easy for Carter and Sophie to drop Chase off here.
Part of me still loves it when I think about this place as home, which it is.
Most definitely. The past few months living with Abbie since we were released from the hospital have been some of the most satisfying of my life, and being around for my friends as well has been filling a hole in me that I hadn’t realized was there.
It hasn’t been perfect, or necessarily easy.
Abbie still has nightmares about Westbrook, and I think might even have a bit of PTSD from the kidnapping.
More than once, she’s woken in the middle of the night sobbing and shaking, and I’ve held her and rocked her back and forth, promising her everything would be okay.
She’s done the same for me as well. When I get flashes of Westbrook driving that knife into my shoulder, Abbie is the one I turn to to help me push back the panic attack that tries to take over.
It’s gotten better as time has passed, but I can’t imagine what it would be like overcoming the trauma without each other.
We quietly get out of bed and head out to the living room to get the pull-out ready, careful not to make too much noise to potentially wake up Lilah. I unfold the bed while Abbie grabs sheets and pillows to cover it with.
We’re just finishing up when a knock sounds on the apartment’s front door.
When we answer it, Carter is there, grinning nervously, a sleeping Chase curled up in his arms. Smiling, Abbie takes Chase from him. “Tell Sophie we’re thinking of her,” she whispers. “And we can’t wait to meet the new little one.”
“Will do,” Carter says, his voice shaking slightly.
Abbie turns and carries Chase over to the pull-out to tuck him in.
“We got this,” I assure Carter, clapping him on the shoulder. “Go take care of Sophie.”
“Thanks, man.” He pulls me into a quick hug, and I chuckle.
“I’m happy for you,” I tell him.
“I’m happy for you too,” he replies, shooting a pointed look toward Abbie before hurrying back out the door and disappearing down the hall.
Shutting the door and locking it, I make my way to the living room to help Abbie with Chase. He hasn’t stirred—little guy is totally out.
Slipping my arm around Abbie’s shoulders, I whisper, “Come on, let’s get back to bed.”
We make our way back to our room and climb into bed together.
Abbie immediately curls up into my chest, like it’s the most natural position for her to be in.
It makes me smile and my heart hammers. “Mmm, I can’t believe the baby is finally coming,” Abbie mutters, already half asleep.
“Sophie is so excited to have a newborn again.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nods and snuggles tighter against me. “I miss having a newborn… they’re so tiny and precious… you should’ve seen Lilah back then…”
Her voice trails off and her breathing grows soft and even. She’s asleep again.
I lay there, gently stroking my fingers along her shoulders as I think about how having a new baby will change things for Sophie and Carter.
A lot has changed for Abbie and me the past few months as well. My shoulder injury put me out for the rest of the season, but I honestly don’t mind because I’ve gotten to spend quality time with my girls.
Gazing down at Abbie, I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her. She hasn’t asked me to give up my career or to compromise on my goals. In fact, she’s been super supportive of me keeping my condo in Boston, saying we can go back and forth for my games next season.
Ivy Glen will be our home. We’re already looking for a bigger place that we can call our own.
A place where we can build our family… one that loves and accepts me wholly and completely.
If it weren’t for Abbie, I wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up to my mom and stepdad. I’ve been able to put my foot down with how they treat me, and I’ve accepted that our relationship will never be great, but I don’t have to put up with them trying to push me around.
I never imagined I’d be where I am now. Lying in bed with the woman I love, our daughter asleep down the hall, the pressures from my mom and stepdad lifted from my mind.
While I was recovering, my mom came to visit me one time.
Just one. Kevin never bothered to show up at all.
When Abbie found this out, she’d been so enraged she’d threatened to hobble over to their house, injured leg and all, and rip them all new assholes.
Seeing her so worked up and angry on my behalf had made me so happy, I hadn’t known how to respond other than to wrap my good arm around her and kiss the hell out of her.
That, plus the care and attention not only she gave me, but her dad, Vivianne, Lilah, and all my friends showed me during my recovery, helped me really see that I was so much better off surrounding myself with people who actually gave a shit about me.
It was a lot easier to tell Mom and Kevin I was done with their bullshit after that.
On the other hand, I’ve actually started improving things with my siblings. The older ones all checked in with me after hearing about what happened and we’ve had some good talks. Turns out, they weren’t nearly as against me as I thought, but didn’t know how to breach the gap between us, either.
It’s all thanks to her. To Abbie. She’s given me a life I never thought I wanted, but now I can’t imagine being anywhere else or with anyone else.
She’s helped me with physical therapy, and cheered me up when I’ve been down about not being able to play the rest of the season.
I’ve done the same for her, assisting at the clinic and wheeling her around in a rolling chair whenever her leg started bothering her.
I also assisted in the new round of doctor interviews, helping find the perfect replacement.
Dr. Hillberg is a woman in her mid-40s with a family of her own and a daughter that’s actually Jordan’s age.
I bet she’s a hell of a lot better at medical stuff than the asshole stalker doctor ever was, too.
We’ve been there for each other every step of the way as we recover physically, emotionally, and mentally, and I don’t how I got so lucky as to have a woman like her by my side.
My thoughts are interrupted when the bedroom door slowly creaks open, letting in the glow from the nightlight in the hallway. I carefully sit up, doing my best not to wake Abbie, and see that Lilah is standing in the open doorway. She’s rubbing her eyes, adorable in her Bluey footie pajamas.
“Hey, baby girl,” I whisper, climbing out of bed to go to her. “What are you doing up?”
“Chase here?” she murmurs.
I grin. It hasn’t escaped my notice that Lilah is kind of obsessed with Chase.
And vice versa.
“Yeah, he is.” I pick her up and she rests her head on my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go rock-a-bye.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
God, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing her call me that.
I carry her back to her room and settle in the white rocking chair in the corner. As I begin to rock her back to sleep, I remember the first time she called me Daddy. It was shortly after Abbie and I got out of the hospital. We’d sat her down to tell her together.
“Sweetheart,” Abbie had begun. “Do you remember I told you that your daddy couldn’t be with us because he lived too far away?”
Lilah had nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Abbie had given me a hesitant grin before saying, “Well, the truth is that Jake is your daddy, and he’s going to live with us from now on. How does that sound?”
I’d been worried about Lilah’s response, but she’d gotten a big smile on her face and asked, “Yake is Daddy?”
Tears had immediately stung my eyes. “That’s right. I’m your daddy.”
With a squeal of delight, she’d thrown herself into my arms, shrieking, “Daddy!”
It hadn’t scared me, being called daddy, the way I’d always thought it would. Honestly, I can’t get enough of it. I’m so happy to be Lilah’s father. To be part of her life now.
I wonder what it would be like to have a kid call me that from the start.
Abbie talking about how cute Lilah was as a newborn kind of has me thinking it’d be nice to experience that for myself.
There is something inside me that’s sad I missed the first years of her life and wasn’t there for all those initial milestones - first words, first steps, etc.
I don’t hold it against Abbie, though. She did what she thought was best at the time, and I can’t fault her for her choices.
Not when she’s raised such an incredible kid.
I’m determined not to waste the time I have with Lilah now, though, and whether I get to experience those things I missed with a future kid or not, I’m soaking in every moment I get with my little girl.
When it seems as though Lilah is asleep, I stand to put her back in her bed, but before I set her down, she mumbles, “Want Chase.”
Chuckling softly, I carry her out to the living room and lay her next to Chase. She snuggles into him immediately, and I feel a strange twist in my chest.
Sure, Chase is all cute and innocent now, but he better watch himself when he’s older.
Lilah’s going to have one hell of a protective dad breathing down his neck.