Chapter 10 #3
“Everything,” Rosie murmured. “He’ll bring her family, friends, laughter, and so much fun and love, but more than anything, he’ll bring her the light.”
My heart clenched, and fuck me if tears didn’t spring to my eyes.
I sucked a breath in through my nose and filled my chest with its cooling air before slowly pushing it out through my mouth.
Rosie was fucking killing me here. I loved how she saw me, even if she was wrong. Rosie Woods was the love that came without warning. I may have been her light, but she was the fire that kept me burning. All this business with Imogen was just proof of what I already knew in my heart.
Rosie was meant for me.
I just hoped that when she took off her rose-colored glasses, she still saw enough good in me to stay.
“I see no reason why the court can’t grant full custody of Imogen to Mr. O’Shea,” the judge announced, turning to me. “I’ll sign the order immediately on the proviso that you look into attending parenting classes when you get home.”
I nodded, unable to speak through the blood rushing in my ears.
“Miss Brown, I trust you’ll look into the details of classes local to Hambleton and pass them on to Mr. O’Shea?” the judge asked.
Tia beamed a huge smile. “Of course, Your Honor.”
“I want Mr. O’Shea to be entered onto the birth certificate. Speak to my secretary; she has a contact at the registrar’s office who can arrange for a new one to be completed as a matter of urgency. No more delays; I think it’s time for Imogen to go home, don’t you?”
Tia’s grin widened. “Definitely, Your Honor.”
The judge closed down the court, threw me an approving nod, and swept out through the door leading to her chambers while I watched her, eyes unseeing, feeling dazed and in shock.
Imogen was mine.
God help me.
I was a father.
Fuck.
Shit.
Fuck.
Kennedy nudged me. “You okay?”
“I’m terrified,” I croaked.
“You should be. Take it from the mom of another beautiful blonde girl, you’ve got some sleepless nights ahead, especially when the horny teenage boys come knocking at your door. Kit’s out of his damned mind most days.”
I gulped down the rising bile. “Stop that!” I snapped. “You’re just cruel.”
Kennedy stood up, laughing. “Come on. It’s time to meet your daughter. The judge was right; it’s time for Imogen to go home.”
“Jen’s on her way with her now,” Tia informed us. “We’ve finished early. I was expecting us to be in here at least an hour, but it’s only been twenty minutes.” She shot me a rueful smile. “Sorry.”
I stood up, intending to thank Tia for everything she’d done and shake her hand, when I felt a warm body hit me from behind.
“I knew you’d get her,” Rosie whispered from my back. “I’m so proud of what you just did. I can’t even—”
I spun around, grabbed Rosie’s hand, and dragged her toward the doors.
“What are you doing?” she demanded with a laugh.
“We’ve got a few minutes to kill,” I rasped, pulling her through to the corridor and down toward the ladies' room.
Rosie’s words, her intent, the fact that she was even here blew my mind, but it shouldn’t have done.
This was Rosie, putting everybody else first—putting me first. She needed to earn money and had two kids to care for, but here she was, hundreds of miles away from home, supporting me when I needed her the most.
Rosie Woods wasn’t one in a million.
She was one in a lifetime.
Shouldering open the door to the ladies' room, I pulled her inside, took her to the basins, clutched her waist, and lifted her ass onto the counter. Then I pushed between her legs, locked eyes with her, and breathed, “Hi.”
“Hi,” she breathed right back.
My fingers curled into the back of her neck, and I murmured, “The instant you walked inside that room, my heart began to beat differently.”
She inhaled sharply, and her lips parted.
I moved in for the kill, ready to make the fuck out with my woman when she shrieked, “No!”
My head reared back. “No?”
“You’re about to meet Imogen for the first time,” she cried.
“And I’m wearing bright red lipstick. If you kiss me, you’ll end up wearing bright red lipstick, and how are you meant to snuggle with your baby girl for the first time ever, wearing another woman’s bright red lipstick and having Rosie breath? ”
The bubble of laughter rose through my chest and burst out of me.
Maybe it was the relief of getting custody after days of worry, and my stress levels slowly beginning to melt away, but I stood there between Rosie’s thighs, shoved my face in her neck, and roared with laughter.
After a minute, she started to chuckle too. I lifted my face and stared her into her eyes. “Thanks for coming. It means fucking everything that you did this.”
“You’re welcome,” she answered with a soft smile. “Missed your face, O’Shea.”
I’d missed hers, too. I wanted to tell her, to say something about how I’d memorized the perfectly carved cupid's bow of her full, plump lips, and the cute little frown line that creased between her eyes every time she furrowed her brows. And how I’d dreamed about the curve of her ass and the scent of the sweet, musky perfume ingrained into her soft skin.
Except I couldn’t.
Rosie would probably laugh at me and call me a fucking sap.
Instead, I went to the place I always did and planted another lingering kiss on her neck before pulling back and nuzzling her nose with mine.
“It’s hell not being able to make out with you,” I muttered, leaning forward and resting my forehead on hers.
Her fingers slid up my back and curled around my nape. “Is this going too fast?”
I pulled back again and cocked an eyebrow. “I’ve known you ten years.”
“Yeah, but we only got together a few days ago, and already we’re declaring that we miss each other’s faces.”
“We’ve been three years in the making, baby,” I shot back, my tone incredulous.
That was when the door flew, the force of it banging against the wall while Ma’s voice filled the air. “What is it with you and ladies' rooms, Donovan O’Shea? I pray to sweet Mary, mother of Jesus, that you haven’t got some sort of weird bathroom fetish.”
“Sorry, Maureen,” Rosie called over, grinning. “Donovan got a little emotional and needed to get himself together. We’re coming out now.”
“Good,” Ma said with a small huff. “My granddaughter, baby Imogen, will be here any second, and I won’t be waiting for you to get your arse outside to give her a cuddle. If you’re in here, I’ll be the one to welcome her into the family.”
My spine snapped straight.
Over my dead fucking body.
Rosie cocked an eyebrow. “We'd better get outside.”
“Yeah.” I grabbed her waist and lifted her back down to the floor, then with shaking hands, I entwined our fingers together.
“We’ve got this,” Rosie said softly, stilling my hand with hers and squeezing. Her voice was filled with so much certainty, so much damned confidence that my self-doubt began to ebb away.
Then we walked outside to meet my daughter.
Together.
—————
Twelve minutes later (yes, I was counting), Jen walked into the room where we all waited.
She was carrying Imogen in her arms.
Mam’s hand clasped my arm, and she breathed, “Oh, Donovan.”
I held Rosie’s hand in mine and took Ma’s with my other, and together we got to our feet, all the while my lungs felt as if they were about to burst.
Imogen had the top of her head tucked into Jen’s neck, clutching the raggy doll I’d given her to her chest. My lips quirked when I noticed she was wearing one of the outfits I’d bought: a little blue-and-white chequered top with tiny straps that tied over her shoulders paired with matching shorts.
A big, white, stretchy bow covered her hair.
Her eyes met mine and locked. She lifted her little head and cocked it to one side, studying me sagely, as if she were a wise old woman sizing me up.
I gave her The Grin and The Dimple.
Her beautiful rosebud lips stretched into a smile, and she gave me the exact same dimple right on back.
“Hey,” I blurted, my heart melting all over the floor.
She stared at me with owlish eyes for a while, and then something beautiful happened. Imogen turned to Jen and touched her face gently before her elegant little neck swiveled back to me, and she leaned outward and stretched her arms in my direction with a silent instruction for me to come get her.
Mam let out a quiet sob.
Rosie inhaled sharply.
Aislynn sighed happily.
Tears sprang into my eyes.
An invisible force propelled me forward, and as if my girl was made from the finest, most precious porcelain, I carefully took her from Jen and gathered her securely in one arm.
She wriggled her little diaper-covered butt, finding a nook she liked, clasped her soft hands tightly around my neck, and studied my face curiously.
Something warm and right slid through my gut.
Imogen released my neck with one hand, grabbed a fistful of my shirt, then pressed her cheek right up against mine, and in a soft, sweet baby voice, she babbled, “Baba.”
My throat went tight, and I inhaled her sweet, clean scent, squeezing my eyes closed to help me breathe through the myriad feelings hitting me from all directions.
I was in danger of breaking down because I realized something.
Even though I never knew my daughter existed, I’d missed her.
It was like a part of me knew she was out there somewhere, needing me, and that was why my soul could never settle.
I cracked my eyes back open, met her steady gaze, and greeted her with a quiet, “Hey.”
Imogen reached out and patted a soft little palm against my cheek, studying me with her all-knowing gaze. After a beat, she tucked her forehead under my chin like it had always been her special place, and we’d just lost track of each other for a while, and then she sighed contentedly.
In that moment, with my daughter’s tiny head tucked under my chin, and her solid little heartbeat thumping against mine, I was certain of one thing.
We belonged to each other.