Chapter 33
“Thought Adele was the handful today. Turns out, nope.”
Zane
I groan when Adele reaches the television cabinet. She manages to open the drawer and begins pulling out remote controls.
I rush to her. “No, baby girl.”
Sloane enters the living room with our coffees and scans the mound of remotes on the ground. “I was gone two minutes.”
“She started crawling a few days ago. I didn’t realize she’d be the Olympic champion of crawling within days.”
Sloane snorts. “She’s your daughter. What did you expect? I’m surprised she’s not skateboarding yet.”
I lift Adele into the air and blow bubbles onto her stomach. “Who’s my little skateboarder?” She giggles. “Shall we take her to the park today?”
“Um, dude, I think she’s a bit young for the skateboard park.”
“I don’t know. I bet she could sit on a skateboard while I push her around.”
“Remind me to buy her a baby helmet.”
“You can buy her a baby helmet later. Let’s go to the park.”
It’s Saturday and I’m off all day. Sloane has to work later tonight but she can spend the majority of the day with us. I’m hoping once she’s officially appointed assistant manager, she’ll work fewer evenings. I miss going to bed with her.
Between waking up at two in the morning to fuck her and middle of the night feedings for Adele, my sleep pattern is completely out of whack.
Miles found me asleep on the toilet at work the other day. I don’t know who was more surprised. Him, when he barged in on me, or me when I woke up and forgot I was sitting on a toilet with my pants around my ankles?
“As long as we stick to the baby swings.”
I bat my eyelashes. “What about the slide?”
“Fine. But you’re helping her down. The last time I was on the slide, some kid’s diaper blew up in front of me.”
I chuckle. “It’s a good thing I’ve mastered getting shit stains out of laundry.”
“Words I never thought I’d hear Zane Raider say in this lifetime.”
Does she realize I’m a changed man? That I don’t want to chase other women? That she’s the only woman I see?
“I’ll change her while you get the diaper bag.”
Sloane raises her eyebrow. “You’re volunteering to change her diaper?”
“I change her diaper.”
She snorts. “When there’s no choice in the matter.”
“Whatever,” I mutter since she’s not wrong.
I do try and avoid changing her diaper. But who can blame me? The smells that come out of this little baby girl are rancid.
And this is from someone who once fell into a sewer. Parkouring is not for the faint of heart. Especially when you’re in a country with open sewers. I don’t recommend parkour in Nigeria.
“Do you have a dirty diaper?” I ask Adele as I carry her to the nursery. I set her down on the changing table and tickle her tummy. She giggles. “Who’s my beautiful girl?”
The doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it.” Sloane points to Adele. “You get her diaper changed.”
“If it’s my brothers, tell them to fudge off.”
I cringe at the word fudge. But I can’t afford to swear anymore. Not since Sloane started a swear jar. She says Adele is old enough to imitate sounds and we need to be cautious. She doesn’t want Adele entering kindergarten ‘swearing like a sailor on shore leave’.
By the time I finish changing Adele’s diaper and dressing her, Sloane hasn’t returned. Crap. My brothers are here. So much for a quiet Saturday morning at the park with Adele and Sloane.
But when I enter the living room, I’m not greeted by Raiders. It’s Sloane’s mom instead. I’d prefer my brothers – pranks included.
“Poppy.” I nod in greeting.
“Zane.” She licks her lips and my stomach sours. Sloane deserves to have a mother who doesn’t come on to her boyfriend. “I have fabulous news.”
Sloane groans. “I’m not sponsoring your journey into space.”
Poppy scowls. “It was deep sea, not space.”
Crap. Poppy is an adventurer? No wonder Sloane kept her distance from me. It was bad enough, I was a player, but I must have reminded her of her mother. She probably thinks I’m the same as her mother. I’m not. I don’t shirk my responsibilities.
“What do you want?” Sloane asks.
“It’s not what I want. It’s what I have.”
Sloane’s nose wrinkles and retreats a step. “If you came here with a communicable disease, I’m kicking you out.”
“Must you always cause drama. I don’t have any disease.”
“Okay. Fine. I’ll bite. What do you have?”
Poppy reaches into her bag and flourishes an envelope. “Tickets to Japan! I know you’ve always wanted to visit.”
If Sloane wants to visit Japan, I’ll take her. But maybe she wants to go with her mom. My chest tightens, and breathing becomes impossible. Is this the moment Sloane abandons me? Will she disappear with her mom?
I study her. She’s not jumping for joy or rushing off to pack her bags. She’s irate. Her nostrils flare while her hands fist at her waist. I blow out a breath in relief.
“You think,” she says between clenched teeth, “you can waltz in here with tickets and I’ll run away with you?”
“It’s what you’ve always wanted.”
“Always wanted?” Sloane rears back. “What I wanted was a mother who paid attention to me. Who cared for me. Who protected me when her boyfriends leered at me.”
I growl. Her mother’s boyfriends leered at her? If they touched her, I won’t give a shit how Poppy is Sloane’s mother. She’s done.
Poppy flicks her hair over her shoulder. “No one ever touched you.”
Sloane pounds a fist on her chest. “I didn’t feel comfortable in my home.”
“You always were such a sensitive little thing.”
“I’m sensitive because I wanted to feel safe in my home? Because I didn’t want my mother’s boyfriends to chase after me? Because I didn’t want to lock my bedroom door at night?”
Poppy sighs. “The past is the past. There’s nothing we can do to change it now.”
Sloane starts for her mom but I shackle her wrist to stop her. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“Trust me. I won’t regret it.”
“Yes, you will. You have a kind heart, sweetness. Hurting your mother will destroy you.”
She sags. “Fine.”
I release her wrist and wrap my arm around her shoulders. I’m presenting a united front to her mother. Her mother didn’t protect her. But I will.
“I don’t know why I bothered coming here,” Poppy mutters.
“Why don’t you visit Japan with your boyfriend?” Sloane asks.
Poppy’s lips purse. “I’m currently in between boyfriends.”
Sloane lifts a brow. “By choice?”
“It was a silly misunderstanding.”
“A silly misunderstanding that resulted in you having enough money to buy plane tickets to Japan?”
“I didn’t know the ring was a family heirloom. I wouldn’t have pawned it had I known.”
Sloane stares at her mother with disgust. “Right. It was an accident.”
Poppy perks up. “I’m glad you understand. Now, let’s go visit Japan as a family. The flight departs in a few hours. Plenty of time to pack.”
“As a family?” I growl.
She blinks at me. “Yes, a family. I’m her mother.”
“You’re not her mother. You’re the egg donor.”
“I did more than donate my egg. I carried her for nine months. The things I had to do to get my body back in shape. And I raised her.”
“You didn’t raise her. You didn’t love and cherish her. You didn’t teach her about morals and ethics. You didn’t show her how to be a good person.”
I turn to Sloane. “You’re an amazing person. You could have gone off the rails, but you didn’t.”
“Technically, I tried. But the inhabitants of Smuggler’s Hideaway weren’t having it. The mayor, Lana, stopped by when I was visiting a jail cell and gave me a dressing down. I’ve never been so ashamed in my life.”
“Visiting a jail cell?”
“For one night only.”
I chuckle. “What did you do?”
“It was a misunderstanding.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Fine,” she huffs. “I accidentally spray painted Kira’s garage door.”
“How do you accidentally spray paint?”
“Easy, really. You accidentally buy the paint and then accidentally find yourself at someone’s house in the middle of the night. It could happen to anyone.”
“I…” I cut myself off before I tell her I love her. It’s too early for proclamations of love. And I’m not telling her how I feel in front of her mother.
“Hello!” Speaking of her mother. “Did you forget I was here? Go pack your things. We don’t have all day.”
“I’m not going with you.”
Poppy stomps her foot. “But I’m your family.”
“Wrong. Zane and Adele are my family.”
Relief courses through me with such fervor I nearly drop Adele. Sloane isn’t going anywhere. She’s staying right here where she belongs. Thank fuck.
I kiss her cheek before handing her the baby. “I’ll escort your mother out.”
“Well, I never!” Poppy shouts.
I herd her toward the door. I don’t touch her. I wouldn’t put it past her to call the police on me. But I do get her to the door.
She glances back at her daughter, who shoos her away. Good. She’s not mad at me for kicking her mom out of our home.
Poppy steps onto the porch and I shut the door on her.
This isn’t the end of Sloane’s problems with Poppy. She’ll be back again. And I’ll be here ready to pick up the pieces of Sloane’s heart every time. Because I’m someone she can rely on. Forever.