Chapter 31 #2
Kennedy looks appalled. “That would be uncivilized.”
I grin at her word choice. God, I love her so damn much.
Coach exhales an audible breath. “Can someone please start talking before my head explodes?”
We then tell him the whole, crazy story sans the sex stuff. He can read between the lines on that, given the whole pregnancy thing.
He bites into his bacon with a perplexed look on his face. “You two got married when you hated each other?”
Kennedy nods. “We did.”
“Are you staying married at the end of the year?”
I nod, but she says, “We’ll see. One life decision at a time. It’s been a crazy year. A year ago, the thought of being in the same room as him made me sick to my stomach.”
Coach mumbles, “I’ve known him for ten years, and being in the same room still makes me sick to my stomach.”
I chuckle. “I love how we bicker like a family. Should I start calling you Dad?”
He stares at me like he’s going to kill me.
“Why would I ever be okay with this?” he asks me.
“You’ve never taken anything or anyone seriously.
Why should I believe you’ll take my daughter seriously?
For a decade, a decade, I’ve heard you in the locker room talking about women like they’re objects.
Like they’re nothing but punchlines to your immature, ridiculous jokes. ”
I’m about to defend myself, but Kennedy speaks first. “Daylen uses humor because he loves to make people happy and hates confrontation. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t take things seriously.
The Daylen you see isn’t the same as the one I see.
” Tears well in her eyes. “He’s probably the kindest, most generous and thoughtful man I’ve ever met in my life.
He considers me and our child in every single decision he makes.
I’d trust him with my life and not give it a second thought.
I have never, and I mean never, felt more loved, protected, and seen than I have with this man.
If anything, I’m the emotionally immature one, not him.
I’m the work in progress, not him. I hope I give him half of what he gives me. ”
I take her hand, squeeze it, and whisper, “You just did.”
She gives me a small smile before looking back at her father. “Haven’t you seen changes in me this year?”
“I have,” Coach admits.
“I’m working so damn hard on being a better version of me, and Daylen is a big part of that.
You can’t imagine how many times I’ve questioned my ability to be a good mother since I found out about the baby.
I didn’t have one. I’m fucking terrified.
” She taps her finger on my chest a few times.
“This guy, this guy right here, he gives me validation every minute of every day. He sees the good in me on the days I can’t find it in myself.
He tells me what a great mother he thinks I’ll be when I can’t see it in myself.
There is no one, no one, I would want to do this with other than him.
I think he’s going to be the most amazing father because he’s such a natural caregiver.
No one has ever taken better care of me.
No one loves harder than him. Our child and I are so damn lucky to have him. ”
I get choked up with emotion at her words, but she’s not done.
Her glassy eyes drift to mine before they meet her father’s again.
“For the first time in my life, someone quiets the chaos always churning through my brain. I’m not saying this to hurt you, Dad, but I’ve always felt so damn alone.
I’ve never had anyone to lean on. I’ve always had to take care of myself because no one else was there to do it for me.
Daylen is the man who says to me I know you can do it by yourself, but you don’t have to anymore.
He makes my doctor’s appointments, he makes sure I’m eating well, he cooks for me, he supports me, he makes me feel seen, and,” she looks at me, “he makes me feel like I matter. Daylen Humblecut is the biggest green flag to ever exist, and I was a fool to ever think otherwise.”
I’m feeling about a million feet tall right now, knowing how she feels. She’s never outwardly expressed any of this to me before. She’s more of a show by actions not words kind of woman.
I gently swipe the errant tear on her cheek with my thumb as we stare at each other. I love her so much.
I want to drop to my knee and ask her to marry me all over again, but I still want my solo conversation with Coach. Instead, I take her hand, kiss it, and say, “I was planning to wear white jeans and sandals with socks today. Is that okay?”
She giggles through her tears, and it’s music to my ears.
I turn to Coach. “In summary, I’m kind of awesome.”
He rolls his eyes and mumbles, “I should have killed you out front.”
And then it occurs to me that Kennedy arrived here only a few minutes after me. I look at her. “What made you come here this morning?”
“I startled awake when you closed the door,” she answers. “When I rolled over to check my phone, I had a million missed voicemails and texts from Fallon that Dad knew and was fit to be tied. She was afraid he’d confront you.” She looks at Coach. “You should call her. She’s worried sick about you.”
He scowls. “Fallon and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“What?” Kennedy screeches. “Why?”
He stands abruptly with the chair falling over and him stumbling a bit.
“I don’t owe you an explanation of my love life, Kennedy.
Considering you got married and pregnant without so much as a mention of it all to me, I don’t need to share anything with you.
” He runs his fingers through his hair in frustration and barks out, “I need to get out of here. I can’t handle this. ”
She stands and yells, “You’re not sober. You can’t drive. It was irresponsible of you to drive here.”
“Don’t tell me what to do like I’m a child,” he screams back.
“You’re acting like a fucking child, so I will tell you what to do.
I’ll lie down in front of your car before letting you drive right now.
You’re not going anywhere. When you sober up, you can go and apologize for whatever you did to Fallon.
Don’t fuck things up with her. She’s the best thing to ever happen to you. ”
They’re in a stare-down. It’s stubborn versus stubborn. I’ve never once got into an antagonistic screaming match like this with my father. I’m at a bit of a loss, but I know I don’t want Kennedy getting upset. It’s not good for her or the baby.
I stand and rub her back. “Calm down. It’s not good for you or the baby. I’ll drive him home in his car and Uber back.” I point toward the kitchen table. “Can you take care of this?”
She nods. “Sure. I’ll follow behind in my car and bring you home.”
I shake my head. “No, I want you to relax. Take a bath when you’re done. I bought a big box of some of the salts you like. They’re in the linen closet.”
She nods as she begins to clear the table before pausing briefly.
“When you sober up, Dad, you’ll realize that while all this may have started in a fucked-up way, and we’ve done things in a crazy order, it’s a blessing.
I consider Daylen and this entire situation to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. ”
Unable to stop myself anymore, I grab her face and give her a hard kiss on the lips. “Thank you. You and our baby are the best things to happen to me too. Now I can tell everyone,” I say excitedly.
She gives me a small smile. “I still want to get through the madness of the next few weeks, and then we can tell everyone. I promise. We have so many team interviews. I don’t want them to be about me and my pregnancy. They should be about the team and our achievement.”
A pang of disappointment hits me because I’m sick of the secrecy and want to be there to celebrate with her this week, but it’s been an emotional morning for her. I don’t want to make things harder.
Coach and I begin the short drive to his house in silence before I finally speak. “I’m sorry you found out from Fallon and not us. It’s not how I wanted this to go down. I wanted to have a real conversation with you, man to man. I owed you that.”
He shakes his head as he aimlessly stares out of the passenger window. “That’s not how I found out. I went to her apartment last night to leave her a congratulatory gift, and I saw you two together in her hallway.”
My eyes widen knowing what we did in that hallway, but he says nothing further, and neither do I.
His pained eyes eventually meet mine. “I don’t want her to suffer the same fate as me. It’s like a damn family curse,” he mumbles.
“What does that mean?” I ask, not understanding what he’s referencing.
He visibly swallows. “This stays between us.”
I nod.
“Ginny and I fudged the dates and the story of how we met for our kids’ sake.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “She was one of the faceless many when I was in college. You know how it is when you’re the big man on campus.”
I nod again. “I do.” When you’re a football star on the rise, with the certainty of millions of dollars waiting for you when you’re done with college, every woman wants to hitch themselves to you. They practically throw themselves at you. It’s overwhelming at times.
“I barely remembered sleeping with her, let alone her name, when she told me she was pregnant with my child. We waited until paternity was confirmed, and then we got married. I didn’t love her.
I thought I would grow to over time because she was the mother of my child, but it never happened for me.
The same damn thing happened with my parents, but they didn’t even make it through me being in diapers before they got divorced.
I was determined to give my daughter a different life, but when you don’t marry for love, it gets ugly.
I was miserable for so many years.” His voice cracks, “And now the same thing is happening to my baby girl.”
At least now I understand his rage a bit more. “Coach, I know this isn’t how you imagined things going for her, but I do love her. I can be honest enough to tell you I didn’t when we got married, but I love her now. Very much.”
He shakes his head. “You think you do because of the baby. You love the baby, not her. Trust me, I would know.”
“No. It’s her. Even if there were no baby right now, I’d still want her. I’d still love her. Even with the bizarre circumstances of our union, I haven’t broken our vows and never will.”
He nods in understanding. I don’t need to spell out that part of things further for him.
I need to convey just how serious I am. “Coach, I know I’m the team goofball, but I take your daughter very seriously.
I’ve never been with anyone like her. Honestly, if you asked me a year ago, I would never have imagined I’d want someone like her.
She’s different. A complete pain in the ass sometimes.
She challenges me in a way no other woman ever has, but I think that’s what makes her so special.
It’s one of the reasons I love her. I also love her independence, her strength, and the way she takes care of everyone around her.
She’s such a loyal friend and teammate. I love her honesty.
It’s brutal at times, but you always know where you stand with her because she’s incapable of being anything other than authentically her.
I love that she’s shared things with me and has allowed herself to be vulnerable with me.
I love her personality. She’s the funniest person I know.
I love that she takes care of me without realizing it because it’s become second nature for her to do so.
” I risk a quick glance at him when I turn on my blinker.
“She told you I take care of her, which I do at times, but she equally takes care of me. I love that she’s the first person I want to see in the morning.
I love that I miss her like crazy when we’re on the road.
I love that one hug from her can make a bad day turn good.
” I shrug. “And if I’m being honest, she’s also pretty easy on the eyes. ”
“Watch it, Humblecut,” he growls.
I chuckle. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, but that’s not why I’m proud to call her my wife. It’s all the other things I mentioned. I bought a real ring for her and wanted to do this the right way. I planned to talk to you first to get your blessing.”
“Blessing for what? You’re already married,” he spits back.
“I want us to have a real wedding. We barely remember the first, and it doesn’t reflect where we are now.
I want to tell her I love her and want to spend my life with her in front of all our family and friends.
She’s been hesitant about us going public, preferring to wait until her season was over. Now she wants to wait even longer.”
“What about you?” he asks. “What do you want?”
“I want to tell the world. I have for months, but you know Kennedy. It’s her way or the highway, and while I don’t let her get away with everything—she likes being called out on her shit sometimes—I’ve given her this because it’s her body carrying that baby and her career is the one that will be affected.
She loves playing basketball, and the impact of having a baby weighs heavily on her.
I don’t want to do anything to upset her. My job is to support her.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Who are you right now?”
A small smile finds my lips. “I’m the man who loves your daughter. I’m the man who’s going to take care of her for the rest of her life. Honestly, I regret nothing about the past year other than not being forthcoming.”
He’s silent for a few beats. “Don’t let her walk all over you. She needs a man who will challenge her.”
My smile grows. “I know, Coach. Challenging her is one of my favorite pastimes.” It’s kind of our foreplay, but he doesn’t need that detail. “But the timing of telling people about the baby impacts her career, not mine. This decision is hers, even if I don’t like it.”
We pull into his driveway. When I stop the car, I hold out my hand for him to shake.
He stares at it for a long while before eventually taking it and squeezing it hard. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you. That’s not an empty threat. I will literally murder you and not think twice about it.”
I nod. “Deal. I’d like to give her the ring and do this the right way. I want you to walk her down the aisle to me. Do I have your blessing?”
His lip twitches. “One of my best friends owns a cement company. I know where to put you so that you’ll never be found. Don’t fuck with my baby girl, Humblecut. She’s the most important thing in the world to me.”
“To me too, Coach. I’ll take that as a yes.”