Chapter 4 #3
Kacey mock-crossed himself, a pious expression on his face. “God help him.”
Aunt Brenda whacked Kacey on the back of the head as she sailed by to grab one of her grandkids before he fell. “No blaspheming, you evil man.”
Aunt Brenda was a church lady. Like in a very deep and don’t-get-her-started way.
“Lo siento mucho, Tía.” Kacey winked at her, and she rolled her eyes, waggled her finger at him, but walked on with a fond smile on her face.
Sam glared. “How do you do that and not ever get in trouble?”
Kacey shrugged, the shit-eating grin utterly unconcerned. “Women love me.”
“Yeah, and if you weren’t as queer as a three-dollar bill, it might—”
Kacey held up a finger at him now, stopping him, “No, no, no, that doesn’t matter—women love me. So, where is your daughter? Where is the boy? Aren’t they supposed to be out here putting on a show of some sort?”
“I know, right? If she thinks she can just hide in there, she’s got another think coming.”
Kacey grinned at him. “You want I should go get her?”
“Oh, that would embarrass the bejesus out of her. Go for it.”
That way he wouldn’t get in trouble either. He’d be out here cooking hot dogs in public where everyone could see that he wasn’t in there interfering with whatever she and Max were doing, which he didn’t want to think about.
And if one more person told him that she couldn’t get more pregnant, he was going to deck them.
Hell, he might just deck someone to be contrary. Maybe the hockey guy. Didn’t they throw down all the time for no reason? Lots of chest bumping and slamming themselves to the ice?
Okay, why was that vaguely hot? Ugh.
He fed the dogs tiny hunks of hot dog, and the chihuahua named Diablo damn near took his fingers off.
“Do you know they can have up to two hundred pounds of pressure of bite force?” Evan murmured, walking up holding a beer.
He blinked over. “The Chihuahuas? Wouldn’t surprise me. They’re evil little bastard dogs. A ton of rage packed into a teeny tiny body.” He grinned because he couldn’t help it. “But Mama loves little fuckers.”
“Aye! You better watch it if Mama hears you saying that. She’s gonna eat your face.” Serafina came up, took hot dogs off the grill. “I think she likes those dogs better than she likes all of us.” She nodded to Evan. “’Fina. Nice to meet you. This is my baby brother.”
“You’re the oldest?”
“Bah, the youngest sister, no? He’s just the baby of all of us.”
“Yep, the baby of them all.” He was the baby, and then there was Hillary, right in the middle of all the cousins.
Thank God she wasn’t gonna be having the first great-grandchild or even the second. It was either gonna be the eighth or the ninth. He wasn’t sure. There were so many.
Still, it was his first.
He didn’t think Hillary was ready. God knew he’d support her no matter what she wanted, even if she decided to adopt the baby out.
It’d break his heart, especially if he ever got to see it before, but he’d support her—her body, her baby, her choice, and she’d made it on her own before she’d ever come to him.
“Papa, don’t be mad at me.” She was wearing a little pair of pink shorts and a Taylor Swift T-shirt, her hair up in pigtails like she used to wear it when she was a baby.
She’d been crying, and he knew it was bad.
“What is it, baby girl?”
“I don’t want you not to love me anymore.”
He looked at her where she sat in her bed in pure shock, his mind racing before he went and sat next to her.
Facing her, he took her hand. It was icy cold.
“There is no force on earth.” He held her devastated gaze. “You could tell me you were a serial killer, and I would love you. You could tell me you hated me. You could tell me anything. I am your papa and I love you, no? So you tell me, and together we’ll figure it out.”
She sniffled, squeezed his hand. “I’m pregnant, Papa.”
His breath stopped—partially because it was life-changing, altering in a way that he could never explain to his hija, but also because it wasn’t something evil, it wasn’t something he was going to have to beg forgiveness for cleaning up.
“—I swear to God I’ve only been with one guy.”
Like he wanted to hear that
“And we used protection.”
“Were you on the pill?”
She shook her head. “No, I hadn’t been seeing anybody, but you know when I went up for spring break? I met a guy from up East. He was pretty and charming and different and not from here. We used protection, you know. But I’m still pregnant.”
He blew out a breath, but he didn’t let go. “Well, what do you want to do, baby?”
“I can’t. I want to keep it. I mean, I know it’s stupid, but it’s my baby.”
He didn’t know what he was supposed to do.
This wasn’t in the manual. Was he supposed to encourage her to go to a doctor and get it taken care of?
Was he supposed to encourage her to get rid of it?
What was he supposed to do? “No matter what you decide to do, baby, I got you. I will never let you fall.”
It still killed him, that conversation. Watching her come out now and holding that boy’s hand, it killed him even more.
Sam had no idea how he was going to get through all this.