Chapter 12 #3
Maddie didn’t say much on the ride home, and Mac decided to leave her be until they got the kids bathed and off to bed. It took three bedtime stories to lull Thomas to sleep. Mac tried to remain patient with the boy, but he was anxious to be with Maddie.
When Thomas finally stopped chattering, Mac moved carefully to get up from the “big boy” bed that his son was so proud of.
Clicking on the night-light, he left the door propped so they could hear him if he woke up in the night.
Luckily, both their kids were pretty good sleepers, but he still wanted to be able to hear them if they woke up, and he didn’t trust those baby monitors Maddie swore by.
At times, Mac still couldn’t believe the changes in his life over the last couple of years. He’d gone from being the most happily unencumbered bachelor in the world to the happiest family man any guy could be. He wouldn’t trade one second of his new life to go back to the way he used to live.
In the master bedroom, he found Maddie propped up against a big pile of pillows, breastfeeding their daughter. The letter from her father sat on the bedside table, unopened.
“Is she asleep?” Mac asked in a whisper.
“Think so.”
“Want me to take her?”
“Sure.”
Although they were old hands at this by now, they still moved carefully so as not to wake the sleeping baby. Mac lifted Hailey into his arms, loving the way she snuggled her little face into his neck. He didn’t move for a long moment, waiting for her to settle again.
Knowing how much he loved snuggling with Hailey, Maddie smiled at him. That smile turned him to mush every time, reminding him that she’d made his new life possible.
Mac walked the baby into her room and put her down in the crib, tucking blankets in around her.
Hailey’s eyes opened for a heartbeat of a second, and Mac froze, waiting to see what she would do. She popped her thumb into her mouth, turned on her side and drifted off.
He released the deep breath he’d been holding and tiptoed from the room after making sure the baby monitor was on.
“All set?” Maddie asked when he returned.
“Yep. Two for two. I got the touch.”
“You’re a regular baby whisperer.”
Mac stretched out next to her on the bed, turning on his side to face her. “Are you going to read it?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Want me to do it for you?”
Rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, she contemplated his offer. “I suppose one of us has to look at it.” She reached for the envelope and handed it to him.
Mac opened it, looked over the paperwork that set up college trust funds for his children and then scanned the letter her father had enclosed. “Do you want me to read it to you?”
“I guess…”
Mac took her hand and held it against his chest. “Dear Maddie, I hope this finds you doing well. It was so good to see you recently and to be able to spend some time with you. While I know it was difficult for you to extend the overture to me, I thank you for having me to your home. I like knowing where you live and that you are happy with your new family.”
Mac glanced up and saw that she was staring intently at the wall, her face expressionless as she listened to him.
“I realize it’s rather inadequate after all this time to say I’m sorry for what I did.
It’s inadequate to admit that I probably had no business getting married or fathering children when I was far more concerned with partying and hanging out with my friends than I was with changing diapers.
That, of course, is no fault of yours. It’s my fault and mine alone.
All of you deserved far better than you got from me, and seeing each of you again has brought home to me just how much damage my immature behavior did to people I loved.
“Believe it or not, I did love you. I do love you. I always have. I thought of you and your sister all the time. Seeing you again has also brought home just how much I missed with you both. For years after I left, I thought about going back and trying to fix what I’d done, but I lacked the courage to face you—and your mother—and for that I take full responsibility.
It’s important to me that you know I thought of you every day and will continue to do so for as long as I live. ”
A small whimper of distress escaped from her tightly clenched lips.
“Maddie—”
“Please finish. Please.”
Mac forced his attention from her back to the letter, hating the pain it was causing her.
“I want you to know the funds for the children were not done to assuage my guilt, which is not insignificant, but rather to perhaps make life a bit easier for my grandchildren than it was for my children. That’s all.
I promise the money is given with no strings attached.
“I also promise that you’ll not hear from me again, unless you wish to.
I’ve enclosed my address and phone number, and my door is always open to you and your sister as well as your families.
If I had my life to do over again, I never would’ve left.
I shall always regret that and the pain I caused you.
With all my love and best wishes, your dad, Bobby Chester. ”
Mac folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope. “Are you okay, honey?”
Even though she nodded, tears slid down her cheeks, breaking his heart. “I wasn’t expecting him to say all that.”
“It must be nice to hear how he feels after all this time, to know he regrets what he did.”
“I guess. It doesn’t change anything, though.”
“Maybe not,” Mac said, choosing his words carefully, “but at least he owns it.”
“Yeah. There is that.”
“Come here, baby.” He held out his arms to her and waited for her to settle into his embrace before closing his arms around her. Brushing the hair off her face, he kissed her forehead and then her lips. “What can I do for you?”
She slid an arm around his waist. “This is good. Really good.”
“Will you respond to him?”
“I was just thinking about that. I should thank him for the money, I suppose, but how do I address the thank-you note? Do I say, ‘Dear Dad’ or ‘Dear Bobby’ or ‘Dear Mr. Chester’?”
Mac couldn’t imagine what it might be like to not know how to address his own father. “I suppose you could call him whatever feels comfortable for you.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You can think about it for a few days and see what seems right.”
She shifted in his arms, raising her head to press her lips to his. “I don’t want to think about it anymore tonight.”
“Oh no? What do you want to think about?”
Her smile lit up her caramel-colored eyes. “What do you think? It’s been a while.”
“Sorry about that.”
“No need to be sorry, but I’m all for you making it up to me.”
Mac could tell she was making an effort to be lighthearted when her heart had to be burdened by what her father’s note had said.
Determined to take her mind off her worries, he moved so he was on top of her.
He was never more at home anywhere than he was in her welcoming embrace.
Tonight was no different. Her arms came around him, her fingers combed through his hair, and her legs hugged his hips.
After more than a week since he’d last made love to her, it didn’t take long for the desperate need she inspired in him to override his plans for a slow seduction.
“Mac,” she gasped. “Don’t wait. I need you.”
That was all he needed to hear. Their coupling was fast and furious and deeply sensual, as always. For a long time after they were married, he’d expected their ardor to cool, but rather, it had only intensified. This time was no different.
Maddie arched her back and dug her fingers into his backside, trying to keep him inside her while she climaxed.
Her orgasm triggered his, and he cried out from the power of it. “Holy moly,” he whispered into her ear, sending a shiver through her.
“Mmm,” she said, holding him close. “Just what I needed.”
“Happy to be of service, my love. Any time.”
Her laughter reassured him that she’d get through this latest trial. They’d get through it together.
Tiffany read and reread the letter from her father, absorbing the words she’d waited forever to hear.
He loved her. He’d always loved her. He regretting leaving, wished he had it to do over.
This changed everything. All her life, she’d been influenced by the bitterness of her mother and sister.
Before she met her father as an adult, she’d had no memory of him.
It was like he’d never existed to her. She knew that wasn’t the case for her mother and Maddie, and had tried to be empathetic toward their feelings even as she yearned for something, anything of the man who’d fathered her.
Now she had that and so much more.
Blaine came into the bedroom and pulled off his shirt, drawing Tiffany’s attention to his muscular chest and six-pack abs.
“How many stories did she talk you into?” Tiffany asked.
“Four.”
“You are way too easy.”
“What can I say? I’m putty in her hands—and yours.” He dropped his shirt, pants and boxers into a pile on the floor that would still be there after he left for work in the morning.
No man was perfect, she thought as she held out her arms to him, but hers was as close to perfect as any man got. She’d expected him to lie beside her, but he came down on top of her, making her squeal when he nibbled on her neck.