Chapter 3 #2
I shook my head. “Why does everybody think I’m sick? Why is that the first thing that comes to mind?”
“Because you’re an old man in your forties, and that’s what we think?” Aiden said. Then he rubbed the back of his head, since Dad had smacked it like he should.
“Watch who you’re calling old, boy.”
Aiden rolled his eyes, but I still saw the worry there.
I stared at my family, words failing me.
Tomorrow I would sign paperwork to get temporary custody of Bella.
And I would take her home. I would have a kid in my house, and it didn’t make any fucking sense.
Her DNA test had already come back positive, having taken less than a day since it had been rushed, thanks to the Longs’ money.
I was a daddy, and I needed to say the words. “Something happened yesterday…” My voice trailed off, throat going tight.
Rowan leaned forward. “Just say it, we’re here no matter what.”
I took a step back, needing to breathe, and thankfully they all let me. I wanted to pace, throw something, or have someone else say the words. But there wasn’t anything to do other than blurt it out.
“I have a daughter.”
My parents blinked at me, as my brothers stared at me wide-eyed.
“What?” Aiden asked, his voice high-pitched.
“You knocked somebody up?” Rowan asked before ducking my dad’s hand.
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Denver mumbled, looking as pale as I was.
“You have a daughter? Why didn’t you tell us? Oh, Reece. You’re a daddy. Oh my God, I’m a grandma.” Mom’s eyes filled with tears, and she threw herself in my arms. She was so itty-bitty, her head fit underneath my chin. I hugged her close and met my dad’s worried gaze over her.
“What happened, son?” my dad asked, and I swallowed hard.
“I found out yesterday at work. Her grandparents showed up with her and their lawyer.”
My mom took a step back, a frown on her face. “You’ve met her? What is she like? How old is she? Wait, is she not a baby?”
“Mom,” I said as I cupped her face. “Let me just tell you the entire story. Then we can go over everything together. Because I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing.”
“Language,” Aiden blurted.
“I think this is a good time to say fuck,” Mom said as she looked at her youngest son.
That broke the tension, and we all laughed, and I let my shoulders drop. “Her name is Bella. And she’s twelve. And I didn’t know about her until yesterday.”
I finally took a sip of the aged bourbon, before setting the glass down and explaining everything. The lawyers, the DNA test, the twelve-year-old who didn’t look like she wanted to be there, and the Montgomerys who were already helpful.
“The entire Montgomery family knows and we didn’t?” Dad asked, disappointment in his gaze.
“They happened to be there, and I needed a minute to figure things out before I told everybody here in person. I just got the results back, and I didn’t want to worry you in case I wasn’t her dad.
But I am. And I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.
What am I supposed to do with a little girl who is apparently my kid? ”
“So they had her all this time and are just giving her to you?” Aiden asked.
“I didn’t know Bella existed. How the hell was I supposed to be in her life if Cassie hid her from me all this time?”
“Why did she hide her?” Mom asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck, once again wondering why she’d do such a thing.
“I don’t know. Cassie and I weren’t together for long.
We had fun. Then we didn’t. And she left.
I’ve been married since then. Divorced. Lived a life.
I haven’t given Cassie a second thought, but I would’ve stood up. I would’ve been a father.”
“You are a father,” my mom said as she patted my chest. “And we’re going to help you.”
My dad moved forward and hugged me tightly. I held on for a moment, needing that breath, and backed up. “We’re going to be with you no matter what. You said you get her tomorrow?”
My throat suddenly went dry, and I nodded. “Her grandfather has his hip replacement surgery set in two days, and they’re leaving me with her. Leaving her with me. As if I’m some fucking babysitter.”
“That doesn’t give us a lot of time to set up your house for a preteen girl,” Rowan said as he ran his hand over his hair. “But we can make it work. Mom’s a decorator, and we can all lift things. We’ve got this.”
Aiden began to pace. “What does a twelve-year-old girl even want for her room?”
Mom clapped her hands and put on the face she always did when we had to make a plan and stick to it. “We’ll figure all that out. We’ll make lists, and we’ll make sure that Bella has a welcoming home. And she’s welcome here too. Because that’s my granddaughter.”
I nodded, my hands relaxing out of fists.
“You’re not going to fight the will, then? You want to keep her?” Rowan asked.
I knew my brother was asking the hard questions because that’s what family did, but I wanted to hit him in that moment.
“Damn straight. You didn’t meet the grandparents.
I don’t know if I want to leave her with them if they decide they want her back.
I haven’t even had a full night’s sleep in order to come to terms with this.
But I’m a dad. This is my daughter. And I’m going to figure out what the hell that means for the both of us. ”
“Good. Good. And we’re going to do it right alongside you. And the Montgomerys apparently,” my mom said dryly.
I rolled my eyes, grateful for the humor.
“No matter what, though, that little girl comes first,” my mom said softly. “She lost her mom, Reece. And now she’s probably scared, angry, and feels all alone. This is going to be hard, baby boy, but you’re not alone. I promise.”
I stood there in my family’s kitchen, knowing that they thought they would be there for me to help with all of this, just like Brooklyn and the others did. But was that really the case? I wasn’t sure.
“What does she look like?” my mom asked as she gestured towards the food on the kitchen island. “Everybody eat. Let’s not let this food go to waste.”
I smiled softly, as my chest ached. “I wasn’t even sure I needed the DNA test at first because she looks like you.”
My mom’s eyes filled, as I hugged her close and realized that everything was going to change.
Somehow, after all these years, I was a single dad, and I didn’t know a damn thing about my daughter.
No wonder she had looked at me like she couldn’t stand me.
Now, after this, I would go home, prep my house, and be ready to have a kid I didn’t know live under my roof who, I was pretty sure, didn’t want to be there.
This wasn’t going to go well.