Chapter 4
Kylie woke when the baby whimpered.
She opened her eyes and stared at the tiny little boy in the clear-sided cradle who had emerged from her body four hours ago. Her parents had been so much more excited than she’d been.
Ever since the third stick in a row had developed a plus sign, Kylie had started to harden her heart. After Dylan had shattered it to pieces, she didn’t want any reminders of him. Ever. Least of all a child who had his dark brown hair and unique gold eyes. Eyes she’d fallen in love with.
As a newly promoted lieutenant junior grade, he was a few years older than her, but she’d always been mature for her age. With no siblings, always surrounded by adults, and the child of an officer and a schoolteacher, childish behavior was never tolerated.
Their summer together had been storybook.
Dylan, who had recently completed his second year of SEAL training, was the assistant officer in charge of a platoon.
Since Kylie had lived on the island all her life, and her father had risen through the ranks as a SEAL officer, there wasn’t much about the program that she didn’t know and understand.
Their bond had grown quickly and tight. But she didn’t want to share him with her mother. The short amount of time they had together was so precious. She was convinced she’d know when the time was right to tell both her parents about him.
That time never came.
Just before Dylan had been deployed to the Middle East on a six-month tour, he thanked her for a wonderful summer.
She told him that she loved him and would be there when he returned.
He’d called her a little girl and told her to go back to college. “You need to find somebody more dependable than a Navy SEAL. We don’t make good boyfriends, or husbands.”
She slid out of bed and picked up the child they had created.
She wondered if she’d told him that her parents had made it work for fifteen years, would that have made a difference in Dylan’s opinion.
But had she told him that truth; had he known who her father was, everything would’ve changed.
He would have dropped her immediately or used her to influence her father.
In a way, he, too, was nothing more than a summer fling for her. Had she really loved him, she would have brought him home for some of her mom’s wonderful lasagna. She would have introduced him to her father who could help forward his career.
Instead, she was his dirty little secret, and he was her secret lover.
As Kylie held her baby, he fussed and turned his tiny head toward her breast. Sitting in the rocking chair, she helped him find her nipple.
She wasn’t going to do this.
She couldn’t afford to have her milk come in if she was going to put him up for adoption.
But when her son latched on, it was as though she instantly fell in love for the first time in her life. The sweet tiny baby in her arms was completely dependent on her. She had everything he needed to survive…and thrive.
Her tear splattered on her baby’s cheek, and she knew she couldn’t ever give this child up.
It didn’t matter where he’d come from, or how he’d made it into her life, but he was hers. Forever.
When she stood to put him back into his bassinet, she was a little bit dizzy. No doubt from blood loss. Who knew you bled so much after the baby was born? Or maybe it was the high blood pressure spike just before she pushed him out completely.
Quickly changing his diaper, she remembered her father’s pride when he diapered the baby for the first time. They’d promised to help her, and she was sure they would.
She could do this. There were millions of single mothers out there who didn’t have two wonderful parents willing to help, and they made it work.
As she crawled back into the bed, she texted her parents with her decision.
I hope you meant it when you offered to help me raise my son because I am keeping Ian Hubbard. Could you please pick up a car seat on the way to the hospital? Looks like you two need to go shopping. Love you both. Ky followed by a smiling emoji and a heart.
For the first time since her baby’s father had turned his back and walked away, she felt strong. She was no longer a victim of lost love, but a survivor of heartbreak.
She laid back down, still feeling a little dizzy. Lying on her side, smiling as she watched her newborn baby sleep, she closed her eyes…for the last time.