Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
DAMON
The guests started arriving before I managed to take Adeline to the side and apologize for my dad.
I told him when I picked them up at the airport that he was to enjoy today and get to know Adeline and her family—keep all the legal shit to himself.
I guess he didn’t get into too much legal stuff, but the whole quit your job and send the baby to boarding school? What the fuck?
Then I remember my father and grandfather yelling in my grandfather’s study.
They always disagreed, and I distinctly recall my grandfather telling me that one day my dad would understand—when the empire was all his to worry about.
I didn’t understand it until my grandfather had a heart attack and died, leaving my dad in charge when I was in high school.
Finally, once everyone has arrived and she’s made the initial rounds, I’m able to corner Adeline in the kitchen as she’s getting someone a drink.
“Adeline,” I say, and she turns to me, her cheeks pink from either how hot the room is or the fact she’s still embarrassed. I really hope it’s the former. “I’m sorry about my dad.”
She shakes her head, pouring club soda into a solo cup. The bottle slips from her grasp and falls to the floor, pouring everywhere, including on her dress. “Fuck.”
The word shocks me because I don’t think I’ve heard Adeline swear. I take it as a sign as to how much the conversation with my dad has affected her.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just want to get through this shower.”
“You go and clean up, and I’ll get this. Who’s the drink for?”
“Isla,” she says and moves to walk around me.
“My favorite person,” I mumble.
“Now we each have someone on the other side we’re not fond of.” She walks off, and my anger fumes. It’s one thing for me not to like her friend, it’s another for her not to like the grandfather of her baby. I’ve got to get my dad under control.
The worst part about today is that none of my friends could come.
I only invited Miles, Bryce, Cooper, and Ellery because they’re the only ones who know I’ve fathered a baby with my one-night stand, but Miles is away with Bryce attending her parents’ wedding, Ellery is working, and Cooper has a photoshoot for one of his sponsors.
My other teammates would be standing in line to razz me and tell me it’s about time I get what I deserve.
My mom is with Isla in the corner of the living room. She finds friends wherever she goes.
“Here’s your drink,” I say, handing it to Isla.
Her eyebrows draw down. “You didn’t spit in it, did you?”
God, I hate this woman.
“Last I checked, I wasn’t twelve.” I slide my hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels.
“Sweetie,” my mom says, and I roll my eyes because she has no idea how much I dislike this woman.
Isla’s had it out for me from the moment I met Adeline. And it’s not just her attitude toward me either. I think she’s a shit friend to Adeline as well. It’s one thing to be protective of your friend and another to reprimand an adult for her decisions.
“That’s funny, from everything I’ve read about you, your intelligence level seems to be about that.”
“Okay, so it goes both ways then. Got it.” My mom nods.
Adeline comes out from down the hall, and I stop her by her elbow, directing her away to ask her something, anything, to get away from Isla. I go with the first thing that comes to mind.
“Hey, did you ever find out who sent me the text?” I can totally see Isla sending it out of spite or to mess with Adeline.
She shakes her head. “I asked Isla and Sami. I was at a bowling party at the time. I might have put my phone down for a second, but whoever did it was able to figure out my password and knew that I had your number, or at least I guess they assumed I did. Anyway, both of them said no.”
“Do you believe them?”
She thinks for a moment. “Why would they lie? Plus, what’s the advantage of someone texting you? I never said I was keeping it from you forever. I had plans to reach out that following week anyway.”
“Present time!” Adeline’s mom calls from the other side of the room.
“Thank God, then cake, and today is over,” Adeline says, walking away from me.
I frown. Aren’t baby showers supposed to be fun for the mom-to-be?
“Adeline and Damon, both of you sit on the couch,” Marge says.
I nod. “Thanks.”
The stack of presents isn’t huge because not that many people are here. My mom has already told me what she’s giving us, and at this point, I worry how it’s going to go over thanks to the conversation earlier with my dad.
Marge pulls out a sheet of paper and a pen, which I figure out quickly is to write down who gave what. This whole thing is foreign to me, but Adeline seems to be enjoying herself now. Who doesn’t love presents, I guess, right?
There’re a lot of clothes, and since we don’t know what we’re having, the colors are mostly yellow, light greens, and creams. Her parents give us a stroller, which I can’t figure out how to fucking open.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of other stuff I didn’t even know we would need, and two of everything since we don’t live in the same house.
When I stared at the identical boxes of baby monitors, it made my chest ache for some reason.
Marge sets my mom’s envelope on Adeline’s lap, and I freeze in fear that my family is going to push her out of my life.
That it will all be too much for her, and she’ll want to seize control.
I’ve been around our family’s money my entire life and my parents aren’t being overbearing on purpose.
They honestly just want to share their wealth with their first grandchild and the woman who’s bringing him into the world.
But not everyone sees it that way, especially when you don’t come from my world.
Lots of people associate money with power, and Adeline could think my family is trying to manipulate her with their money.
“This is from Damon’s parents, Stanley and Heather.”
Adeline smiles at my mom. She opens the envelope and reads what’s inside, then looks at her own mother before her gaze shifts to my mom. “Thank you. It’s very generous.”
Okay, good, she didn’t run.
Adeline holds out the letter, which is a gift certificate from an interior designer, and tells the room, “It’s to have the baby’s room done with all the furniture and painting and everything.”
“Well, Damon isn’t going to be any help in the painting department, and Stanley and I really wanted to buy the furniture, but we didn’t see any on your registry,” my mom says.
“This felt like the easiest thing. She’s expecting your phone call on Monday.
” My mom sips her iced tea. She’s proud of herself, and the gift is very thoughtful, even though she just slammed me.
“I can paint,” I say.
The room fills with laughter, stirring my irritation.
“Yeah, but why when you can pay someone to do it for you, right?” Isla says.
I growl under my breath. I hate that woman. And I’m going to show them what I’m capable of when I make up the baby’s room at my apartment.
I drive Adeline home with all the presents and arrange for an Uber Black to take my parents downtown to their hotel.
Adeline hasn’t invited me to her place yet, and I’m eager to see how she lives.
I follow her directions to a small two-story house painted white with black shutters and a small detached one-car garage at the end of the driveway.
It’s in the downtown area of her town, and it’s cute and quaint like I’d expect.
“This is it. Home sweet home.” She opens the door and gets out of the vehicle.
I’m thankful that with the change of weather, we’ve had some warmer days, so I no longer have to worry about her slipping on ice.
She unlocks the front door as I work on bringing everything in from the vehicle. As soon as she’s inside, she flops onto her couch and slips off the flats she’s wearing. “I swear, I hate feeling this unattractive. Even my shoes are ugly now because of my swollen feet.”
“Oh please, you’re beautiful.”
She laughs, and I go out to the car to grab the stroller. The one I’m determined to master in the next month or two.
Adeline sits on the couch, taking out the clothes and pulling off the tags. “Now I kind of wish we would’ve found out. All this yellow.”
I chuckle. “We can get more clothes after he or she is born.” I continue to fiddle with the stroller.
“You’re going to break that thing,” she warns, watching me grow more and more frustrated.
I finally put it aside. “I just don’t get it. Why make something so hard to open when you most likely have a baby in your arms when you have to open it?”
Now that I’m not deep in my determination to beat the stroller, I let my gaze roam over the house. Her living area, dining room, and kitchen take up the majority of the wide, open-concept first floor, with a staircase along the wall.
“How many bedrooms are here?”
She glares at me. “Don’t start. I’m not moving if that’s what you’re suggesting. I won’t let your family buy me some new house and supply me with maids and butlers.”
I sit in the chair adjacent to her, my face falling. “I’m sorry about my parents.”
She heaves out a sigh. “Don’t be. I know they mean well. They could’ve come here thinking I manipulated you into sleeping with me to get pregnant.”
I chuckle, remembering how she schooled my dad. “That type of woman wouldn’t have stood up for herself today. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
She huffs. “He’s protective, and that’s not a bad thing.
The biggest problem I see right now, Damon, is that we’re two strangers who are about to raise a child together.
Most couples suffer through the sleepless nights of a newborn already knowing each other and having a loving relationship to draw on.
How will we have patience for one another?
Are we even on the same page as to how we want to raise this baby?
There are so many questions we need to answer—visitation, insurance, money.
I’m starting to get nervous that we don’t have a plan. ” She chews on the inside of her cheek.
I shift over to the couch and grab her legs, forcing them onto my lap so I can massage her feet.
Her head falls back to the pillow, and her eyes close. “Are you trying to distract my Type A brain? If so, it’s not going to work. The thoughts will just come back, but feel free to continue.” She chuckles.
“I don’t have all the answers, and there’re definitely things we need to discuss.
How about we plan on having two to three nights a week together to get to know one another?
We can decide what’s best for our baby. We don’t need our parents’ approval on what’s going to work for us.
If we want help, which I will need when the baby is with me, we’ll hire nannies.
But first things first, let’s get to know one another a little better before we go into freak-out mode, okay? ”
I dig into her arches, and she sighs. “Since you’re being so kind as to massage my feet, I’m going to let the whole freak-out mode comment go for now.”
I chuckle and run my finger up her arch to see if she’s ticklish. She tries to remove her foot from my hand, and I smile because I now know one more thing about her.
“What’s your favorite food besides a Reuben?” I ask to start the ball rolling.
We spend the next two hours finding out all the stuff you usually discover on the first few dates. She finally yawns, and I say good night. I’m climbing back into my Mercedes when my phone dings. I pull it out of my pocket to see a text from Bryce.
It wasn’t me. I swear. But it’s going live tomorrow morning, and I wanted you to know.
My stomach sinks.
The next text comes through with a few pictures of Adeline and me together. One is even from outside the school that first day. The caption reads, Say goodbye, girls, Chicago Grizzlies greatest “player” is going to be a daddy.
I turn off the ignition and knock on Adeline’s door. Guess I’m going to see if Adeline will let me sleep on the couch tonight in case the press come knocking.