Chapter 29
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
ADELINE
“Please sit down, Lucy.”
Today has been a constant challenge, getting the students to be quiet and stop talking or standing up from their desks when they’re supposed to be working.
A commotion in the hallway piques their interest, and some of them rush over to the window that looks out into the hall.
“Please, you guys. I am tired of saying the same thing. Sit down.”
“Miss Morgan!” Sydney says in an excited voice, turning to face me with her mouth open.
“I don’t even want to know,” I mumble.
After a quick rap on the door, Vic walks in and puts out his hand. “You have some visitors.”
“But Shaylene didn’t call to tell me, and I’m not expecting anyone.” I sit at my desk, massaging my temples. My entire body hurts from barely sleeping and crying so much last night.
“She finally let me through.”
Damon’s voice has my head whipping up and looking over in his direction.
He walks in and sets Clover in her carrier on a desk.
“Damon?” My face must be filled with confusion right now.
He looks at the kid sitting at the desk where he set the carrier. “Are you old enough to babysit?”
Marcus gives him a look and shrugs.
“Okay then.” Damon picks up the carrier and walks over to my desk.
I stand, and Clover smiles wide when she sees me. I can’t help but smile back.
“Adeline, I was an idiot.”
I return my focus to Damon. I have no idea what’s going on here, and I’m almost afraid to hope.
“I was lost and in denial about how much I loved you. I should’ve told you at the restaurant that night, but I was so scared.
You know about Greta, but I realize now that that’s no good reason for me to put us through this.
I was just so afraid to love you and lose you.
You’re everything to me, and these past two weeks have been gut-wrenching.
I’ve been miserable and lashing out at everyone.
I don’t know how to be me anymore without you.
Everything reminds me of you. I found a hair tie under the bed the other day, and I thought I might start crying. Or the smell of you on my sheets.”
“OHHH!!!” the classroom roars.
“Keep it PG,” I whisper to him.
“Please take me back, put me out of my misery. It would really make Clover happy too.”
After thinking about what his dad said, I looked back and realized that Damon did love me. And everything he’s saying here today is all I’ve wanted to hear from him. But I can’t just rush back into his arms. I have to make him sweat it out, at least a little.
“You’re going to use our daughter to try to get me back?”
“No, but it’s the truth. I’ll never hurt you like I did. I promise.” His eyes are pleading.
“How can you promise that?” I round my desk, and he stares at my breasts that are snug in the middle school T-shirt I’m wearing for casual day.
“Because I’ve been schooled by a lot of people this week.
” He glances back at my mom. “And I might make mistakes, but I don’t repeat them.
But mostly, because I love you as much as I love our daughter, just in a different way.
” He winks, and I can’t help the smile that lifts the corners of my mouth.
“And if you decide you don’t love me anymore, I’ll be heartbroken, but I’ll deal with it. If you need someone like Henry—”
“Eh… Mr. Ream? Miss Morgan, pick Damon.”
I wave off Lucy.
“If you need a man like that, if he’s what will make you happy, then I’ll walk away. I don’t want to, but what I want most is for you to be happy. So if I’m not enough or what you want, it’s okay. All I want is for you to live a happy life.” He looks back at my mom, and she nods.
Seriously, are these two besties now?
I cross my arms and jut out a hip. “The Damon Siska I know wouldn’t think I could get over him in two weeks.”
He shrugs. “Well, I don’t think you have. But I really do just want you to be happy. I really want you happy with me. If you choose someone else, I might be put in prison for murder, so…”
I can’t help but laugh, and even Clover laughs in her carrier.
“You hurt me. Don’t ever do it again. You have to be open and transparent with me about your feelings going forward. Good or bad. Promise me.”
The hope and relief in his eyes almost has me bursting into tears. “I promise you, Adeline. But be prepared, because you’re going to have to listen to me talk a lot about how much I love you. It could get annoying.”
I shake my head at him. “Now, tell me… how do you heal my hurt?”
He stares at me, and I walk toward him. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to him. “I kiss it until you feel better?”
“You better believe it, and this hurt is going to take me a long time to recover from.” I grin.
“I’d have it no other way.” He places his lips on mine.
We try to keep it PG for the kids. There’s a little tongue, but not too much. Don’t want a bunch of parents calling me.
When I pull away, he rests his forehead on mine. “Thank you.”
“For?” I pull away to look at him.
“Loving me. You fixed all those broken pieces inside me and made me whole again.”
“Thanks for loving me back.”
He kisses me again. Clover whines, and we both peer into her car seat.
Damon unstraps her and picks her up, bringing her into our hug. “I’m happy to have both my girls in my life again.”
I give him a quick, chaste kiss.
“Funny, huh?” he asks.
“What?”
“We never found out who sent that text. We really have them to thank for ending up here.”
I roll my eyes. “I told you I was going to tell you anyway.”
“But who knows? Maybe you would have, maybe you wouldn’t. Whoever sent that text is the real reason we’re standing here.”
I look at my mom, and she’s smiling so wide it makes me wonder. Truth is, there are a lot of people it could’ve been for a whole slew of reasons.
“I don’t care how we got here, I’m just happy we did,” I say.
“Me too.” He takes my chin in his hands, tilting my head up. “I love you.” He seals it with a gentle kiss that patches up all the bruises on my heart.
And Clover decides to take that special moment to, with one long grunt, have a blowout in her diaper.
“Eww!” the whole class shouts.
Damon and I just laugh.
Never a dull moment.