Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69327 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69327 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“I know a lot of you already know of this charity, since my husband was the one to create it, but I wanted to play you a little clip my sister, Hades, made.”
And together, we watched the day my sons were born. We watched the clip of them walking for the first time. The first smile. The first birthday cake smash. The first time I held them. The first time they called me ‘dada.’
All their firsts.
Including the day that I put them in their final resting spot.
“As you can see, this charity is near and dear to my husband,” Sunny said as she smiled softly down at me. “And together, we will make sure that no other child will ever have to suffer, even if it takes us the rest of our lives.”
She went on to tell them everything about the charity. What it did—helped kids who needed mental help, whether it be because they were trafficked, hurt by a parent, bullied at school—and why we did it. She also included a little success story. Our latest young girl who graduated with honors from a local high school.
A girl who was found in the pits of hell in Honduras, who had been kidnapped from her family while on vacation. They’d found her, but she’d been unwell. She suffered greatly with her mental health after that, but she wasn’t left behind. She was given every available opportunity, and included in that was an all-expenses paid trip to Dallas where she could get the help she needed, and her parents could have the peace of mind knowing that she was taken care of by the best.
Crimson—my Sunny—weaved one hell of a tale, and by the end, there wasn’t a single dry eye in the house. Including my own.
The circus continued after that.
All the sisters did their routines, even Hades.
And finally, at the end of the show when they all took their bows, I breathed a sigh of relief.
She was back.
She was healthy.
She was mine.
They were mine.
Her family.
Our future child.
They were all mine.
Every last, broken one of them.
• • •
Eight months later
They say you never forget the day your child is born.
And I’d found that to be true.
I’d experienced it twice in my life.
And now, I was experiencing the third.
My wife was pushing out our baby girl.
And she was absolutely murdering me with her words.
“One and done, motherfucker!” Sunny screamed.
I bit my lip to keep from smiling.
Her sisters didn’t bother to hide their laughs.
Not a single one of them.
“Oh, boy,” Val whispered. “He’ll never hear the end of this.”
“Shut up, Val!” Sunny snarled. “And get me my goddamn medication!”
“I already told you it’s too late,” Val said.
She was working a shift on the maternity floor, which just so happened to allow her to be there when her little sister had her baby.
“Come on, Dad,” Val said when she gestured for me to come down to the end of the bed. “Come witness your baby girl come into this world.”
The woman who was looking on at her side, the actual doctor who’d agreed to stand back and let Val work, smiled.
“After you, Dad.”
Heart in my throat, I went between my glaring wife’s legs, and helped deliver my baby.
She screamed just like her mother.
Just the way I liked it.
“Oh, thank God!” Crimson collapsed onto her back as I stared at the miracle in my hands. “I should’ve held strong to that never having kids thing.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I know, I know. I love the hell out of her. But God, it hurt!”
I moved until the baby was safely on Crimson’s chest.
Crimson started crying. “I’ll never, ever let anything bad happen to you, baby.”
I squeezed Crimson’s leg.
She sniffled, then looked up at me. “I promise you. I’ll always protect her with my life.”
I smoothed her hair back and said, “I trust you.”
And I did.
She’d never let anything happen to her. No matter what.
“What did you name her, Mom?” Val asked.
Sunny looked away from my eyes to my daughter’s and said, “Josephina Judith, after her brothers.”