Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“I don’t feel comfortable inviting you inside, unless I know why you’re here.”
His jaw tightens. “She’s my daughter. I have a legal right to meet her, whether you like it or not.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. For three weeks now, I’ve been having horrible nightmares about Claudia’s father showing up, out of nowhere, to rip Raine away from me, when I should have been having them about this man, all along. “Maybe, maybe not,” I manage to say, sounding a whole lot more confident than I feel. “Either way, I’m sure you’ll agree there’s a time and place for a first meeting, and this isn’t it.”
“Why not? When’s the right time, according to you?”
“All I know is you can’t show up here, out of the blue, after two years of being a deadbeat dad, and—"
“I’m not a deadbeat. I’ve been paying child support, since day one. Double what any court would have ordered me to pay, plus all Claudia’s medical expenses from the pregnancy and birth. I realize it’s not much better, but I’m not a deadbeat. I’m an absentee father.”
I scoff. “Excuse me if I don’t rush off to polish your Father of the Year trophy.”
“I’m not saying I’m proud of myself. Just saying there’s a difference.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, well, pat yourself on the back any way you want, if it helps you sleep at night. But the fact remains you can’t just waltz in here and meet Raine, and play daddy for fifteen minutes before disappearing again, mere weeks after she lost her mommy. She still doesn’t completely understand Claudia’s never coming back, C-Bomb. So, I can’t allow you to come here and confuse her into thinking—”
“Caleb.” When I pause, he adds, “I’m not here as C-Bomb. I’m Caleb Baumgarten, and that kid in there is mine.” His green eyes are blazing. “And I didn’t come here to play daddy for fifteen minutes. I admit I’ve made mistakes in the past. I know that. I regret them. So I’ve come to make things right, as best I can.”
Panic floods me. What the fuck does that mean? Has this man come to take Raine away from me? I force myself to ask the question I’m not sure I want to know the answer to: “Make things right, how?”
“I’m her family,” he says, leveling me with hard eyes. “Her father. I convinced myself she was better off without me, when she had her mother. But now that Claudia is gone, I can’t sit by and let a non-family member—”
“Non-family member?” I shriek, anger flashing inside me. “I’m more family to that little girl than you’ll ever be. While you were busy fucking another groupie, you want to know what I was doing, C-Bomb? Holding Claudia’s right hand during Raine’s birth, while her mother held her left.” I’m gathering steam now. “And only a few months after that, I came back and moved my whole life to Seattle to live with Claudia and Raine, for good. I was there for Raine’s first bite of solid food. Her first word, crawl, and step. Her first and second birthdays. And where were you all that time? What were you doing that was so important you couldn’t be there for your baby girl? So, don’t you dare come here and—"
“Would you calm the fuck down?” he bellows. “Jesus Christ.” He roughs a palm down his face and takes a deep breath. “I didn’t say ‘non-family member’ as fighting words, okay? I said it as a neutral, objective fact. Raine is my blood, not yours. Raine has my genes inside her, not yours. She’s my family, both legally and biologically. So, while I thank and respect you for being an honorary family member to Raine all this time, for helping raise my kid when I was admittedly too big a flop-dick-asshole-loser to do it, the objective fact remains she’s my kid, and I’m not going anywhere, now that I’m here, whether you like it or not.”
I let out a shaky breath and mutter, “If you think telling me to calm the fuck down is going to calm me down, then you’re as stupid as you look.”
C-Bomb tilts his head back, so it feels like he’s speaking to the blue sky above when he grumbles, “Can we please just fast-forward to the part where we talk like adults about a very difficult situation? Or are you too young to understand what being an adult means?”
“Fuck you. I’m more of an adult than you’ve ever been in your entire goddamned life.”
He sighs. “That’s fair.”
“And, no, there’s no fast-forward button. Not when you’ve been a dick-headed deadbeat dad. Oh, sorry, absentee father for two solid years.” I put my hands on my hips and glare at C-Bomb like I’m ready to throw down if he so much as twitches. I’m not normally combative by nature. In fact, I’m usually quite the friendly little peacemaker. But this asshole’s got my momma-bear instincts flaring.