Page 8 of Born To Be My Baby

And she knew what his kisses were like. How soft, how sensual. Oh, he was the best kisser.

She'd never kissed a man who kissed her like he had all those years ago. She longed for his lips on hers for years.

And then she'd get mad at herself all over again for even holding a place in her heart for him. And then Mina would need something. And she'd look at Mina, her beautiful daughter, and remember Sean all over again.

It was such a bitter, vicious cycle that she'd lived for the last twenty-five years. Wanting him, hating him, wanting him, loving him, hating him. It went on and on and on.

The only thing she could do was make herself hate him to get over the hurt. To deny getting in touch with him, even for Mina. And she'd worked her ass off finding people to substitute for Sean.

For years, her father was there. When he passed away, she found friends whose daughters were similar in age to Mina, and they would step in for whatever was needed. Sometimes it was just a softball game, or teaching her how to play soccer, or any of the other benefits that a male influence in her life would help.

Gloria had a good friend, Brody, who was also her producer at the time. And there was Frank Washington, who taught Mina how to drive, because Gloria didn't have the patience for that. It was too scary. Her guts twisted when they were driving down the road and Mina almost made a wrong turn. Brody took Mina to a father-daughter dance. He even coached her softball team so he could be there for her. He'd stepped up so many ways. He still had dinner with them a couple times a month.

And it worked out beautifully. She reassured herself, "I'm doing the right thing. I'm doing the right thing."

And now she looked at Sean with his heart broken because of her.

In the past she would have thought, Good. Let it break. He broke mine. But then he told her his heart broke, and he did it for her. Now she just wanted to cry.

Then he said, "I think we need to bring Mina in and have a chat with her." And fear flooded her.

Her stomach twisted. She thought she'd lose her lunch.

She sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few moments. Then she swallowed multiple times to try and keep everything down.

She simply nodded and walked toward the door. She couldn't say anything else. And she was so worried.

Mina was angry with her. Sean was angry with her. Having them both in the same room with her felt like she was going to be standing before the firing squad.

Was that melodramatic? Of course it was. She was an entertainer. She was in the entertainment industry. Of course, she was melodramatic.

This heavy situation needed some melodrama. It was a story people read about and shook their heads. How could anyone do that to two people you loved?

Opening the door to the sitting room, she saw Mina standing in front of it, waiting.

"He wants to talk to you."

Mina moved instantly toward the door. She reached out her arms to hug Mina to her but was brushed away as Mina hurried to the living room and Sean.

Blowing out a breath, Gloria followed behind Mina and waited near the sofa as her beautiful daughter approached Sean. He smiled at her and Gloria's breath caught in her throat. How was it he still looked like he did twenty-some-odd years ago? How she loved his smile. He held his arms open and Mina stepped into them and hugged him as hard as he hugged her. They wavered in front of her as her eyes filled with tears that threatened to overflow. Her nose began running, and she turned to search for a tissue box. She found one on the coffee table and pulled a tissue from the box. She swiped at her nose while Sean and Mina largely ignored her.

Stepping around the sofa, Gloria decided to step out of the room and let them chat together. She needed to go over her questions now, because obviously, there were things she needed to phrase differently. Do you have children? That answer was yes. He had a daughter.

Her daughter. Their daughter.

8

Sean watched Mina walk toward him. His impression was just the same as it had been the first time he saw her. She was beautiful. Tall, around five foot five, and slender. Svelte as he used to think of Gloria. And she was his daughter.

Over the years, he'd wondered what it would be like to have a child. What would it be like to teach things to someone who was so much like you? Games, baseball, soccer, how to play guitar, how to sing, how to read music, all the things he loved to do. He would have loved to teach all of it to a child of his own.

And then in his later years to bounce a baby, a grandbaby on his knee. He thought those days had passed him by. In a lot of ways, they had. He didn't have a baby daughter. He had a grown daughter. And he didn't even know if she was interested in his music or anything of the sort. Maybe she had other ideas. But it was time to find out.

She stopped before him and he opened his arms wide. His heart hammered in his chest as he worried for a split second it was too soon. He swallowed the lump in his throat. The emotion made his eyes water.

She smiled shyly, then stepped into his embrace and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He tilted his head and put his nose in the crook of her neck and smelled her hair. She smelled fantastic. She was his daughter. He had a daughter. Her arms wrapped around him and hugged him tightly. He could feel her shake. He heard her sniff. He knew she was just as emotional as he was.

He squeezed her tighter and whispered in her ear, "I'm so glad I found you. I'm so glad we're together. I can't wait to find out everything about you."

---