Page 73 of Allegiance

Nothing put a family at odds like coming for one of the spouses.

“Sure thing,” she said. “And I’ll get you a new table. Consider it done.”

When the ladies were finished, Dakota stood.

“First, I want to apologize, Jinx. I’m sorry. I had no right to be angry with you. That was a dick move, and I deserved to have you kick my ass.”

She let him talk.

“I know you’re in a bad position, and I get it. She’s your sister, and I was your brother.”

She stopped him.

“You still are,” Jinx said. “You’re near and dear to my husband. He loves you so much, and so do I, Dak, but I have to protect the weak. I’m a Marine. We’re here to level the playing field, and right now, you have a houseful of people who love you. She has no one. I get that you’re angry, and I would be too, but what was she supposed to do?”

Elizabeth let them talk it out.

Sometimes, things fixed themselves, and this was going to be one of those things.

She’d bet on it.

“Eve told me that both times you two had sex, you made it clear it was fucking and nothing more. You made her feel like you could never even care about her, and she knew you’d not want a baby. Hell! We all know you don’t. How many times have you told us that having kids in our line of work is a mistake? Our kids are mistakes.”

He felt horrible.

“I didn’t mean…”

She stopped him.

“Yes, you did, and that’s fine. We get it. We have kids, Dakota, because most of us have seen some shit. We’ve been the kid no one wants. We’ve been the kids that mommy’s boyfriend wanted to rape. We’ve been the dregs of society, so our redemption is to have a life and change the cycle. That’s how she feels. Eve wants to undo her past by giving some kids a good one.”

He hated that he’d hurt them all.

“Eve took in Violet because she reminds her of herself. She’s keeping this baby because her mother would have ended her life had she had the money for the abortion. She’s not doing it to spite you, or asking anything from you. She’s trying to find a way to cleanse her life of the sin we’ve all been born into. She wanted to tell you, but she was scared you’d be cruel.”

That hurt his heart the most.

“I wouldn’t be.”

She stopped him right there.

“Yes, you would have been. You have the ability to hurt those who love you most, and she loves you. I don’t know why, but she is super protective of you. She’s protecting you even now as she sits in her big house, playing protector for Violet as she struggles to put baby furniture together. When I gave birth, Rogue was there. When Maura did, Jagger was by her side. When Stella births the next flower in the Thundercloud garden, Zayn is going to be there to protect her. Know who will be there when Eve brings your child into the world? No one. Imagine how scary that is.”

Tears filled his eyes.

“No one will hold her hand and tell her she’s doing good. No one will count for her, or hold her leg up. No one will watch the baby to make sure it’s okay as the nurses check it. Then, add in Violet. Who will watch her? Who will make sure she’s fed and safe? Her life is complicated more because of you, and yet, she didn’t call you to drag you in. She’s keeping you safe in her own way.”

He could see that now.

“I don’t know how to be a father. I don’t know how to be anything but a bastard. I’m trying.”

She shook her head.

“And that’s a copout. Because it’s too late, Dakota, to say you’re trying. You made a child. Now, it’s do it. Now, it’s charge that fucking hill. Now, it’s go get some tools and put baby furniture together. You made a mistake, granted, but that’s a you problem. Not a baby’s.”

His heart raced.

He didn’t want to hear that, but he needed to. He needed this come to Jesus talk.

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