Page 38 of Baby Me

“You can’t even say it, Prez. It bothers you too.”

“Not in the way it bothers you. I’m telling you now, she’s going to be around a lot. You need to get over it. You, of all people, should know the score. The only exception I ever made to the club girl rules of being available for every brother – no matter what – was for you. I did that for my son’s sake. She didn’t have the option to take an out when Kip was pissed off with you and Ash and came knocking on her door. I won’t have you hold that against her. You want to hold it against my son for choosing to be with another woman – then do so. You will not give my woman a hard time about her past, though.”

“Your woman?” Scout asked in a quiet tone.

“Most likely, if I can convince her to have me.”

Scout’s brows rose damn near into her hairline. “You’re serious? You do know that people can coparent without being together in a relationship these days, right?”

“Smartass. Of course, I know that. The thing is, I had it bad for Vina before.”

“Why didn’t you claim her then?”

The breath I heaved out felt as heavy as the weight on my shoulders. “Thought it would cause issues with my kids because of her age. I already screwed up with Star, not having a better plan for her when she aged up and couldn’t linger around the club without being claimed or being a part of things. I didn’t want to drag a younger woman into the mix as the stepmother to my kids and also have it shoved in their faces that she used to be a club whore. At the time, I just pictured them comparing Kim to Vina and I don’t know, it seemed impossible.”

“You men and your hangups about the club girls.” Scout rolled her eyes. “That was the biggest issue with Kip. He didn’t want to claim a whore all his brothers might have been with, but then he wanted to be mad at me for having to do my job. For the record, I don’t think either of your kids are the type to judge Davina based on her age and Star wouldn’t care about her past as a club girl either. She’s not judgy like that from what I’ve seen.”

“Kip isn’t either.”

“The fact that we’re not together and he had a kid with another woman begs to differ. He might not judge you for your decisions, but he certainly couldn’t let my past go without shoving it in my face at every turn.”

“Between you and me, I think he learned his lesson about that, sweetheart.”

“Doesn’t change everything that happened as a result of that lesson.”

“You think you and my boy can ever work that shit out?” She shrugged and wouldn’t look me in the eye. “If you can’t handle that Knox is another woman’s kid, then you need to make it clear as fuck to Kip that you’ll never work. Don’t give two shits how the two of you handle your business, as you’re both grown-ass adults. I do, however, give a fuck when it comes to my grandson’s well-being.”

“I would never take my frustrations out on an innocent child,” Scout countered.

“But can you love the child your man had with another woman?” She didn’t answer right away and that led me to believe that she wasn’t so sure. “Don’t go there until you can answer that question without hesitating.” I stood then. “Need to get back to my family, so get me that info. I want to know exactly where she’s been and when she was there. Times and dates, Scout. Keep Kip and Bagger in the loop about staying vigilant and keeping the girls safe, too.”

Scout nodded, but never lifted her eyes off her screen again. I let her have the moment, knowing how fucking hard it must be for her. The fact that she was helping me with an ex-girlfriend who might have gone off the deep end because I got another woman pregnant did not escape my notice. She was living her own similar nightmare out while watching my son be a father to a child he didn’t make with her.

Thinking back, if either of my kids had turned out to be Kim’s with another man, I’m not sure how I’d feel when put in that position. I loved my wife with everything I had, but the whole reason we got there was because we had a child binding us together. It forced us to try harder than we might have otherwise. I can see where the strain of a third party involved in the relationship might fuck up the dynamic and weaken the link. Scout was wise to take her time before she decided if she could handle it. I only hoped we didn’t lose her as a result one day.

“Tripp!”

I turned to see June’s cousin, Anna, jogging to catch up to me. “What do you need?”

“Um, well, I thought you should know that no one in the family has seen June or heard from her.”

“That it?” I asked, still itching to get back to my girls.

“Well, her father is in critical care on the fourth floor and pretty bad off. He’s not expected to make it, but she may use that as an excuse to get around inside the hospital.”

“Thanks for letting me know. If you see her, you need to contact me immediately.” I passed her a card with my number on it and she quickly slipped it into her pocket. Just as I started to walk away, she called me back again.

“Tripp?”

I turned, annoyed as shit that the once bold girl I knew back in high school suddenly seemed like she couldn’t string a whole fucking sentence together without pissing her pants. “What?”

“It’s just…” Anna paused and bit her lip as her eyes scanned the hallway we stood in. “June used to follow Kim around, too.”

She had my full attention. “Something on your mind seems to be a bit more important than June simply following my wife around years ago. Spit it out, woman. I don’t have time for a bunch of shit. Your cousin is already causing me enough headaches when I should be putting all my focus into my sick daughter.”

She nodded her head and then gulped. “The day of the fire, we ran into Kim at the newspaper. She was there doing whatever it is that she did. I guess she took pictures for the paper sometime.”

“I know what my wife did. Don’t need a lesson in it, so get to the point.”

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