Page 60 of The Regrettable Mistake

“She can be a ballerina, if she wants.”

“Yeah, with those big fluffy skirt things.” Denmark’s excited eyes met mine. “I think she’ll be a pretty ballerina.”

“Aww,” I turned to see Steph with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Okay, we all got pictures with the beautiful Carolina, but we need to let Steph get some rest.”

“Can I come back tomorrow?” My son asked.

“You can come back as soon as the hospital opens if you want to.” She looked at my mom and dad then. “Steve can come get him if it’s too much trouble.”

“Pssh,” My mom swiped away her concerns. “It’s no trouble. Besides, I spoke to Sarah and Jason earlier. They’re on the way, and staying with us for the night. So we’ll all head in together.”

“My parents are staying with you?”

Mom’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Yep. I can’t wait to see Sarah. She’s such a delight.”

We all laughed then because it was no secret at all that Sarah was jealous of my mom because she was closer, and by proximity, more involved with her twins and Denmark. With a new baby in the mix, Sarah was bound to be insufferable.

“I will owe you so much,” Steph stated before a yawn took over that seemed to never end. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Get some rest, honey. If you need me, I’m just a phone call away.”

“Thank you. Love you. Love you so much, Denny-boy.”

“Love you too, Mom. Thanks for my little sister.”

He was out the door with my parents before Steph could respond, but when I turned back to her, she had tears flowing again.

“Today was the best day.”

“Yeah, it really was.” Despite it also being the day we divorced, everything else had been perfect. I only hoped that the perfection would hold as I asked one last question.

“Steph,” I started.

“Not today, Ollie. It’s been perfect, no need to ruin it with a rejection.”

“Well, shit.”

“We haven’t even been on a date yet,” she mumbled as her eyes closed. That made me smile because it meant there was still hope. I would do whatever was necessary to make sure that one day she would say “Yes” to me again. Only, I planned to do everything right with my second chance because my family deserved to be the real deal and not some fabricated construct that I thought was needed.

CHAPTER 21

Steph

“What are you looking at?”

Stevie and Hutch were standing in my kitchen with their heads bent over someone’s phone. They both looked up when I spoke and judging by the grins they wore, it was something really juicy.

Hutch passed his phone to me.

Hollywood’s Homewrecker Sentenced to 15 years in prison without a chance of parole.

“Wow, that’s some headline,” I snickered.

“It should have been more time, but since she technically hadn’t been driving during the vehicular homicide, they couldn’t really get more time out of it. The fifteen is with all the other charges adding to her sentence.”

“As long as she does some time for the crap she caused, I don’t really care.”

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