Page 45 of Ex's Accidental Baby

“I wasn’t?” I don’t remember being sickly as a kid, just my mother’s helicopter-parenting.

“You had a heart murmur. It was detected when you were only a few weeks old, so it was pretty scary for all of us.”

I stare at him.

Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?

“I got better?”

“You grew out of it. But there were a lot of scary moments. You had to be closely monitored for a couple of years, and your mother... well, she’d be out of bed and rushing to you at the slightest movement you made. She watched you day and night.”

“How come she never told me this?”

He shrugs. “She probably doesn’t like remembering it. It was a stressful time for all of us. I'm not even sure Grayson remembers. We tried to pretend all was well around him, and then you got better, but your mother... I guess she still worries about you.”

I keep staring at him, shocked.

My mother is usually the first one to tell stories about when we were babies, but this one, she kept under wraps? Why?

“In any case, I don’t have a heart murmur anymore. And I’m a grown woman.”

“It’s hard to see your baby as an adult.” My father smiles at me. “But I’m doing my best, and I’m sure Mallory is, too.”

“Are you two... talking again?”

“God, no.”

I suppose that’s a little comforting. When everything first went down with Grayson, Dad swore he’d never speak to her again unless Grayson one day forgave her.

Not that they talked much before they went no contact, but still.

And it’s not that I don’t understand Grayson’s decision to cut our mother out of his children’s lives. I was there. I saw how low she went. I’m one hundred percent on Grayson’s side there, as is my father.

She has no access to Max or Kylie, and she gets not even a word about their family from me either.

She made her own bed, and until she learns her lesson, she has to lie in it.

“Grayson and Lillian will bring the kids, right?”

My father smiles. “Of course. I just wanted to talk to you first, about this job.”

“Oh. Right.”

I expect him to scold me, but he just gives me an even smile.

“I’m proud of you, honey. Your first job and as a manager!”

“You’re proud of me?” Tears well in my eyes.

He reaches to take my hands in his. “Of course, I am, Mere. You’re my daughter, and whatever path you choose, I’ll support you. I want you to have your own life, even if I have the means to take care of you forever.”

I sniffle, a couple of tears falling down my face. “I appreciate that so much, Daddy.” I give him a big hug before straightening up and huffing out a breath. “I’m going to wash my face.”

I take a shaky breath when I walk into the bathroom, and I wait inside until my eyes aren’t red anymore, washing my face and patting it dry with a decorative towel.

Voices come through the bathroom door, and I realize that Grayson and Lillian and the kids must have shown up.

I take another, less shaky breath and push the door open. I break out into a smile as soon as Kylie starts to run toward me.

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