Page 96 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

I swallowed, my fingers tracing lightly along the edge of the blanket she’d pulled up to her chin.

“I didn’t know then how strong you were. I didn’t know what it must have been like to lose them like that. To lose everything and have to start over in a town full of strangers.”

My throat tightened, but I kept going, even though she was already deep in sleep, even though she’d never hear a word of it.

“All I knew was that you were small and furious and beautiful in a way I couldn’t put words to. And even though you barely looked at me that first day, even though you didn’t say a single word to me until a week later, I was already gone for you.”

I let the silence settle after that, let my fingers smooth gently over the blanket one last time before I let go.

For a second, I thought she might have heard me, that maybe she was only pretending to sleep. But she didn’t stir, didn’t react, just breathed deep and slow, safe and warm and here.

And that was enough.

I stayed a little longer, just watching her. The weight of the moment pressed into me, but it didn’t feel suffocating. It felt… grounding.

The quiet didn’t last long.

Footsteps approached, quiet and careful, and then Samuel and Adam were settling into the chairs across from me, their eyes flicking from me to Sadie and back again. None of us spoke at first, but we all knew why we were here.

Samuel sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We need to talk.”

Adam stretched his long legs out in front of him, resting his hands behind his head. “About the baby.”

I clenched my jaw, the words hitting me like a slow burn. It wasn’t like we hadn’t all been thinking about it, dancing around the topic all night, but saying it out loud made it real. And real was terrifying.

Samuel leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes sharp. “Whatever happens, whatever she decides… we’re in this. All of us.”

Adam let out a slow breath. “Yeah. But the question is, what does she want? She hasn’t said much, but…” He hesitated. “She's mentioned she might not stick around.”

I didn’t say anything, but I remembered the way she’d stared out the window earlier, her arms wrapped tight around herself like she was trying to hold the world in. Like she was already halfway gone in her head.

She hadn’t said the words, but the fear was there. And it wasn’t just about leaving.

It was about what might happen if she stayed.

Samuel’s expression darkened. “That was before she knew about this.” He glanced toward her sleeping form. “She’s got people now. A reason to stay.”

I ran a hand down my face. “But is that enough? We can’t make her stay just because of—” I gestured vaguely, unable to say it again.

“No,” Adam agreed. “We can’t make her do anything.” His voice softened. “But we can show her that this doesn’t have to be something she handles on her own.”

Samuel exhaled, rubbing at his jaw. “She deserves that.”

I swallowed against the tightness in my throat.

He was right. We all knew it.

My gaze drifted back to Sadie, curled up under the blanket, so small yet carrying something so much bigger than any of us had expected.

For the first time, it hit me—not just what we were stepping into, but what it meant.

Loving her wasn’t about claiming her. It wasn’t about which one of us she chose or whether she belonged to any of us at all.

It was about making sure she had every ounce of the love and support she deserved.

I’d spent so long worrying that sharing her meant losing her, like if I wasn’t the only one, I’d be nothing. But that wasn’t the truth.

The truth was that Sadie had enough love to fill every crack in her heart. Enough to heal what had been broken.

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