Page 67 of Bully's Second Chance
I barked with laughter. “Daddy, huh? You’re really leaning into this role, I’d say.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. “How are you feeling, beautiful?”
I gazed up into his eyes. “Please, don’t lie to me.”
He shook his head as he lay down on my pillow so close that I could feel his breath against my face. “I’m not.”
“So, you—really meant what you said to Pa?”
He stroked his thumb against my cheek. “Every syllable. And I’ll keep saying it and confirming it until it finally sinks in that I’m not going anywhere. I’m not abandoning you. I’m not stringing you out to dry like your family did. That’s not who I am, and that’s not who I want to be to our child. That is if you want to keep the child. I want you to know that I support whatever decision you come to on that subject.”
I grinned. “I didn’t take you for a ‘my body, my rules’ kind of guy.”
“So, are we doing this? Are we keeping this baby?”
I didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, we are.”
“And you’re sure about that?”
I snickered. “If there’s one thing I’m even remotely sure of in this weird situation we’ve found ourselves in after living together for a month and a half, it’s this one.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “Then, no matter what happens between us, I will make sure that you and our child will always have what you need in order to succeed. No matter what it costs me, all right? Our child will thrive in both households if two households come out of this. I need you to know that.”
A tear slid down my cheek. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He wiped my tear away. “No thanks needed. There’s an innocent baby in the mix now. No need for them to pay for anything we’ve done.”
I sighed with relief. “You’re fucking right on that.”
While his words brought me relief, they didn’t bring me happiness. I mean, I’d always wanted a family. You know, the kind of family I never grew up with. And the more I got to know the real Jackson Levy, the more I wanted to stick around and stay with him. The more I wanted things to work out with us. The more I wanted to spend every waking moment with him.
But I also didn’t want to scare him away.
The stakes were higher than ever now.
“May I rest my head on your chest?” I asked softly.
He flopped over onto his back and laid his arm out for me without another word spoken. I took my time adjusting myself, going slowly and being mindful of my stitches. I closed my eyes as I curled up against his side and nestled next to him, pressing my ear right against the steady, strong beating of his heart.
And as I relaxed against him, I had the courage to finally say what was on my mind. “I don’t know where to go from here,” I whispered.
He stroked his fingers through my hair. “I know.”
I sighed heavily. “I don’t know what the right move is, or what we should do, or where I should go after all of this.”
“You’ll go wherever you feel comfortable and protected. That, I know for certain.”
I peeked up at him. “Even if that means continuing to stay with you?”
He lifted his head to look down at me. “What?”
I laid my head back down and closed my eyes. “Look, I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what we are supposed to do or what the ‘right path’ is for this kind of situation. But, what I know is this: if you want to be part of this child’s life as well as my own, then I want to be close to you. I want to keep sharing breakfast with you, even if it means I’m puking up my meal in a toilet. I want to keep working alongside you, even if that means going back into the office and showing everyone the relationship we’ve conjured together. I’m not afraid, and I don’t want you to be, either. But, I also don’t want us to be ashamed of what’s happened if that makes any sense.”
He cupped the back of my head. “If there’s one thing I’m not feeling, it’s shameful. I want you to hear me when I say that. There’s nothing about this relationship that I wouldn’t proclaim to the world if I had your permission to do so.”
I looked back up at him. “Really? You mean that?”
He chuckled. “Since when did you start questioning everything I said to you?”
