Page 104 of Sweet on You
“To who? Toyou?”
I shrugged. “To me. But mostly to your parents.”
She hissed and shook her head. “They’ll never agree to that.”
“They did for me.”
“You’renot their fuck-up of a daughter who’s disappointed them more times than they can count.”
“Nope. I’m the guy who knocked up their fuck-up daughter. Trust me… they don’t want to like me. Especially your dad. But I’ve won over your mom. And your dad… well, he’s coming around. They will with you, too. You’ve just got to give them areasonto come around.”
“You say you believe in me, but you want me to pee in a cup weekly? That doesn’t sound like you believe in me at all.”
I sighed. I didn’t expect this visit to go easy. “I do believe in you. The test is just the proof that we were all correct to believe in you. And this is our daughter’s well-being we’re talking about here. I’m peeing in a cup monthly to prove to your parents that I’m sober. It’s the least I can do. Especially if I have nothing to hide.”
She scuffed her foot against the vinyl tile floor. “I’ve never stayed clean for more than two months,” she muttered. “I doubt that’ll change now.”
“Not even for this face?” I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of Olivia eating a bowl of peas. Mashed green goo was all over her face and hands, and she beamed at the camera.
Sarah barked a laugh, leaning in to look more closely at the photo. “Oh, God. She’s a little ham.”
“I think she gets that from you,” I laughed. “That desire to be in the spotlight.”
“Yeah, but her shyness outside of the spotlight? That’s all you.”
I snorted. “Like hell. I’m not shy.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. When you first meet people, you hide behind whoever you came in with.”
I grinned. “Okay, maybe I’m a little shy. Atfirst.”
Sarah was silent for a few moments, drumming her fingers across the table. “You got any more photos of Liv?”
I thought she’d never ask. I pulled the stack of printed 4x6 images from my messenger bag and slid them across the table. “Hundreds,” I said. “Literally. Thanks to that private investigator you hired. You can call him off now, Sarah. I paid him off, but chances are, he’ll come to you looking for more money to override my payoff.”
Her shrewd gaze fell on me, her jaw clenching. After a moment, she glanced down, looking through the pictures and smiling. “She looks happy with you.”
“Sheishappy with me. She called me Dada the other day. And she still sees your parents several times a week. I’m not trying to take her away from them… or you. I just want to be part of her life in a way that doesn’t cause fights or strife.”
Sarah sighed and fanned herself with the pictures. “Some of these look bad, you know.”
I nodded. “I know. They’renotbad… and you can see that from the other photos surrounding them. But as just a one-shot image? Yeah, some of them aren’t ideal.”
She slid the photos back over to me, but I stopped her. “They’re your photos. Do with them what you wish. Just know that I have copies of all of them as well and a lawyer on retainer right now. I could fight you if you use them against me… and maybe win.” I shrugged. “But I don’t want to fight you. That’s not the relationship I want with the mother of my child.” I paused and for a moment. Sarah looked like she was softening. “C’mon Sarah. I have the bail money, and as long as you make it to your trial in a couple of weeks, I’ll get it all back—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head and wiping a tear away. “I already told your girlfriend no, too. And it’s the same answer for my parents. Don’t let them take out the stupid second mortgage on their house for me.”
I jerked back like I’d been struck. “Wait… what? My girlfriend—”
“Yeah, Ronnie was just in here. You missed her by like ten minutes.”
I suddenly felt like I was in a dream. “Ronnie was here?” Was Sarah high now? She didn’t seem high, but that couldn’t be true—
“Dude, am I stuttering? Yes, she washere. She came by to tell me about the time you stole your grandmother’s wallet and ask me if I really wanted to get help this time.”
I felt speechless. “And what’d you say?”
“Of course I want to stay sober. But I don’t trust myself… not yet. Hell, I couldn’t do it when I was pregnant, why would now be any different? Ronnie offered to put up my bail money and pay for me to go to some rehab facility outside Maple Grove.”
