Elle looks up at me tearfully. “What if…what if he does? What if he says he can’t forgive me for what I’ve done? I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that. He might not have raised me, but he’s still my dad. He’s still important to me. My mom will support me no matter what, but I worry…I worry if my dad’s love is conditional. That I have to be the perfect daughter in order for him to love me. What if this breaks everything? What if he doesn’t want me anymore?”
She begins to cry softly. I hold her close, trembling with anger. I can’t believe that Steve would ever make her feel so insecure about her place in his life. She hasn’t even told him yet and she’s terrified of being disowned by him. What kind of father has he been to her? I kiss the top of her head tenderly, trying to comfort her.
“If he won’t accept you then he doesn’t deserve you. Not one bit,” I snarl. “I hate that he’s made you feel this way, made you feel like you can’t just be yourself. But I promise you this, if he abandons you when you need him most then he’s not worth it. And if he won’t stand up and be a man, then I will take his place. I will always care for you, baby, be the one who steps up for you. If he can’t love you unconditionally, then just know that I will love you enough for two people. I know it’s not the same, I can’t be a father figure to you. No one other than he can. But I’ll be the best damn lover you could ever want. I’ll make sure you’re always safe. I will give you everything you could ever need and more. And I have so much love to give you, Elle. It will hurt if he leaves you behind, but I’ll tend that wound. You won’t have to be lonely. You’ll have me.”
Elle sniffs and looks up at me. She looks so beautiful, even though her eyes are clouded with tears and she’s full of fear.
I can barely believe she’s mine.
I’m never letting her go, not for anything. Not even if it will save her relationship with her dad. It’s like I said. If he can’t accept us as a couple, then he’s clearly not a good father, and he doesn’t deserve any part in her life or our baby’s life.
“Thank you. For everything,” Elle whispers. “I don’t deserve all of this kindness.”
“Of course, you do. You deserve the world,” I growl. How can she not see how incredible she is? How does she not realize that she is so special? I never want her to feel less than perfect.
But I guess that’s something we’ll have to work on together. I’ll teach her to see herself the way I see her. And when she finally does, she will never feel sad again.
But before then, we have to deal with the issue of her father head-on. We have to try and sort this out so she can be happy. I feel a twist in my stomach. I know this isn’t going to be easy. There’s no chance Steve is simply going to accept us right away. But if we can make him understand, then maybe we can get the happy ending we deserve. Maybe we can make this right.
Maybe.
Chapter Fifteen
Elle
My heart is in my throat as I wait in my dad’s apartment for him to return home. I’m going to be the one to tell him about my relationship with Will. He wanted to be here with me, but I think it’s best that he isn’t here, to begin with. I don’t want my dad to feel overwhelmed by the two of us. Besides, he’s only next door. If I need him, I know he’ll come running the way he did when Matt attacked me outside the apartment. He has some kind of protective instinct inside him when it comes to me. I think I could be anywhere in the world and he’d know if I was in trouble.
But this is a little different to deal with. I know that my dad is going to be angry when I tell him what I’ve done. I think if I wasn’t pregnant, he’d definitely want to cut me off from Will entirely but perhaps the fact that I’m carrying his baby might be my saving grace in the end.
But I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish I didn’t have to force him to be happy for me. I accepted it long ago when he moved on from my mom and started dating other people, making a new life that didn’t involve me. If I could be happy for him, as a kid even when he left us behind, then why can’t he be happy for me now? All I did was fall in love. Surely that can’t be too hard for him to understand?