Page 46 of Broken Boss Daddy

The thought that Jess and I created that magical human being was simply incredible.

Spending time with them had me admiring Jessica all the more, and how wonderful she was as Abby’s mom. There was no one else in the world who I wanted as the mother of my child. And that was something I’d have to think more about later.

I already knew I wanted to be a part of my daughter’s life, but the afternoon with her reaffirmed just how determined I was to keep showing up as the dad she was always meant to have.

The sun began to set, and I was pushing Abby on the swing for the last time, feeling more content than I ever have in my life.

“Grant,” Abby called, “I like you.”

Bye-bye heart. “I like you, too.” I loved her with all my heart already. “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah! It was super fun, and Mommy laughed a lot.”

“She did, didn’t she?” I looked over to where Jess spoke with another mother at the park.

“And she smiled a lot. I like Mommy’s smile.”

“I like her smile, too.” My smile refused to leave my face.

Abby continued to talk about little things that occupy a kid’s mind when Jessica eventually walked back to us.

“What are you guys up to?” Jess asked, leaning against the swing set pole.

“Nothing!” Abby sang out like we weren’t just talking about her.

One thing that had become clear to me was how Abby was more mature than a lot of children her age. I supposed that came from being an only child with a single mother. If I had my way, that wouldn’t be the case much longer.

Jessica looked up at me with a gentle grin and relaxed look. There was obvious love in her eyes for our daughter.

At that precise moment, I felt my love for them explode inside my chest.“Thank you,”I mouthed to Jess.

Looking back at my daughter, I felt the world shift beneath me, never to be the same again.

Chapter 21: Jessica

Ineeded four hands. That was precisely what I needed as I walked out of school. My hands were full, but I still needed to search for my car keys.

The balancing act I was trying to maintain would surely tumble over if I didn’t find those damn keys soon. I was in no particular mood to pick up scraps of paper off the floor.

“Need a hand?”

I jumped. My things went tumbling to the ground. Those dreaded papers scattered everywhere.

Frustrated, I turned to find my dear colleague Derek standing next to me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his eyes made bigger by the glasses he wore.

Giving him a polite smile, I bent down to collect my mess. “It’s not a problem.”Lie. It was a big problem.

“I haven’t seen you around much lately,” Derek commented, standing aside and letting me gather everything all by myself. That just made me more frustrated.

“Well,” I huffed. “Life’s been crazy lately.”

“Oh? How come?”

“Just some personal things.”

That was the problem with Derek. He always tried too hard to include himself in others’ lives, especially mine. I like the guy enough, but he never got the hint that outside of work, we were barely friends.

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