Page 31 of Grumpy Ex's Secret Baby

I remembered all those nights spent racing to her house to hold her when her mother had abandoned her again. Even all these years later, I can remember the tears she sobbed on my shoulder when she heard about each overdose.

There had been one night that I drove her through the night and part of the next day to get her to the hospital to see her mother. When we arrived at the hospital in New York, her mother had already been discharged even though she knew her daughter was coming to see her.

I had been there through each heartbreak she had at the hands of her mother, and I knew I would never put a child through something like that, least of all our daughter.

“You’re going to have to start trusting me eventually,” I said as I pulled her on my lap and held her close, the way I used to on all those horrible nights. “I’m going to work for that trust, but I need to know it’s possible.”

Haley wrapped her arms around me and nestled into my neck. I could feel the warmth from her tears against my skin, and I didn’t know what I could do.

Since I didn’t know what to do, I rubbed her back, whispering that it would be okay. I didn’t know if it would be okay, but one of us needed to at least pretend to believe that.

“I need a minute,” Haley said, pulling herself away from me. “Where’s the washroom?”

“Down the hall to the left.”

She nodded and took off. When she came back, she was as composed as ever. The walls I had worked on taking down were firmly back in place. She sat beside me stiffly, as if we were no more than strangers to each other.

It killed me to know that she thought she had to hide what she was truly feeling from me. I was the one person who was supposed to be there for her through everything. Now, she was closing herself off to me again.

“Hales,” I said softly, trying to get her to look at me.

“Don’t. Please, Tyson, just don’t.”

“Fine,” I said as I got up and walked to the window. I looked outside, watching as the stars shone brightly, even with the clouds drifting across the sky.

“Tyson, I’m going to let you into her life, but I need more time to think about what that looks like. I need time to figure out a plan so we can stick to it.”

“Don’t you think we should figure out that plan together instead of you coming up with one?”

“You said that you would do this my way.”

“And I will, Haley. I just want some damn input. The ability to offer my opinion. I won’t argue that you raised her; as her mother, you know what’s best for her. I’m just asking to have a damn opinion.”

“How do we always end up here?” Haley asked, her voice sounding broken. “How do we keep ending up angry and hurting each other more?”

“Because not once have we actually worked through this. Every time we try, you tell me you need more time to think. I thought we were making progress today.”

“We were.”

“No, we weren’t, Haley. We had sex in your office yesterday. Said we would talk today. And now we are back to arguing.”

“What do you want to do then? Do you think this is easy for me?”

“Do you think this is easy for me?” I asked her, trying to stay calm. Finally, I shook my head. “Take whatever time you need, Haley. You’ve already taken four years.”

Haley looked at me, taking a deep breath before nodding. She gathered her things and walked to the door. “I’m sorry that I need more time, Tyson.”

“Haley, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t want to hear it anymore. I just want to know when I’m going to be able to see our daughter and be a part of her life.”

“Soon.”

“Don’t say that unless you mean it.”

She took another deep breath, and I could see her hands shaking as she reached for the doorknob. Haley opened the door, and in the next second, she was gone.

I slumped down against the wall, pulling my knees to my chest. Though I didn’t cry often, this entire situation with Haley had my emotions going wild. I wiped away the tears as they fell before getting up and cleaning up the mess from dinner.

One way or another, I was going to be in Trinity’s life. I could be a patient man if I needed to be, but I wasn’t going to let Haley keep doing this to me. She had a few more weeks to figure it out before I started getting the lawyers involved.

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