Page 23 of Until Beckett

Mila already had both Corey and I wrapped around her little finger. I couldn’t imagine what she’d be like when she turned into a teenager—God help the two of us. With those killer blue eyes and red fiery locks, she’d have all the guys after her and then we will have to fight them away. No one will ever be good enough for our princess. I chuckled at the thought.

I placed Mila gently down on the ground and held her small hand in my much larger one before I gave Corey a gentle peck on the lips and led Mila into the playroom.

“How can we deny you anything, princess?” Corey asked just as I peeked up at the banners and balloons surrounding us.

In a few hours’ time, Asher and November would arrive with the little ones in tow along with a few of our other friends to celebrate Mila’s birthday with her, but for now it was just the three of us. We wanted a little quiet time to spend as a family, and to remember Isabella too, as we took out a new picture to add to our memory wall for Mila. It was a little idea Corey had thought of, and it made me smile at him, wanting to embrace her memory still.

After all, she was Mila’s mother, and for us to be able to show her what she meant to all of us—especially Corey—was a huge factor in our lives that we never wanted to shy away from.

A loud tap at the door made Corey and I glance at one another in confusion, as we weren’t expecting anyone to turn up for a while yet. I kissed Mila’s forehead before giving Corey’s hand a squeeze and pushing myself to stand, using the chair to my side to bear some of the weight.

“I’ll go and see who it is and then I’ll be right back,” I said softly as Corey shook his head at me. “Why don’t you put that tiara on Daddy, yeah?” I insisted.

“Yes, tiara. Dada,” Mila squealed as I chuckled at the genuine excitement she was displaying. “Dada looks pretty.”

I couldn’t help but allow my heart to swell at the two of them playing together as I opened the door and quickly felt my knees buckle at the two people standing before me.

“Baby, who is it?” Corey shouted. My heart began beating rapidly in my chest as my mouth dried up and I just stared at them. I didn’t know what to say or do. “Beckett, I said—”

I turned around to see Mila toddling next to Corey as he headed into the hallway and saw who was at the door. The eyes of the two visitors instantly shot down to the little girl that they’d obviously come to see.

“I see the rumors are true then, Corey,” the woman began. “The two of you are—” She choked as the man wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Did my daughter even—”

“Why don’t you come inside Erica and Nicky? We can talk about this,” Corey said. “I’m sure Mila would love to meet you both.” He tried to smooth the situation with the fact their granddaughter was here in front of them.

The two of us knew this day would come, but Erica and Nicky had had the opportunity to be a part of Mila’s life. Corey said as much after that tragic day after originally turning them away and apologizing for his actions. He acted the bigger person even through his grief and turmoil during that painful time when he was still coming to terms with the loss of Isabella and getting used to being a father, knowing Mila may want to know them.

It was the two of them who refused in the end to have a relationship with her and decided that seeing Mila was too raw and painful for them. They needed time to heal their hearts and to grieve their own daughter before accepting Mila. Yet again destroying and hurting Corey all over again in the process.

The thing was, Corey couldn’t do that; he had to be the strength for that little girl whether he wanted to or not. Otherwise, who else would she have?

“Let’s go back into the playroom, shall we?” I said, taking control of the situation. “I’ll grab us some drinks too.”

“Sounds perfect,” Corey replied as he led the way.“Thank you,”he mouthed.

“Always,” I whispered.

* * *

Erica and Nickywatched on from their chairs, taking small sips of their drinks as they watched Mila playing until she began to rub her eyes and start to yawn.

“I’ll just go and put her down for a nap and then I’ll be right back,” Corey said, lifting Mila into his arms as she whined and held her arms out to me and pouted her rose bud lips together, wanting a kiss from me. “You can’t deny that face, can you?” He chuckled as I leaned in and let Mila kiss my cheek and then smile happily as Corey carried her off to have a nap.

The silence was taut and strained between the three of us as I began cleaning up the toys scattered across the floor. I never knew how much mess such a small little girl could make. A cough disturbed me as I looked up to see Erica staring at me as if she were desperate to let something off her mind.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, knowing that one of us had to be the bigger person here and start a conversation of some sort. “I mean—”

“I can’t believe you’re so close to her,” Erica blurted out as Nicky just screwed his brow together and shook his head. “That child—”

“Has two loving fathers who care for her with all their hearts,” Corey responded from the doorway after obviously hearing every word Erica had said. “That man you feel you can disrespect like you’re doing is the man I love. And no, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten your daughter—actually, far from it,” he continued. “I cared for your daughter so much. She’s the mother of my beautiful girl, but God had other plans for her. He had other plans for my life.”

“Corey, I—” Nicky started as he turned to face his wife.

“Your daughter is always in our hearts. She’s in Beckett’s too.” He breathed deeply as the tears formed in my eyes.

“Come and see what we’ve done to remember her,” I said to the two of them. “Isabella is the foundation to our lives, but now Corey and I are together. We love one another, you can see that if you just look within yourselves,” I told them as I walked away, hoping they’d follow behind me. “Your daughter gave us a gift we will forever treasure. I’ll never forget that.”

The moment I turned around, I heard the sobs, and I knew Erica and Nicky just needed to know that Corey hadn’t forgotten her. Seeing her pictures, the artwork, and constant memories surrounding us showed them how much she was an active member of our lives.

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