Page 52 of One Unexpected Gift

“When were you going to tell me I have a child?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nick’s head may have felt like he’d seen the bottom of a whiskey bottle, but he wasn’t so blind as to not see the resemblance in the baby Skylar had been carting around. When she’d first come to his house and witnessed him curled around the toilet, his focus was blurry at best.

The baby in the backseat of her car hadn’t gone unnoticed but he figured she was watching a friend’s kid. His head still pounded in the hospital, but he’d caught a few glimpses of the sleeping baby Skylar was careful to keep out of his view.

At first glance, she looked like any other baby, not that he’d been around too many. Small, dark hair, chubby cheeks. He hadn’t thought much about her until the nurse, Cynthia, if he remembered correctly, had chatted his ear off in the hallway. She raved how adorable his daughter was. How she looked more like Nick than Skylar.

“You think so?” was all he’d said.

“I mean, it’s hard to tell with a newborn. She must be, what, five or six weeks old?”

Nick had nodded in agreement not sure how old the baby was or who she belonged to. Then, while ordered to lay perfectly still during his CT scan, he did some quick math. It didn’t take a mathematician to count back nine months and six weeks.

That brought him to last November. And then it all fell together.

Skylar’s larger breasts and how often she placed her hand across them, unconsciously or not, he wasn’t sure. How she could only spend a few hours with him before having to go back to Charlie’s. He’d teased her about being a modern Cinderella when in fact, she had a baby to return home to and nurse, most likely.

When he was wheeled back into the room, he’d noticed the car seat had been moved a few feet from its previous location and there was a small wet spot on Skylar’s sweatshirt. It only made sense that the baby was his.

He hoped she was. Not that he wanted a kid, but better to be his than to have another man in Skylar’s life. The realization that he wanted to be with Skylar for the long haul kicked him in the gut. He’d never been opposed to the permanent relationship thing. Heck, he’d even gotten married in his early twenties, he just didn’t think it was for him.

Having a child in the mix changed everything. Changed his outlook. In less than an hour, his life had been tipped on its axis. Again. First, two years ago with his CAD diagnosis, ending his extreme sports outlet, and now this.

Talk about one extreme to another.

His head hurt like a son of a bitch. In the hospital Skylar had told him she wanted a guy who was honest with his feelings. He only hoped she practiced what she preached. Lifting his head from his hands, he looked up at Skylar and said, “When were you going to tell me I have a child?”

He’d always been direct with his words, so there was no point in asking her if the baby was his.

Skylar’s mouth opened to a wide O and then she sealed her lips together and closed her eyes. She stood stiff as a board in front of his door, her fists clenched by her side. He let her take the time she needed to process, to figure out what to say to him. He’d appreciate honesty. Since she didn’t right off deny the baby was his, he figured the nurse’s assessment was accurate.

The relief he had was a surprise to him. He should be praying the kid wasn’t his. Instead, he shifted his attention to the little thing. As if sensing the tension in the room, the baby opened her eyes, the car seat rocking gently with her movements.

He didn’t want for Skylar to speak, instead, he led the discussion. “How old is she?”

---