Page 33 of Wrecked

Man up, David.

“Come here,” I say, opening my arms for him. “You don’t need to be perfect to be loved, Davi.”

He hesitates a moment, then he looks at me with those dark eyes so much like mine but full of tears. “Could you be my daddy, David? Be my daddy, plwase.”

I can’t hold it anymore. I throw my arms tightly around my son, struggling to find the right words. I don’t want to traumatize him for life.

“I’m your father already,” I tell him hugging him hard. “I’m here, and I love you, David Emmanuel.”

He holds in my arms as the tension leaves his little body.

“You’re my boy, Davi,” I reassure him, tightening my arms around him. “You’re my son.”

“You’re squashing me, Daddy,” he complains after a minute.

Hold on.

Hold the fuck on.

Did he just call me daddy?

I don’t care anymore. I’m crying hard while my son wiggles out of my embrace.

“I hate this,” he announces, pulling out the tie from the second button of his shirt. He’s definitely my son. I also despise ties with a passion. To go to the office, I usually leave the first two buttons of my shirt open. To the hell if someone doesn’t approve. Living according to other people’s expectations won’t make you happy.

“David Emmanuel,” Melanie says from the front door threshold as I dry my eyes with my open hand. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in your room coloring pages.”

Davi looks contrite for a flash, but the remorse doesn’t last long. “I was talking with my Daddy,” he announces as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Melanie looks stunned for a moment, then asks with an arched eyebrow. “Your what?”

“My Daddy,” Davi replies, shrugging his thin shoulders. Pride fills my lungs. There is no more space for air. “I asked him to be my Daddy, and he said yes.”

She lifts a hand to the middle of her chest.I know, baby. I felt exactly the same way. Could you blame me for saying yes?

“Davi, you should talk to me first,” she scolds him softly. “And never, ever, again come to the front door by yourself. I was on the phone thinking you were safe, baby.”

“I am safe,” he argues, and I must fight the impulse to smile. I love the way he acts like a grown man sometimes. An old soul nesting inside the body of my precious little boy.

Davi marches toward the house like a good soldier, then turns his head to me. “Come on, Daddy, I’m hungry, and your food is better than Mommy’s.”

“Davi,” Melanie and I cry at the same time. This kid…

“What?” Another shrug. “It’s true.”

I stand and kiss the corner of my woman’s mouth, leaving my lips there for a long beat, eager to do more than that.

“Don’t look so proud,Daddy.”Now it’s time for me to be scolded. “One day, you will be on the bad side of the road, wait and see.”

I don’t give a fuck. I just care to be with them. Mine, mine, mine. My woman, my son.

My family.

My entire world.

Chapter Eleven

Melanie

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