Page 66 of Accidental Irish Daddy

My face is buried in Martha’s shoulder. I haven’t stopped crying since I showed up on her doorstep.

The damned pregnancy tests.

That day, with everything going on, I’d completely forgotten about them. They were still on the sink when Bridget went into the bathroom. When she asked about them, I told her what they were. I’ve never lied to Bridget, and I wasn’t about to start. As happy as she was to hear that she was going to be an aunt, I still had to swear her to secrecy. She agreed, so I told her to take them and throw them out with the rest of the rubbish.

Never would have thought that Grant would find out about them. Or that he would immediately think I was a drug addict. I was a fool to think I could ever love someone like him. Or that he would ever love me.

Martha rubs my shoulder and rocks me as I cry. I feel like my heart’s been ripped out of my chest.

“He’ll come around, love,” she says.

I sit up and grab some more tissue, wiping my face.

“I don’t care if he does,” I say bitterly. “You should have heard him. The way he talked to me…like I betrayedhim.”

“He’s had a hard time of it with his sobriety, Aisling,” she says. “He guards it like a dragon hoarding gold. It’s important to him.”

I nod as I sniffle and blow my nose. “Maybe,” I say. “But he also didn’t have much to say about my pregnancy. Don’t you see, Martha? This is about more than his sobriety. He doesn’t think I’m enough for him. He’s never thought so. I don’t know what else I expected from him.”

“He’s just in shock, dear. I mean, you just told him he’s about to be someone’s Da. That’d take any man by surprise. You have to give him a second to absorb the information and give a proper response.”

I just scoff. Martha would defend Grant if he killed a busload of nuns.

“Aisling?”

We both look up in time to see Bridget standing in the doorway, her cheeks wet with tears. “Oh, Poppet,” Martha says. “What is it?”

“It’s my fault we had to leave Mr. Duncan,” she wails. “I’m the reason he’s mad at Aisling. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to tell him about the sticks in your bathroom. It just slipped out.”

I get up and walk over to Bridget, kneeling down. “It’s all right.” I wipe away her tears with my thumb. “You’re not to blame, Gidget. He was going to find out eventually. And anyway, Mr. Duncan didn’t exactly behave properly, did he?”

She shakes her head with a little uncertainty as she sniffles away her running nose.

“I promised I’d keep you safe and I meant it. Even if it means I have to do it alone. You’re my little sister and you mean the world to me.”

“Are we going to have to go back to Uncle Liam’s house?”

“Oh, no,” Martha piped up. “Not so long as I draw breath, Poppet. You and your sister are always welcome here.”

She gets up and walks over to Bridget, taking her hand. “Come on, deary. I think I still have a few Jaffa cakes left over from the other day. We’ll have some of those with our tea. How will that do you?”

Bridget smiles, her jeweled eyes glittering through her tears. “That will do just fine.”

I stand up as they walk out of the living room. My phone vibrates once…twice…three times. I take it out of my pocket and look at it. Texts from Liam.

Your pimp won’t protect you forever, whore. When I get my hands on you, I’ll make sure you regret humiliating me—

I delete the text and the two that come after it. Fuck Liam.

In fact, fuck all men. I don’t need them.

***

A couple of weeks ago, Grant got me in touch with a solicitor for custody of Bridget. I haven’t had a chance to contact him, so I figure I’ll do it now.

I’m in Martha’s spare room while she and Bridget have gone to the market. I should have done this ages ago. I’ve been so preoccupied with Grant and work that it just slipped my mind.

As I wait for the phone to pick up, I feel a fluttering in my stomach. What if Grant has talked to this solicitor and told him that I’m not to be dealt with. No…despite how low he might think of me, he wouldn’t go that far. He knows I want to get custody of Bridget and wouldn’t stand in the way of that. Not knowing the alternative for her is Uncle Liam.

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