Single (Single Dads Book 1) Page 16

  “Goodbye, Darius.”

  Ash opened his front door and gestured for me to go in first. When we were inside, he shut and locked it behind us. “Shit,” he muttered. “Sorry.”

  I shook my head. “Nothing to be sorry about.”

  He took Mia from me, and I reached for him, my heart full of love and the need to touch him, but he sidestepped me.

  “You might want to wait to make sure he’s gone before you leave. He’s an idiot, and I wouldn’t put it past him to be sitting out there, waiting to talk to me. He never did know how to listen.” Ash began to walk upstairs, and I followed him.

  “I’m not going yet. I want to help with Mia, kiss you, hug you a bit.” Maybe talk about how I’m in love with you and Mia.

  He rounded on me at the top of the stairs. “We were having fun, but somewhere along the way, I made the mistake of falling in love with you.” He made it sound as if it was a bad thing, and I waited for the but.

  I needed to defend what happened. “That’s not a mistake—”

  “It’s okay though. I have Mia to think about, and now you have to leave before I promise myself everything will always be okay. When I do stupid things like that, I ignore all the red flags of when things fall apart.”

  He went into the master bedroom, and I was too confused to follow at first, and then I unpicked what he’d just said.

  “Whoa,” I said and stalked after him, Mia was on the changing mat, and he was cleaning her and getting her ready for bed, and I had a lot to say. “Now, wait a minute. I fell in love with you too,” I blurted, which wasn’t exactly how I thought I’d be telling him. He finished closing the snaps on Mia’s tiny jeans and lifted her off the mat.

  “Mia needs her bottle.”

  I let him move past me, and then at the last minute, I scooted around him and blocked his exit. How did I make him see that I wasn’t messing with him? Or that he did have space in his heart for me as well as Mia?

  Mia. That was my inspiration.

  “I will personally vet the first boy that dates Mia. Or I’ll get her uncle Leo to arrest him and question him first.”

  He blinked at me. “What?”

  “I’ll make sure that the first day of school I’ll hold one hand when you hold the other, and when they ask who her daddies are, I hope to hell that she says you and me. We’ll take her swimming, and when you’re working, maybe I can be the one who plays with her or takes her shopping. I’ll help her with homework, and I’ll be there when she rides her first bike. I love you, Ash, and I want forever with you.”

  His eyes widened. “I can’t do this. It’s not just me I have to think about.”

  “I know you’re scared—”

  “You don’t know anything about how terrified I am, Sean. When I found out that Darius had slept with other guys, had unprotected sex, put my life in danger, I rationalized it. But I could come to terms with the infidelity because I was okay. I made it out the other side intact. But I have Mia now, and she is my priority.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt her or you.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why won’t you let me in?”

  Ash laid Mia on his quilt, protected her from rolling off with strategic cushions. Then he turned to me and crossed his arms over his chest, defensively. “Because I’m scared, okay? And it’s completely rational for me to feel that way, so don’t you dare tell me that I shouldn’t be scared.”

  He was scared? I was terrified. What if this was it? What if he was pushing me out of his life and Mia’s?

  “I wouldn’t—”

  “I can’t have an affair right now.”

  An affair? Is that what he thought we had going here? Did he not understand that I loved him completely?

  “When we were on the porch, you handed me Mia,” I said and waited for him to process that. “You gave me the most precious thing in your life, and you knew I’d take care of her. Right?”

  After a short pause, he nodded, and I let him think on his actions and for him to realize that he trusted me, heart and soul, and that I had no intention of hurting him or Mia.

  “I love you, Ash. And I love Mia. We could be a family.”

  His legs gave way under him, and he sat on the mattress next to Mia, holding out his hand for her to grip his thumb.

  “I don’t have room in my heart—”

  “Yes, you do. Even if it’s a tiny space right there next to Mia and your family, I’ll make sure I fit.”

  “Sean…”

  “I won’t be taking anything away from you and Mia. I promise you that I will add to your lives, and I will always be there for you.” God, now I was sounding desperate. If Ash didn’t want me around, then trying to persuade him otherwise would be stupid. I couldn’t force him to want me. “Please just… I love both of you.” There, I’d said everything I was going to say, and now the ball was in Ash’s court. “I’ll be next door.”

  “What do you think, Mia?” he asked, and I stopped right at the door to the bedroom and waited. “Do you think we can do this? Let Sean in? Would you like to try having two daddies instead of one?”

  I heard Mia gurgle, and I turned to face them.

  A cautious smile curved Ash’s lips. “We love you, too.” The relief was incredible, and I sat on the opposite side of him and took her hand in mine. She gripped my shirt and held on tight. I took Ash’s hand, and the three of us hugged.

  It was the perfect family circle.

  Brady: Is it always this hard?

  Ash: Are you okay?

  Brady: Bad day. Maddie hates me. Lucas wants to stab me with a fork.

  I reread that last part and wondered if maybe that was another word that had been modified by spell check.

  Ash: A fork?

  Brady: Yeah. Tell me something to cheer me up. I’m done with today.

  Ash: I have really good news. Sean said he loved me, and I admitted I loved him. We’re in love.

  Brady: Wow.

  Ash: I know!

  Brady: I’m so pleased for you both. I can’t wait to meet him.

  Ash: You should come over. You’re not far.

  There was a big pause and not even any dancing dots.

  Ash: You still there?

  Brady: Sorry, yes. I have to go, but congratulations, Ash.

  Ash: Is everything okay?

  Brady: Is anything ever okay? Sorry, ignore me. Talk later.

  He signed off with a smiley face, thumbs-up, champagne bottles, two men together, and a baby. I think he was overcompensating.

  I sent back a heart and logged off.

  “You okay in here?” Sean asked from the door. He had Mia in his arms.

  “I’m just coming.”

  I’ll talk to Brady tomorrow. See if I can’t help. Maybe one day he’d let me.

  Epilogue

  Asher

  One Year Later

  The annual barbecue was different from last years. Instead of swimming trunks, I wore a suit. Instead of soda, there was champagne. And Mia was no longer a tiny helpless baby; she was sixteen months old and walking confidently between the people sitting on the chairs. She stopped at her uncle Leo, who scooped her up and held her close to him. He was chief Mia wrangler, or at least he was half of the wrangling team; Eric was the other half and was around here somewhere.

  “Hello, sweetheart.”

  “Hi, guys.”

  I hugged Siobhan and her husband, Dan, who was back from his final tour and had taken to life Stateside as an Army instructor like a duck to water.

  I hugged Mom and she had tears in her eyes, although I really think they were tears of joy. We had tried our hardest this year to find middle ground; back to a place where we could love each other. Even if it may never be an unconditional love we were getting closer and I was at least beginning to trust her. Having Sean and Mia in my life made this easy. Between them, they filled my life with pure love. Because of this I had some over I could try to give to my mom, and mostly it was working.

  “Don
’t cry,” I told my mom as we hugged. She dabbed at her eyes after, and smiled at me.

  “I’m just so happy.”

  “Me too.”

  Brady waved at me from a couple of rows back, a slim, dark-haired guy in a charcoal suit. Finally I was going to meet my messenger friend, face-to-face, rather than through the messages we exchanged. He was still an enigma to me, one day up, the next day down, and it had taken everything in me to get him to come here today. He’d brought Lucas and Maddie with him, although he said it had been hard to get them to come.

  I could tell from here that Lucas was on his phone, and Maddie had her arms folded over her chest with a mutinous expression marring her pretty face. I waved back, and he smiled at me, although he immediately shrunk in his chair. I couldn’t wait to talk to him, find out more about him, give him a hug that he can carry home to help him when he was down. We talked nearly every evening about one thing or another, but sometimes I think he just needed that hug. I’d seated him with my family because he was my first real non-Darius friend.

  Eric moved past me, and I caught his arm. “Can I ask you a favor?”

  “Sure thing.” Eric smiled at me and waited patiently.

  “Third row, dark-haired guy with two children. Can you keep an eye out for him?”

  Eric looked where I was gesturing, and smiled. “Easily.”

  “We have to sit,” Mom interrupted and went to take a seat. Pride emanated from her as she took her turn holding Mia, getting a face full of sticky kisses in the process. Dan sat next to her and handed his mother-in-law a wipe. This was simple domestic stuff that made me smile.

  “You doing okay, little brother?” Siobhan asked and straightened my tie. I swear it was straight, but I think Siobhan just needed something to do with her hands.

  I caught one of them and held tight. “I’m more than okay,” I said.

  She embraced me. “I love you,” she murmured.

  The tone of the music changed, less soft love songs and more processional.

  “That’s my cue,” I said, and she pressed a kiss on the tip of my nose before wiping at it with her hand.

  “Oops, sorry. I don’t imagine a scarlet-tipped nose will show up in photos.”

  “Siobhan—”

  “I’m kidding. Now go do this thing.”

  She left then to collect Mia, and I sauntered to my place. Sean was already there, standing straight, in a pale gray suit, white shirt, and sapphire tie. His eyes were stunning. He was gorgeous. I loved him, and he was mine.

  And today we were getting married.

  Eric and Leo joined us, along with Siobhan, who carried Mia. I took Mia from her, and Sean held Mia’s hand.

  It was a simple ceremony, perfect.

  “I love you and Mia. You are the better parts of me,” Sean murmured his vows so that some of them only I could hear.

  My vows were short and sweet. “I love you, Sean. I will always love you.”

  The last word though was for Mia.

  She touched my cheek. Then she leaned into my hold so she could pat Sean’s face before giving us wet kisses.

  “Daddas,” she exclaimed, and my heart melted. I held my family tight and said a silent thank you for this perfect life, filled with love, hope, and plans for the future.

  How lucky can one single dad get?

  THE END

  What’s next in single Dads?

  Single

  Today

  Promise

  Today, book 2

  Brady and Eric’s story. Coming August 2019

  What’s next for RJ Scott

  Lancaster Falls

  Mystery / Murder / Suspense Romance

  What Lies Beneath (August 2019)

  Without a Trace

  All That Remains

  What Lies Beneath

  In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.

  Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent rents out a remote cabin for an entire year. All he has to do is write, but it’s not that easy and even the solitude and silence can’t make stories appear from anything.

  Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong coincides with a family tragedy and draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, he spends his day's healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.

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