“Slow down,” I said to him, realizing that there was a lot that I hadn’t thought about yet. So many questions that I didn’t have the answers to at the moment and so much uncertainty. “I need to make a doctor’s appointment.”
“We have to get the IUD out of you as soon as possible,” Michael said. “I can see if Melissa’s doctor has any openings, if you’d like me to.”
I gnawed on the inside of my lip. “Melissa,” I whispered. “I don’t want her to get angry with me or you for this.”
“Why would she get angry?” Michael asked me.
I arched a brow, wondering if he knew his daughter at all.
“When we were at the doctor’s today, she told me that she wished she’d waited. You and she always used to talk about getting pregnant together, raising your children as best friends. Now, you can.”
Now, we’d be raising them as aunts or uncles and nieces or nephews.
“You don’t think she’ll be angry?” I asked, hopeful.
If Melissa had really said that, she might not be as angry with me for it. She might even enjoy doing all thosemommythings with me. Maybe this could help us grow closer together.
Michael tossed my melting ice cream in the nearest trash can and lightly grabbed my chin. “Maybe she’ll be annoyed at first, but she’ll get over it. We can tell her Monday at the courthouse.”
My eyes widened. “Monday? That’s so soon. Do you think it’d be good to tell her wayafterLinda goes berserk at court for you wanting a restraining order, not before or even on the same day?” I asked.
Melissa planned to go with us to the courthouse on Monday, but addingthismight make her think differently about everything.
“It’s better to tell her sooner. I don’t want either of you stressing out about this,” Michael said, and then he started to dive intoeverythingthat we would have to do to prepare. It was almost as if he had been waiting for this moment for such a long time.
Michael cared. Michael loved. Michael would be the best damn father he could be.
And he already was.
CHAPTER44
MIA
Monday morning, I sat with Melissa behind Michael in the courthouse. Linda walked into the room with her head held high, her makeup done, and the strong stench of alcohol following her in. The judge looked up from her stand and arched a thick brown brow at her.
“Mr. Bryne,” Judge Alkins said, shuffling some papers. “You’re filing for a restraining order against Linda Brown, citing stalking as your sole reason.”
Michael nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Linda curled her fingers around her podium and gave Michael a pointed glare. “Your Honor, I’ve done no stalking, nothing that he’s accusing me of. We just happen to be in the same places at the same times. Pure coincidence.”
From the look on Michael’s face, I could tell that he wanted to interject but didn’t want the judge to get angry with him. Judge Alkins looked over at Michael, then back at Linda. She went to say something into her microphone when Linda started speaking again.
“All he does is lie. He’s been doing it for years. Lying. Cheating on me when we were raising our daughter and with one of her own friends.” She wiped fake tears from her cheek. “Do you know how it feels, knowing that your own husband would rather be intimate with someone underage than be with—”
“Stop lying,” Melissa said, standing up next to me. Her voice was hoarse and full of hurt.
Everyone looked over to her, including Linda.
“You’ve lied about all of this. They were never in that kind of relationship when you were married or when she was underage, and you know it.”
Linda looked at her, scrunched up her face in pure disgust, and shook her head. “My daughter doesn’t know what she’s saying. She’s hormonal, delusional, and pregnant. She’s nothing but a liar, like her father.”
Widening her eyes, Melissa went to say something else, but I seized her wrist and told her to stay quiet. Fighting with her mother here wasn’t going to make her feel better about herself. Linda was crazy and would do anything to make herself seem like an honest woman in the court of law.
She didn’t care if what she lied about hurt her own daughter. All she cared about was herself.
I wrapped Melissa up in my arms and rested my head against hers. “It’s okay, Melissa. Don’t listen to a thing that she says. We know that she’s lying. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks.”
