"There's no need to get emotional," I cry. "What's that all about?"
"All I want in this world is to know that you're cared for, Red," he says, voice still rough. "And I know you are with him around. I can't thank him enough."
"I didn't realize that meant so much to you. You don't need to worry about me and Erin, Daddy. We're more than okay."
"You're a natural at this," he continues. "Watching you with that baby girl blows me away. With everything that's happened, I wondered if you'd ever want to have kids. I'm so glad you did."
"Stop it," I say furiously, wiping my eyes. "You're going to make me cry."
"I mean it, Abby," he says, squeezing my shoulders. "I always knew you'd be a good mom, and seeing it in action, well, it's enough to make this old man cry."
I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen my dad cry and still have three fingers available. Two now, I guess. Idon't know why I'm so caught off guard, this has been the most emotional thing I've ever been through.
"I didn't know you noticed Jack like that," I muse. "It's not like he ever brings attention to himself. It's annoying, actually, to be around someone that good and selfless all the time."
"Imagine how me and Nate feel around you," he teases. "Except you're annoying because you're always right about everything."
"It's a gift and a curse," I sigh dramatically.
"But of course I noticed," he says. "A dad is going to notice the man taking care of his daughter. And granddaughter now."
"Do you think it's wrong?" I ask quietly. "That another man is basically living in Aaron's house, doing the things he would do if he were here?"
"It's not wrong to want companionship, Abs," he says softly. "And I think finding it in your best friend, and Aaron's, couldn't possibly be a bad thing. We need each other, all of us. We shouldn't have to do this life alone."
"I could," I counter. "If I really needed to. I could do this alone this thing alone, me and Little One."
"I know you could, Red," he says. "But isn't it nice that you don't have to?"
The sound of Erin's cries comes through the baby monitor, and I half-rise from the couch before he gently holds me in place.
"I've got her," he says. "You can stay here. She takes a bottle these days, right?"
"Yeah," I say, sagging back into the cushions. "They're in the fridge, and the bottle warmer is on the counter."
"Pop-pop is on it," he says, whisking out of the room. I hear him greet her with incoherent babbling, and her cries turn into babbles of her own.
I smile, closing my eyes and leaning my head back. It is nice, having Jack around. Even nicer now that I know people aren'tsecretly judging me for having him around. I don't know if I'd change things, but the thought has been ever-present in the back of my mind. The longer he's here, the more my guilt shifts into something much more peaceful.
We shouldn't have to do this life alone.
I thank my lucky stars that I don't have to—and that I have Jack to thank for that.
Chapter 41
Jack
Five Months
The oppressive Texas summer heat has started to recede as we approach the end of September and the entire town of Larkspur seems to sigh with relief. Even the house seems to have relaxed, creaking and groaning as the foundation shifts in the red clay soil found throughout most of north Texas.
I'd say fall is Abby's time to shine, but honestly she shines year round. But she does seem to have a particular love for autumn colors, and anything with pumpkin or cinnamon. She practically jumps for joy any time the air is even the slightest bit crisp, which is why I've been dragged to the walking path at Lake Larkspur with a sweet baby girl in corduroy overalls strapped to my chest.
"Dragged." Like I haven't spent the last year tripping over my feet to be anywhere she is.
"This is my favorite time of year," she says gleefully, her curls bouncing with the spring in her step. "You know, the two weeks of fall we get before all the leaves drop from the trees and the wind chill is twenty degrees."
"I don't like the cold," I grumble, walking with arms up since Erin has an iron grip on my thumbs while she kicks her feet happily. "Fall is just pre-winter, I'm already depressed about it."
