Page 136 of Broken Destiny

The second the dogs realized where we were, they bounded toward Jack and Maureen, tails swaying happily behind them.

“You two behave yourselves, okay?” I said softly, scratchingbehind their ears before kissing the tops of their heads. “Mama will be back soon.”

Milo whined quietly while Oreo licked my cheek.

“Don’t worry,” Maureen said warmly. “We’ll spoil them rotten while you’re gone.”

Jack stepped forward and squeezed my shoulder gently.

“Fight for your happiness this time, sweetheart,” he said with a knowing smile. “And don’t give up halfway and come back here.”

I laughed softly. “I’ll try.”

“No,” Jack said firmly. “You’ll do it.”

Maureen hugged me tightly before pulling back.

“Good luck, honey. Everything’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to.”

Their faith in me steadied something shaky inside my chest. After one last goodbye to the dogs and a tight hug from Jack and Maureen, I headed back toward the car with the children and Geeta.

I informed Elle that I was coming to the city and made plans to meet her and her family the next day.

The following afternoon, the children and Karl were splashing in the pool when Elle and I joined them. With rubber ducky floaters strapped to Emma’s arms, I spun her gently through the water while my daughter giggled happily.

“Again, Mama. Again,” she squealed, flapping her feet in the water in her floral pink swimsuit.

“Mama!” Lucas yelled from the other side. “Look at me.”

I turned and watched him swim the short length of the pool with Noah. He was a good swimmer and loved the water.

Elle held her daughter, Quinn, who was now a year and a half and splashing happily. She passed her to Karl.

“Take her and Emma to the kiddie pool, please. Jiji and I need to talk.”

“Sure, honey,” Karl replied, already reaching for the girls.

Elle and I climbed out of the pool and sat on the sun lounge chairs. After ordering drinks for the children and for ourselves, we leaned back and soaked in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

“So you’ve finally decided to tell Caleb about his daughter?” Elle asked, sipping her Mai Tai.

“Kinda,” I replied.

“What do you mean, kinda?” She removed her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head. “I thought you wanted him back.”

“I still love him, but I don’t want him back because we share a child. I want him to choose me, knowing the truth about everything.”

I sat upright and faced her.

“So you plan to expose his mother, tell him how you feel, then tell him about Emmaandstop the wedding?” Elle rubbed her chin.

“Something like that... maybe not in that order,” I admitted with a sigh. “I haven’t figured everything out yet.”

“Well, you’ve got only a week from today,” Elle said, placing her hand gently on my knee. “You need to figure it out.”

“I know.”

I did not need a countdown.