Page 61 of Loving Kai

“It’s different every year. Be ready for anything.”

Allie took Kai with her to town, giving Abe a little time to breathe and sort through his feelings. He’d been a father for twenty-four hours now.

Mama pig came over to the fence Abe was leaning against and snorted at him. Her ten babies followed, hoping she would lie down and give them a mid-morning meal. Abe scratched the pig behind her ears. “I guess you’re a new parent too, Mabel.” The baby pigs squealed as they ran around her, bumping into her and tripping over each other. “Only you really have your hands full.”

Abe stopped rubbing Mabel’s ears and straightened. “Oh crap. Maggie.” How could he have forgotten about Maggie? He looked at Mabel. “I need to call her.” He pointed at the pig. “I’m not going to tell her I was looking at you when I thought about her, though.”

She’d probably been trying to call him and wondering where the hell he was. She must hate me. He jogged to the house and went into the kitchen to use the landline. He picked up the receiver, then stared at the numbers on the phone. “Dammit.” He had no idea what her number was. “Rocco’s. She’ll be at work.” He dialed the restaurant.

“Rocco’s. This is Maggie. How can I help you?”

Abe felt a hitch in his throat at the sound of her voice. “Maggie.”

“Abe?”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I was worried.”

“I’ve had…I can explain.”

“We’re getting slammed here, and I can’t really talk. I’ll call you back once Luke comes in.”

“Okay. I don’t have my cell. Call my parents’ house. The landline. Gentry can give you the number.”

“Okay. Just tell me again that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

Abe hung up the phone. At least she didn’t hang up on him. He went to the refrigerator and got a beer, then grabbed a container of fresh Buchanan almonds and sat at the table.

When John came through the kitchen door, he went to the sink and washed his hands, then turned to Abe and nodded toward the beer. “A little bit early for that, son.”

Abe picked up the bottle. “Actually, it’s kind of late. I should’ve started drinking yesterday.”

John sat down across the table from him. “Do you want to talk about this?”

“No, Dad. I’m kidding. I’m fine.”

“I doubt that. Not many people would be fine in your situation.”

Abe drank some beer. “I’m as fine as I can be.”

“I’m going to tell you a story.”

“Okay.”

“Your mother and I knew we wanted kids, but we never really sat down and talked about when or how many.”

Abe smiled. “You probably should’ve had that conversation, Dad.”

“When she told me she was pregnant with Wes six months after we got married, I had a bit of a meltdown.”

Abe leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Really? You?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t the fact that we were going to have a baby. It was fear. Crippling fear. I just knew I was going to mess the child up somehow.”