Page 48 of The Blessing

“I am proud of him,” I confirm with a smile tugging on my lips. “Grey’s amazing and just so smart. He’ll grow to be a lot smarter than I’ll ever be.” I bet if I gave him the best life possible, he’ll be better than pretty much everyone.

Eden looks from me, back to her sister then comments, “I’m just so thrilled to see my sister happy. You have no idea how many jackasses she’s dated.”

“Eden,” Ronnie says sharply, throwing her sister a disapproving look.

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologizes, smiling at her sister in search of her forgiveness. Ronnie’s shoulders relax and she smiles back. “It’s just good to see you with someone nice.” I wonder what sort of assholes she used to date. They better hope they don’t run into me. I’m reformed but I’m not that reformed.

I hear the sound of the front door opening and closing and look up to see a man who looks very familiar. I stare at him for a moment, knowing this must be Quinton, and wonder where on Earth I’ve seen him before. As he walks towards us with a toddler safely in his arms, I have a fucking epiphany. I know where I’ve seen him before! He’s the guy who was talking to Ronnie that day in the parking lot of our apartment complex, when I was spying on her! God, I feel like such a fucking idiot. No wonder they seemed close, he’s her brother-in-law!

“Hey, Ronnie,” he says with a smirk in my direction. “You must be Trevor. I’m Quinton, Ronnie’s brother-in-law.” He sizes me up and then gives her a knowing grin.

She blushes, and it makes me wonder how much she’s said about me to her family. I can’t help but wonder if they’re aware of my situation, and by default Grey’s. It’s weird thinking I’m the type of guy a girl would brag about having as a boyfriend. With all of my baggage, what is there to really be happy and boast about? However, if the looks her family are giving me mean anything, it seems Ronnie has been blustering about me. The thought is an overwhelming one.

“This is our little girl, Harper,” Quinton says, introducing me to his shy daughter. “Say ‘hi,’ sweetie,” he encourages her.

“Hi,” she says, softly. She looks at Grey and me with curious eyes before saying, “I three.” She holds up three fingers and smiles at us.

With short brown hair and pale skin, she looks just like her mom. I’m sure she acts just like her mom, though she seems really shy right now.

“Who that?” she asks, pointing to Grey, who in return is staring back at her with wide, curious eyes.

“This is my son, Greyson,” I tell her. I don’t see the point of calling him my nephew anymore. While he’s not biologically my son—I love him just as much as any biological parent could. Besides, when I refer to him as my nephew, I feel as if I’ve got to give everyone the story of my fucked-up past… my fucked-up life. Why go into all of that detail when I don’t have to?

“He cute,” Harper giggles, before placing her thumb in her mouth.

I smile, hoping this little girl will become a friend to Grey. He needs someone closer to his own age to play with. There aren’t any kids around his age in our apartment complex that I know of and he won’t be going to school for a while, either. He needs some sort of contact outside of Ronnie and me.

The time spent with Ronnie’s family goes much better than I expected. They aren’t as judgmental as most of the people I’m used to. Nor do they make me feel bad about my job, financial situation, or the lack of a college degree the way other’s always have in the past. Only an hour into our lunch, I’m feeling as if I’ve made two new friends. Quinton is a cool dude—nothing like the douchebag I imagined he was when I thought he had an interest in Ronnie. We actually have a lot in common despite our obvious differences. He’s very intelligent, so learning he’s a college professor at a nearby community college was conceivable. He teaches computer science and is a huge geek. While the girls chat, we discuss the Star Wars prequels and laugh at George Lucas’s attempt at a “romance.” Ronnie keeps shooting me smiles, obviously happy I’ve found another friend in town. Outside of Jaxson, I don’t really have anyone else to hang out with.

“Can me play with baby, Dada?” Harper asks, barely able to stay in her seat a moment longer.

Quinton gives me an inquisitive look and I quickly affirm that it’s all right. Grey’s been sitting on my lap throughout lunch and I know he probably wants to get down and stretch his legs. I stand up with him still in my arms and move to follow Harper into the living room.

“Want a beer, Trevor?” I hear Quinton call out before his wife quickly tells him to shut up.

I tense for a moment, feeling like shit all of a sudden. It’s embarrassing that I have such a fucking problem with alcohol. I wish I could socially have a beer with a friend like a normal person, but I don’t think that’ll ever be an option for me. “No thanks, I’m good,” I answer smoothly. “But I’ll take a bottle of water, though.”

I look over my shoulder and find Quinton giving me an apologetic smile, and I know instantly that Ronnie filled her family in on my past. They both must know now, to some extent, even if she didn’t tell them every detail. Hell, she doesn’t even know every detail because I’m afraid to tell her. Knowing that they know already makes me slightly angry because I wanted a chance to start off fresh without my past staining my present. Despite the small jab of anger, I know why Ronnie did it. Being the type of person, she is, I know she wanted to protect me from any temptation. Most men can come home after a long day of work and drink a nice ice-cold beer, unfortunately, I’m not most men.

Pushing those uncomfortable thoughts aside, I join Harper on the carpet with a now restless Grey. Now that my boy can stand, it’s all he ever wants to do. Of course, he can only stand on his own for a few seconds, but because of carpeted floors he doesn’t mind too much. Harper runs to her room to gather a few of her favorite toys and I allow my boy to play on the floor on his own. He stands up, falls back down, stands up, and falls back down until he eventually grows bored and reaches for me.

“Da, da,” he says with a giggle, “da, da, da!”

A giant smile spreads across my face as I pick him back up. Eden enters the living room, bringing me a bottle of water and beams as soon as she sees us together.

“Was his first word ‘dad’?” she asks, handing me the drink.

“Well, ‘da,’ ” I correct her with a smile.

“That’s just the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” she gushes as Ronnie walks into the room. “Harper’s first word was ‘no.’ ”

“Well, I doubt he knows what he’s saying,” I laugh, not wanting to admit how much his first word touched me.

“I’m sure he does know, Trevor,” Ronnie says with a proud smile as she joins us on the carpet. “Trev is an incredible daddy,” she tells her sister.

My heart swells at her words and I feel like the most important man in the world all of a sudden. Ronnie thinks I’m an incredible daddy! Being turned on by the word “daddy” falling from her lips, momentarily distracts me from how fucking happy I am. She’s proud of me. My beautiful girlfriend is proud of me and that fact means the absolute world to me. In this very moment—I know I can be good for her; I know I can be the man she needs and deserves.