Page 53 of Own

“Here!” He waves a hand in the doorway but remains in the hall because I might kill him if he sees any part of my wife’s body that is for me only.

She rolls her eyes while laughing. “You can come in.”

“Nope. Not until the boss gives the okay.”

She rolls her eyes again; something she does often with us.

“She’s covered,” I grunt, not liking to share her attention with anyone but the kids.

Slipping around the doorframe, Z immediately scoops our son from her arms. The boy loves my friend, grabbing at his face and cooing for him. “I’ve got these two covered; your mom has the rest. You guys are free to go.”

That’s when the nerves appear in Hester’s eyes. “I have no problem getting rid of them,” I remind her.

“I-i-it’s f-f-fine.”

I don’t like that she’s stuttering again. It happens rarely, and mostly when she’s feeling insecure or so angry she can’t control herself, both of which don’t happen often.

Standing up, she strides towards me, pats my chest, and struts her fine ass out of the room. I hand my daughter to Z, and he laughs as I follow my wife, descending the stairs.

Reaching forward, I grip her hair at her nape and spin her around, catching her around the waist and pulling her into my body. “You’re not doing this alone, understand?” A brilliant smile crosses her face, and she nods.

Hand in hand, we walk to the living room where her parents are seated. She’s a mixture of both. Her eyes match her mother, but her hair is all her father. She’s petite while they are taller. It makes me wonder more about her lineage.

They stand when they hear us, and Hester hesitates beside me. “H-h-hello, I-i-I’m H-h-hester D-d-daire.”

The mother seems colder; her father has tears in his eyes. He comes over, stopping abruptly, but he clearly wants to pull her into his arms, but holds back when my wife steps a bit behind me.

“Hester,” he says her name for the first time. “I’m Daniel. I’m your father. And this is”—he looks back, frowning when he sees his wife isn’t at his side—“Mandy, your mother.”

“N-n-nice t-t-to m-meet you.” She swallows roughly, and I can tell she’s getting frustrated.

“Do you always do that?” Mandy asks, and I’d like to smack her.

Hester beats me to it, however, as her spine straightens. “Y-y-yes. It’s a t-t-trauma r-r-response w-when I’m n-n-nerv-vous.”

“From growing up in a system that had no interest in her,” I point out. I can’t fucking help it. If not for these two, she wouldn’t be the way she was when we met.

Daniel has the decency to look ashamed, but Mandy sees that as a challenge. “We did what was best for all of us.”

Biting my tongue, I don’t rip her apart the way I’d like. “I’m sure you did,” I say, but her smug look makes me snap. “But you left my wife to the fucking wolves. You could have put her up for adoption long before giving birth. And don’t fucking try lying to me and say you didn’t know you were pregnant; I’ve seen the medical records. I also know both of your parents are fucking loaded.”

Daniel’s face pales. Something was missing in their story. “You told me you didn’t know. That there was no time for adoption; surrendering was all we could do.”

Hester tugs on my hand as her birth parents squabble. “M-make th-them l-l-leave,” she requests and rushes back up to our twins.

“You two can go. If Hester wants to be in touch, I’ll contact you, but don’t ever fucking come back.” Miles appears at my side, waiting to escort them out. Mandy storms off in a huff, but Daniels holds back.

“I didn’t know,” he says. “We broke up during that time. I didn’t even know she was pregnant until she called me in labor. She swore she was clueless. I wish I’d known sooner, I wouldn’t have panicked, wouldn’t have made the choices we have.” He appears genuinely remorseful. “I’d love to know Hester, to apologize properly…if she’ll let me one day. My door will always be open for her.”

I nod, and he leaves. The closing door doesn’t mask Mandy’s screeching as she yells at her husband. That’s not how I wanted today to go, especially after specifically asking them both if they wanted to meet her and how they came to leave her behind.

Hearing my wife’s soft steps behind me, I turn and open my arms for her. She doesn’t hesitate to accept my offer. “I love you, Daddy. You’re all I’ll ever need,” she whispers. “And our precious children.”

Soaking up her love, I know I’m fucking lucky to have this woman as my own. And after the way she took to motherhood after threatening to kill McKenna for putting her hands on Nate, I’d known she would be the queen I never knew I needed.

Every day since, my kids have been the happiest I’ve ever seen them. Never wanting for anything, never starved for attention or love. Never seeking acceptance from someone who wouldn’t give it to them.

She always tells me how lucky she is that I found her, but the truth is I’m the lucky one, the one who won the lottery of life because damn, this woman is everything a man dreams of.