His words caused her to change the direction of her focus. B.B. turned her attention back to the pancake batter she’d been mixing.
“I’m sorry. What? I was a bit distracted.”
“Nice to know that I’m not alone in that. We have conversations that need to be had. Not just the physical ones, even though I’m open to having more of those as soon as possible.”
She smiled against the kiss he placed on her lips and full on giggled when he grabbed her ass cheeks. He gave them a good squeeze before swatting one and kissing her neck. He grabbed an apron to cover himself while he prepped the turkey sausage and egg whites. The griddle was hot enough for her to begin making the hot cakes so she started on that. He turned on some music and they bopped around the kitchen getting things together for their sit-down, home-cooked breakfast. Once everything was set, they blessed their food and began to dig in.
Sitting at the table with him, watching the birds sing and play in a bird bath as he read the paper felt right. Everything about what they were doing and how they were felt like things were how they were supposed to be. It hurt to know that she could’ve had this all along. There was one missing element, a very key element and B.B. didn’t know just how to broach the subject. As content as Eli was sitting at the table, perusing the pages of the local newspaper while eating breakfast made her feel as if he was fine with them putting off the much needed conversation they should be having.
As if reading her mind, he began to speak, “Don’t think we’re not going to talk. I figured we could wait for the both of us to have full bellies before we started the serious talk.”
The way he’d said serious made her suddenly nervous. There was something that he needed to know. It was something he should’ve known quite some time ago, but she’d been this wretched human being who was utterly selfish. Being in that space with him and feeling what she felt for him, she knew she couldn’t keep him in the dark any longer than her next breath.
“You are a father!” she blurted out while he was lifting his coffee cup to his lips.
Eli sat his cup back down and pushed his glasses back up on his face in that way that she’d always found so cute. The smirk that played across his lips told her that he was getting ready to have some smartass retort.
“Lindy, I don’t think you understand how this works exactly. We come together and my sperm attaches to your egg. Yes? The two need time to do a little dance before they can form a life. That life then needs to have its own time to grow in that beautiful flat belly of yours before we can say that I’m a father.”
She tried to laugh, but it didn’t work. It came out as a sob which surprised them both. B.B. wasn’t a crier, never really had been, but knowing his jovial nature was about to take a turn for the worst because of her had her losing control of her emotions. The tears fell freely down her cheeks. She blurrily saw Eli’s features change to one of concern as the truth of her words settled. Or maybe it was her uncharacteristic actions that caused him to look the way that he did.
There she was sobbing and bawling uncontrollably when he said something that instantly put an end to any of the tears she was ready to continue to shed.
“I know. I already knew.”
“What?” she asked as she tried to call the unshed tears and some of the shed tears back.
“I’ve known about my daughter since you were nine months pregnant with her. I was in the delivery room when Camille Amber Reynolds was born. As an aside, thank you for giving her my last name. My chest swelled with pride the day that I walked into the baby ward of the hospital and saw that placard with her name on it. I still have that placard. It’s framed and hanging on a wall in my office.”
“I’m sorry,” was all she could muster up. Her shock was evident in how she responded.
Eli smiled a secretive smile before he continued, “Kitty couldn’t deal with me missing out on my daughter’s birth, especially after learning you were going to keep her. Wise choice by the way. I got this detailed email from her about a week before you delivered. I don’t know how she found it, but we exchanged information, met, and set up a system so I would be notified when you went into labor. I was called the morning you went into labor and was at the hospital within the hour. I was able to see my daughter being brought into this world. It was me that cut her umbilical cord. I was there when you cried out for me. Even heard your request, well demand, for someone to call me. The doctors, nurses and your mom knew I was already there. They believed you to be delirious. I let it ride because the alternative was too much of a story to tell.”
“Wait a minute. You were there? Why didn’t you confront me?”
Eli simply shrugged his shoulders before he began to speak, “You’d left me at the altar without a backward glance. I figured you didn’t want anything to do with me. I was determined to focus on that precious, little girl of ours. I believed that was the only connection you wanted to have with me. Besides, I had a plan in place with Kitty and your mother to have time with my daughter. Why poke at a wasp’s nest if you don’t have to?”
“Is that what you thought? You thought I would attack if you confronted me?” Instead of responding in word, he simply picked up his cup and arched a dark brow at her. “Fine. Whatever. You don’t know me, Proph.” Those words caused him to add a smirk with a slight chuckle. “Anyway, one of you should’ve told me. I’ve felt horrible about keeping her from you. All of this time that I was telling them that I felt like you would hate me for this big secret and they knew you already knew. Hold on. Did you say that you had something worked out with Kitty and my mom? My mother knew?”
“Yeah, she did. She was the one that made Kitty find me. You know Kitty well enough to know that the girl has skills when it comes to getting men to give information that they normally wouldn’t want to. I figured you would be proud to know the depths she went to in order to procure my old email address. I was proud of the fact that she was only able to get that. It was ‘public’ knowledge but not many knew how to obtain even that.”
“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Security Man, back to the part about my people knowing and not letting me in on the big secret.”
Eli stood and took his dishes to the sink. Scraping the scraps to go to the garbage disposal, he then rinsed them before loading them into the dishwasher. He turned and did the same to hers. When he started the disposal, B.B. almost went nuclear.
“Excuse me. Hello? I need more of an explanation here.”
“Apparently, you’d made it very clear to them that you didn’t want to have anything to do with me so they took it upon themselves to make sure that I had a way to have access to my daughter. They interrogated the hell out of me first before we sat down and plotted out ways for me to have a relationship with our girl. Quite a few of the times that you were away, handling business, I had Camille. Your mom would bring her by my place so we could hang out.”
B.B. couldn’t believe what it was that he was telling her. It was insane to think that he’d known and had a relationship with their child all of that time, yet she was completely unaware of it.
“Why did no one ever tell me? My mother should’ve definitely said something if my kid wasn’t in her care. Kitty’s ass is a hopeless romantic. I can’t expect much more from her. She’s a lost cause.”
Eli outright laughed at that before turning to grab the rest of the dishes from breakfast to load the dishwasher. He’d been quite for so long save the occasional clattering of a dish that his voice startled her once he began to speak again.
“Christine didn’t say anything because she didn’t feel she had anything to explain. ‘I’m doing right by my girls, even if the older one is being a stubborn mule. My little grandbaby needs her daddy and I’m not being part of something that takes those precious moments from such a loving and wonderful man’ were the words she shared with me.”
“Whoa there, Preacher man, that’s a little specific, don’t you think?”
He held out a hand and she didn’t hesitate to take it.
Eli helped her to stand then guided her up the hall to a door not far from the main entrance.
“I’ve read that emails several hundred times. I have days when I need them to remind me of the truth of all of this. It also reminds me to be grateful for what I have.”
B.B. didn’t trust her voice. She was fighting to keep her wits about her and possibly losing. She would definitely be lost if she allowed those feelings to consume her and she attempted to speak. The most she could offer was a slight smile. What in the hell was wrong with her? She was turning into one of those people that wore their feelings on their sleeves. Eli returned the smile before placing his hand on the knob of the door.
“What? I can’t believe it.”
He’d opened the door. Sure enough, there we’re touches of their daughter all around the room. The drawings and photos verified what he’d told her. He moved to shelf that looked like a combination bookshelf and dresser. Opening the drawer, he pulled out two sets of jogging pants. He pointedly looked at the clock before sliding on a pair of the pants. He held one out to her.
“As much as I’m enjoying the view, I think you’ll want to have these on when she arrives. We’re about to have company, amore bella.”
B.B. gave him a confused look but slid her legs into the proffered pants. The clock read 6:15 am. Was that the time? She hadn’t looked at the clock when they’d gone to the kitchen, nor during any of time that they’d spent there. She wondered the significance of the time to deter him from his willingness to walk around wearing nothing, but the apron from the kitchen. His freeballing state didn’t stop her from taking in his form even with part of it being covered. She was amazed at how hot for him she seemed to be. It wasn’t like that before. It felt different and exhilarating, but she had to contain her reaction. A voice she recognized joined them and had her gasping for breath.
“Morning. I’m hungry.”
Her little girl’s voice had those tears that she’d been holding at bay to trip over her lids and tumble down her cheeks. Eli gave her a look of understanding before lifting his hand to her cheek and wiping away a few of her tears. After placing a chaste kiss to her forehead, he moved around her to where their little girl was standing.
“Who am I, precious Millie Mil?”
“Daddy, you don’t know who you are?”
She could hear the confusion in her child’s voice. It made her want to turn but she had to compose herself so she wouldn’t worry her daughter.
“I do, sweetheart. I do.”
“Good, cause I do, too. Mommy! Daddy, mommy is here. Does that mean we don’t have to keep secret bear secrets anymore?”
“Yes, that’s what it means.”
B.B. had light bulbs going off all over the place. Her daughter was always a morning person and worked like a clock. At 8 pm, she needed to be near a bed or wanted permission to find somewhere comfortable to sleep. At fifteen minutes after six, she was awake and ready to greet the day. Camille always had this need to have her teddy bear with her. The little beige toned bear had to be kept clean or she would have a complete meltdown and he travelled every single place she went.
“That’s why Taddy has to go everywhere she goes, you gave it to her.”
“Yes. Yes, I did,” was his simple response.
Looking at the way he guiltily looked her, she knew there was something more to that bear.
“You’re tracking her.”
The statement wasn’t posed in a way to be taken as a question, but he answered it as if it were.
“You’re damn skippy, I am. That little girl was the only piece of you I had left. I wasn’t taking any chances of her getting lost or taken. It also helped know what my next move was. When you moved, I moved.”
There was some insight she hadn’t expected.
“What can I get you to eat for breakfast, little lady?”
“Daddy, can mommy make me pancakes and we put bananas for the eyes, a blueberry for the nose, and syrupy smile on it?”
“Yes, we may, beautiful lady. Let’s get going. We have to get you dressed and ready for school.”
“You too, Daddy. You don’t even have on a shirt. I gots on bottoms and a top. Does mommy have on your bottoms and top?”
B.B. couldn’t help, but laugh at the look that crossed Eli’s face. She figured she should rescue him from the inquisitive mind of their daughter. After a few more moments, she decided to let me off the hook.
“Mommy forgot to bring clothes, sweetie. Daddy just let me use some until we can go back to our house to get me something else to wear. Okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.”
A growling could be heard and B.B. looked around to see what it was. A yellow Labrador puppy stood in the doorway growling at B.B. at the same time that Camille’s stomach growled.
“That’s Bastian. He’s our new dog, mommy.”
“Yeah. Well, all right then. I think we have two hungry bellies to attend to. Let’s get you fed, dressed, and ready for school.”
Eli and B.B. worked together to get their little girl ready for school. Camille spent all of that hour plowing them with random questions. She only paused long enough for her to eat her breakfast. Afterwards, the questions began again.
“Mommy, can daddy make my lunch for me today?”
B.B. turned and gave her little beauty a confused look. She’d gotten used to making her little girl’s lunch. Even if they weren’t in their apartment, she’d still gotten used to being the one to do it. She’d almost forgotten it was a school day until that moment. It was such a rote chore that she could do it in her sleep. The task was partially complete by the time her … their little Millie stated the request. As such, she had to still her hands to halt the actions that she was performing.
“If that’s what you want, I don’t mind, sweetheart.”
Camille’s little face lit up like the stars light up the night sky. Seeing how happy her little girl was made the slight sacrifice worth it.
“Yes! Daddy, will you make me a ‘special’ lunch today?”
Yes, her little girl made the statement with air quotes included. B.B. was such a proud momma. Judging by the look that was on Eli’s face, he was a proud daddy too.
“Um, what’s a ‘special’ lunch?” she asked as Eli began to complete the task that she’d begun like a pro.
Within minutes, he had Camille’s crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich made, decrusted, and cut into four triangles. Her fruit cup and apple were added to the little lunch dish before being placed into the lunch bag. Her thermos had grape juice in it and an oatmeal raisin cookie was put next to it. He had pre-sliced carrots and celery added in before B.B. could think to ask him to make sure that was on top. Camille always likes to eat her vegetables first.
B.B. was all set to applaud his knowledge when he halted the action of putting the final item in. Snagging a piece of notebook paper and a pen, he wrote a note then placed it in the lunch bag on top of everything else. The granola bar that he’d wrapped the paper around was one of Camille’s favorites. Damn. He was better than she thought. She just knew he was going to foul it up in some way.
“Woohoo! I got lunch from my daddy. I got lunch from my daddy.”
Camille danced all the way to her backpack near the front door.
“Okay. What was that about? Spill it.”
“Nothing nefarious, Bruiser. Relax. It wasn’t anything telling her to kick somebody’s ass or be mean to anyone. It was a note to let her know just how much she is loved. She likes little reminders like that.”
“So that’s what makes it a ‘special’ lunch?”
“Yes. I did it the first day that I had her because your mom had an appointment she couldn’t get out of. I wanted her to know that I loved her, you loved her, and we would miss her while she was in school. The little beauty opened up her bag because she was checking if I’d made her lunch correctly and found the first one I wrote her. I couldn’t have loved that little beauty any more than in the moment that she climb
ed out of her seat to give me the biggest hug ever. ‘You made my lunch special, daddy.’ That’s what she told me that day. I won’t do anything with it unless she asks me for it.”
“Yeah, I would do that to.”
B.B.’s eyes filled with tears again as she looked at Eli and the adoring way he looked at their daughter.
“What is it, Lindy? What’s got you falling apart now?”
She looked up into his eyes and saw the pure joy mixed with slight concern resonating there. It made her feel bad for what she’d done.
“As upset as I initially may have been at Kitty and my mom for not telling me about your relationship with our daughter, I would’ve hated to miss out on the connection the two of you have. As much as I wanted to be angry, I can’t … if they hadn’t done what they did … you two wouldn’t have this. I feel horrible for not even thinking of what would have been missing if the two of you didn’t have what you have.”
Eli pulled her close and held her. Camille appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. When she first arrived, she looked upset. Seeing her parents holding on to one another had her quickly changing her expression.
“Yay. Hugs. I love hugs Mommy and Daddy, I want hugs too!”
Yeah, she felt like a world class asshat for not recognizing that her daughter would need both of them. Having her wrap her precious little arms around the both of them then give them kisses on both cheeks made her regret even thinking of keeping the two of them apart.
“Does this mean that we get to live with Daddy now?”
B.B. pulled back and looked at her daughter. Her little face was still in the crook of her father’s neck. The look Eli gave her said it was something he wanted to know the answer to as well. Her phone rang at the same time that she heard his phone ringing. She knew that ringtone. Brian was calling. It had to be something important if both of their phones were ringing at the same time.
“Let’s get you to school, sweetie. Mommy and daddy have to go to work.”
“Yay. Okay. Let’s go.”
Field Stripped: 15 Steamy Military Romances Page 22
