A Baby for the Daddy: Boys of Rockford Series

by Maverick, Henley

  I braced myself with a big breath and looked up at her, my heart stopping for just a moment. She was sheer perfection.

  “Tenley, will you—”

  “Yes,” she said quickly, not even letting me finish the sentence.

  I was stunned by her quick answer and just sat there blinking for a moment.

  “You said yes?”

  “Yes, I said yes!”

  I blinked again. “To marrying me?”

  “No, to getting ice cream. Of course, to marrying you, dork,” she teased, grinning at me. It was contagious. Infectious. I found myself grinning too, even though I was still kind of in a stunned daze.

  But I remembered enough to take the ring out of the box and slip it on her finger. I’d spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of ring would suit her — and employed my kid as a spy for the size — so I hoped she’d like it.

  It was a twisted yellow gold band with a small square diamond surrounded by smaller flecks of diamonds. It wasn’t expensive or flashy, but it was simple, understated, and the prettiest thing in the whole jewelry store if you’d asked me. So, it obviously belonged on the prettiest girl in the world.

  Tenley lifted her hand up to examine the ring as I stood back up to my full height.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “I think I can’t believe you just proposed to me,” she said, laughing, shaking her head.

  “That surprising?” I asked, slipping my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. It felt so damn good to have her in my arms again. It was like this burning itch I’d been trying to ignore for weeks was finally soothed. For the first time, I was at peace because I had her again.

  She shrugged. “Kind of. I thought you were pissed at me about the fuck buddie’s thing.”

  I frowned and brushed her hair back behind her ear, the silky locks wrapping around my fingers.

  “I was pissed at myself… For making you think that I could ever treat you the way I treated all those other girls. You’ve never been like them. Not even close. I was mad that I’d never fought for you the way I should have. I never should have let you get away.”

  “You didn’t really have a choice,” she said, but I shook my head.

  “I didn’t have to give up as easy as I did.”

  “I don’t blame you for it,” she said, her voice dropping lower, breathy and inviting, her dark eyes peering up at me from under thick lashes.

  “As long as I have plenty of time to make up for it,” I said, dipping down to kiss her, to drink her in, to fill my lungs with the scent of her, crush her body to mine. I was never going to let her go again. I couldn’t believe she’d said yes.

  “You still didn’t tell me what you think of the ring,” I asked. “We can pick out another one if you don’t like it. I don’t care. I’ll buy you whatever ring you want, just pick—”

  “Knight,” she said, cutting me off with a finger to my lips, “I love it. It’s perfect. It’s beautiful.” The way she smiled when she looked down at her finger told me that she was completely sincere, and the knot of anxiety in my chest loosened.

  “We should go take those tests,” I said. One thing tackled, another on the horizon. The idea of a baby was more exciting than I ever would have expected it to be.

  “You’re really not freaked out about this, are you?” she asked, sounding like she couldn’t believe it.

  “Why is that so surprising?”

  She just looked at me, making that face. The same one I got from Cal when I made dumb dad jokes.

  “Think what you want, but I’m having a blast being a dad. And I missed out on all of Cal’s baby stuff… I want to experience that.”

  She smirked. “You want to experience three A.M. poop-explosions and vomit eruptions?”

  “It’s part and parcel of the whole family deal, isn’t it?”

  She bit her lip, looking down, shaking her head, smiling even though it looked like she was trying to stop herself.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Oh no you don’t. What’s that smirk for?”

  She laughed softly and leaned up on her toes to kiss me, her hand going around the back of my head, threading through my hair.

  “I just… You’re really excited about all of this, aren’t you? I didn’t think it was what you wanted at all. Marriage? Settling down? Kids… I thought you were all about the wild party life—”

  “And how much of that’s happened since you came back to town, Ten? I got drunk like an idiot a couple of times, but I haven’t been to a bar. Haven’t even thought about picking one up other than you. All I’ve been doing is trying to fill a void, but it’s my family that I’ve been missing. I can’t stand the thought of you and Cal being three hours away.”

  Her eyes went wide. “I didn’t think about that. The family we’re subleasing from will be back in a week. Your place is too small for all of us…”

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, too,” I said, scratching my jaw. “Didn’t know we’d be needing a nursery, but I think there’s probably space.”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, a challenge in her tone. I loved it when she got serious like that, like she was gonna scold me even though I could plainly see the twinkle in her eyes.

  “There’s an old farmhouse about a mile from the garage. I’ve had my eye on it for years, but it’s always been too much house for just me. A family of four or more though? It would be just right.”

  “Or more?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  I shrugged, grinning. “You don’t expect me to keep my hands off you, do you?” I asked, squeezing her ass.

  She scoffed playfully and pushed on my chest. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “And you’re my fiancé,” I said, dipping down to kiss her again, savoring the moment, the stillness around us, the unhurried way we could just enjoy each other, knowing that we had our whole lives ahead of us.

  “We should probably tell Cal,” Tenley whispered suddenly, breaking the kiss.

  “And your family,” I added.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s tell yours first.”

  “Bear already knows,” I said, then to her look, I added, “Well, he knows I was going to ask.”

  “Yeah, but did he think I was going to say yes?” she taunted with a big smile.

  “You know what? Screw both of you guys.”

  “You can screw me later, but let’s go share our good news first,” she said, dragging me down to the parking lot, her whole face lit up with laughter.

  Yep, that was my girl. And now she was going to be mine forever.

  26

  Cal

  One Year Later

  The church was filled with so many people. A lot of people I didn’t even recognize, but I guess they were all relatives. Mom would probably introduce me to everyone and I’d get my cheeks pinched a million times, but that was okay.

  It was worth it to see her so happy.

  Actually, everyone looked pretty happy these days. Even Grandpa and Grandma. They weren’t too happy about my mom and dad getting married at first — and even though I wasn’t supposed to, I heard my mom yelling at them about the whole thing over the phone a few times — but after Everly was born, they seemed to forget all about how much they didn’t like my dad.

  Everly made a cute little noise, her fingers in her mouth while I bounced her on my knee. I couldn’t believe that this was all because of me.

  I did this.

  If I hadn’t run away from home to meet my dad, they might not have ever gotten back together, and now they were going to get married. I couldn’t wait. I was supposed to walk my mom down the aisle since Grandpa was the pastor, but I was just holding my sister in my lap while all the guest kept arriving.

  “Hey sport,” Uncle Bear said, grinning at me as him and Aunt Lexi, Dallas and Savannah all came to sit in the pew next to me.

  “Hi,” I said, waving at them all, lifting Everly’s chubb
y little arm to wave at them too.

  I was pretty sure that soon I was going to be allowed to babysit her by myself. I’d been trying to convince Mom that I could handle it. Dad’s on my side, but she still wasn’t sure. I knew I could handle it though, and I knew how much they liked having date nights to themselves. It was always a hassle hoping that Uncle Bear and Aunt Lexi could watch us, and I kept telling my mom that I was almost fourteen now. Some kids my age had jobs, and if I was a girl, no one would think it was weird I wanted to babysit. I knew girls younger than me that did it all the time.

  I knew I’d convince her eventually. We’d be fine. Ev and I always got along.

  “You ready for all this?” Uncle Bear asked me, his arm going around my shoulder.

  I nodded.

  “Probably ready for all the planning to be done, huh?” asked Aunt Lexi.

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah. Dad kept threatening to elope if she couldn’t make up her mind.”

  Aunt Lexi rolled her eyes and Uncle Bear chuckled. “Sounds like Knight, all right.”

  “I don’t know how any of us put up with you Calhoun men,” Aunt Lexi said, smiling even though she sounded annoyed. My mom did that with my dad a lot too. She said it was lucky she loved him so much or he would annoy the crap out of her.

  Well… She didn’t say crap.

  “Because we’re devilishly handsome?” Uncle Bear asked. Aunt Lexi rolled her eyes again, leaning over him to talk to me.

  “How’s school going? I heard you might be joining the baseball team?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not actually old enough, so they’re probably going to keep me as a relief pitcher until next year when I’m in high school. But I can still practice with them and stuff, so that’s cool.”

  “That’s really cool!” she said excitedly. I tried not to smile too big. I had to stay humble, that was one of the things Grandpa talked about a lot. It was okay to be proud of your accomplishments, but not boastful. Boasting led to pride, he said, which was a cardinal sin.

  I shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Dallas grinned and reached across his dad to punch me in the arm. “He’s being modest, Mom. Coach said he’s the best pitcher he’s seen in twenty years.”

  “Well, you better believe we’re going to be front and center in your cheering section,” she said, grinning at me while I tried not to blush too much. I wasn’t good at getting compliments. I never knew how to take them. Especially from my family. They had to say nice stuff about you, right?

  Still, it was nice. Aunt Lexi and Uncle Bear weren’t as serious as Grandpa and Grandma. They didn’t have as many rules, and they were way more fun. Who cared if they were only saying nice things cause they had to? They were still really cool and I was happy to have them as my aunt and uncle.

  The door at the back of the church swung open, and everyone turned to look at my dad standing on the other side of it.

  He looked so happy — and more dressed up than I’d ever seen him. He was wearing a jacket with shiny buttons in two lines down the front, and a blue and green kilt with socks that went up to his knees. Uncle Bear snorted when he saw him, but I thought he looked really handsome. He looked like he should be getting married in a castle or something.

  “Can’t believe he decided to wear that thing. We’ve never even been to Scotland,” he whispered to Aunt Lexi. She gave him a harsh look and hit him lightly.

  “I think it’s sweet he wanted to go the extra mile and get dressed up for her. Why should it only be the woman who spends hours and hours getting ready?”

  Someone in the seat in front of them turned and gave them a look to be quiet, but then Everly made a happy noise and the whole church chuckled at her.

  “Da!” she shouted, as Dad walked by, down the aisle. He smiled at her — and me — and kept walking until he stood in front of my grandpa. They shook hands, and then Dad clasped his hands in front of him and everyone in the church turned back to look at the doors.

  “That’s your cue, buddy,” Uncle Bear said, tapping me on the arm.

  I nodded and handed Everly over to his lap, but she wasn’t happy about it.

  “Daaa!” she squealed, and the people in the church laughed a little again. Dad smirked and hurried back down the aisle.

  “Hey baby girl,” he said, picking her up out of Uncle Bear’s arms. She immediately stopped fussing, clinging to him, happily sucking on her fingers again. “Okay, let’s go get married, huh?” he said, bouncing her as he walked back down the aisle toward Grandpa.

  I hurried back out the doors and around the corner to where my mom was standing.

  I hadn’t seen her yet, but I stopped and just stared for a minute.

  She looked like a princess out of a magazine. Her dress was a kind of really soft yellow color, like the color of white Christmas lights, and it was all floaty and had all these see-through layers making it poofy. Her hair was up, but there were some curly pieces around her face, pretty flowers tucked into her braids. The same kind of flowers she was holding in her bouquet.

  “How do I look?” she asked, spinning in place for me.

  “Really good,” I said, grinning big. I never would have thought that my mom could be this happy. I never realized how much she wasn’t happy until she was, but ever since we moved in with Dad, she’d been happier than I’d ever seen her. He always said that she was worth the wait, and she always said they shouldn’t have had to wait. I didn’t really know what that was all about, I didn’t really ask, either. They were weird sometimes about the past, and I figured it was just something they’d tell me when I was older. There seemed to be a lot of things like that.

  But Dallas was older, so maybe he’d learn things and let me know. He was my best friend now, and it was pretty cool that he was also my cousin. And he was a really good catcher. We couldn’t wait until we got to play for the same team next year. We were gonna win the division, we were sure of it.

  “You sure?” Mom asked, biting her lip. She had a dark-red lipstick on, and all the other makeup made her look like a model.

  “Yeah, for sure. Dad’s going to cry, I bet,” I said, grinning. We’d teased him about it a couple of times, joking that he was going to cry like a baby when he saw her. He always tried to play it cool, but last night he told me it was probably going to happen, and that there was nothing wrong with a man showing his emotions, like I didn’t already know that. I told him that you had to be really strong to be weak — at least that’s what my mom had told me.

  “You think so?”

  “Definitely.”

  The organ played the first notes, and I knew from rehearsal last night that this was where we were supposed to stand at the doorway for everyone to gasp at how pretty she was.

  “Ready to get married?” I asked her, holding out my arm.

  She slipped hers into mine, nodding. “You better believe it.”

  We walked over to the door and paused there long enough for cameras to flash and everyone to get a good look of the dress or whatever. Then the organ started playing the song and I started walking down the aisle, leading my mom down toward my dad who was grinning at us with the biggest, goofiest grin, even while bouncing Everly on his shoulder.

  Yep, he was crying.

  Once she got to the altar, I stepped off to the side and Mom took Dad’s only free hand. Then with her free hand, she reached up and wiped at some of his tears, laughing and then wiping away her own.

  Grandpa started talking about love and commitment and the test of time. He talked about hurdles and obstacles overcome. And he talked about forgiveness, acceptance. I didn’t know what it was all about, but everyone in the church seemed to be wiping their eyes, blowing their noses, or both. I could barely follow it cause it was kind of boring to be honest. I was just standing off to the side making silly faces at Everly to keep her distracted and happy.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” said Grandpa. “You may now kiss… my daughter,” he groaned, getting a chuc
kle from the congregation. Dad grinned at Mom and then handed Everly over to me.

  “You hang onto her for a second, okay? I gotta make this first kiss count,” he said, winking at me. I nodded, used to his goofiness by now.

  Then he turned to Mom, grabbed her, and dipped her while he kissed her like they were in one of Mom’s cheesy Hallmark movies. Half the church cheered for them, and Grandpa cleared his throat before Dad set Mom back on her feet again.

  They walked out of the church holding hands, with everyone cheering for them and throwing flower petals at them. And then we all moved over to the congregation hall for the dinner. I found Aunt Kaitlyn in the crowd and waved at her, hefting Everly on my hip before I walked over to her.

  “Hi Auntie Kait,” I said.

  She looked kind of… I wasn’t sure. Sleepy? She turned to look at me and blinked, frowning. “Oh, hey Cal. Are you having fun?” she asked, her voice quiet. She sounded weird. Maybe she was sick?

  “I guess,” I said with a shrug. It wasn’t like anything had happened at all. From what Mom told me, the fun happened after dinner when people were dancing and stuff.

  “Are you feeling okay?” I asked, noticing she was looking pale. It was weird, because Aunt Kait always looked perfect, and she didn’t look good at all.

  “Huh? Oh… Uh… Yeah. I’m just… I’ve got a lot on my mind right now,” she said, smiling at me. But it wasn’t a very good smile. It wasn’t convincing.

  “Cause of Mom and Dad?” I knew she didn’t like Dad a whole lot. Even after my grandparents seemed to get over disliking him, Aunt Kait still thought my mom was making a mistake getting married to him. Mom mentioned that she was worried Kait would object during the ceremony, but apparently, she asked Grandpa to talk to her to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

  Guess it worked.

  “What? Why… Oh, no. It’s… It’s just grown-up stuff. Don’t worry kid. I’m fine,” she said, giving me another smile as she ruffled my hair. I nodded, and walked away, smoothing my hair back down, but I didn’t really believe her. Something was wrong, and I knew I shouldn’t bother my mom with it on her wedding day, but I also knew she’d want to know that something was up with Aunt Kait.