Love Survives (Love's Suicide #2)(97)

My mom acted extremely excited, getting a reaction out of our sweet girl. She giggled and came running back to me, letting me scoop her back up. I brought her over to Kat. “What do you think? Is she not the cutest kid ever?”

“She is. You did good.”

I started spinning my little beauty queen around in circles. “B, let’s go out and learn how to swim.”

When I pulled out her float and began blowing it up, B seemed memorized by its growth. I held onto the nozzle and reached it over for her to try. “You blow on it.” She tried, getting more slobber than air. The slobber didn’t bother me. That DNA was mine. I placed the float attachment back in my mouth without wiping it. Even though it didn’t make me cringe, I saw Kat out of the corner of my eye scrunching up her face. Apparently she didn’t have a stomach of steel. At any rate, I wasn’t ashamed. I’d share anything with my little girl, and I wanted her to know it.

I pulled off my glasses and her flip-flops before I hopped into the pool. Then I held out my arms for her. She jumped right to me, letting out a scream when her body hit the cool water. She trusted me, and it was something I’d cherish for the rest of my days.

In less than a week’s time I had everything I wanted. It was so overwhelming at times that I had to keep reminding myself that it was real.

Enjoying my time in the pool with Brooklyn while my brother watched, only made it all more entertaining. Though I felt bad about him being sterile, a part of me wanted to rub it in his face at the family I now had, after he’d stopped at nothing to prevent it. Plus, I think a part of me was still worried he could have been the father. Doctors have been known to make mistakes. Pinpointing the exact time of conception had to be difficult. Now I knew for sure, without a single doubt, she was mine. No matter what B would always be my flesh and blood. Perhaps Branch saw it that way too. If he were to have a child the same chromosomes would have been shared.

My daughter laughing captured my train of thought. “Again, Daddy. Again.” I was spinning her around in the float, getting a kick out of how she acted when I stopped and watched her little head trying to catch up.

“How about you jump in? Do you want to do that?”

She nodded. I immediately lifted her out of the ring and stood her on the edge of the pool wall. “Okay, don’t jump until I say go, B. You got it?”

She shimmied her little body from side to side. “Otay.”

I held out my arms, appreciating the fact that she trusted me so completely. “One-two-three-go!” Like a bird taking flight for the first time, I watched my little girl jumping into my arms. I caught her easily, pulling her against my body. “You did so good. Daddy’s so proud of your bravery.”

She obviously had no clue what I was talking about, albeit I was too proud to explain it to her. I think she knew I was ecstatic.

After the first time, little bug jumped into my arms nearly thirty more times. We worked on her kicking until her short legs became too tired to keep going. While standing in the shallow end of my parent’s in ground pool, her still in my arms, she fell asleep. I kept her there, close to my heart, while talking to my brother and Melissa about their life.

They didn’t have anything that interested me. Branch worked in an office building. He had to wear suits every day. The thought made me cringe. Sure, my fatigues were uncomfortable in the summer, but at least I didn’t look like a penguin.

I was pretty sad when Kat insisted I take B inside for a nap. I could have held her all day even though I realized she was pretty pruned up from being in the water so long.

Since I was tired out myself, I decided to just lay down with my daughter. Kat helped get her in a dry diaper while I changed my own clothes. Then she gave me a kiss before I climbed in bed next to B. She stirred, looking around and then curling up against my chest. Kat gave me a sarcastic head shake. “She has you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Apparently it runs in the family. She must learn those skills from her mother,” I teased.

Her smile was contagious. “Maybe.”

“You could always come join us,” I asked in a whisper.

“I’m going to help your mom with dinner. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

Before she could leave the room I called her name, patting B on the backside so she’d settle back to sleep. “Kat, wait. How are you doing – with all this Branch and Melissa business?”

She held onto the door when she answered. “It’s weird. I guess I need to get used to it. They probably feel the same way about us.”

“I’m sure.”

“I like seeing you so happy, Brooks. I still keep thinking about when I assumed you were dead. Sometimes this still feels like it’s a dream.”

I kept my arms around my daughter, kissing her on the head before I replied. “I’d come back from the dead for this, Kat. Nothing could keep me away.”

I saw tears in her eyes as she grinned. “That’s why I love you so much, Brooks. I know you would.”

When she left the room I took a few minutes to think about how far we’d come. The little girl in my arms was worth every bad day because it was all in order to lead me back to this. If I was dead, then this was my heaven. Only a marriage certificate with her mother could make this any sweeter.





Chapter 48