Taking Chances (Taking Chances #1)(136)
Turning, I saw Bree holding Liam and reached my arms out. “Please Bree.” I needed to hold my son, I needed that comfort of having him in my arms. Bree gladly handed him over and was the last one to walk into the back yard.
“Babe, do you want me to go out too?”
I grabbed Brandon’s hand and gripped tight, “Don’t you dare leave me right now.” Looking directly into his eyes, I shook my head, “I can’t believe you would do this without telling me.”
“Harper I – even with everything that’s happened, I know you wish you had a different relationship with him. You were devastated when there was no response from him again last summer, I couldn’t just stop trying to reach him yet. There was never any word from him and I sent him an open ended ticket over a month ago, with the last letter I was going to send him, and I told him that. He called me a week and a half ago, we talked for a bit and he decided he would come.” He cupped one cheek and brought his other arm around both Liam and me, “I know this is hard for you, and Robert is a great Dad Harper, but you need Sir in your life too. Please understand why I continued to try to reach him.”
Oh Brandon. Of course I understood. I just wish he would have given me some warning. I pressed my lips to his for a few seconds and gave him a small smile, “Thank you. You’re right, thank you so much.” Brandon’s relief was palpable and it helped ease the tension in the room. Turning to Sir, I gestured behind him, “You’re more than welcome to sit, Sir. We can talk.”
He offered a smile much like the one I had just given Brandon and sat down in the chair closest to him. Brandon and I sat on the couch facing him, and I kept a tight grip on Liam as I tried to figure out what would make Sir want to be in my life suddenly.
“He sure looks a lot like you.” Sir said after a few awkward minutes of silence. His gaze was fixed on Liam and…was that a smile?
Clearing my throat, I instinctively hugged Liam closer. I’d never seen baby photos of myself, but my son definitely didn’t look anything like his father. Other than his eyes, there wasn’t a trace of Chase in him. And even those were different, Chase’s had been a darker electric blue, Liam’s were such a pale blue that people did a double take and then were completely mesmerized by them. They looked like a Siberian husky’s eyes.
“I know I’m late, but congratulations on the wedding and him…it’s Liam, right?”
I nodded, “Liam Chase Taylor.”
“Brandon told me the significance of his name, that’s a great way of honoring their lives.”
“And what else did Brandon tell you?” I asked through clenched teeth. This man wanted nothing to do with my life, and he thinks he can comment on why we named him Liam Chase?
“Sweetheart.” Brandon said softly.
“No, I want to know what all you’ve told him.” Looking back over to Sir, I continued, “And I want to know why you’re here. This is the longest conversation we’ve had in years, I haven’t heard back from you in over a year and a half, then all of a sudden you’re in our home!”
“I’ve told him everything,” Brandon pulled me closer to his side, “Chase, my fighting, Liam’s birth, our wedding, the gym…other than what’s happened in the last month, he knows everything.”
“Well then, let me fill you in.” I seethed, I couldn’t seem to control my anger right now, “Brandon and I are having another baby, Brandon fought again, and I disappeared for a day.”
Sir’s eyes dropped to my stomach and Brandon looked like he was regretting not telling me about this. As he should.
“Oh!” I started again, “And Jason Carter came back into our lives and told me how you helped him come here so he could be with me. Thanks for that by the way, it’s nice to know you two tried to plan out my life without asking me first.”
Sir shook his head, his eyes narrowing slightly, “That was never my intention, from my conversations with Sergeant Carter, it was implied that you shared his feelings, I was simply helping.”
“Helping? Nice.” I had barely found out that Carter had been ranked Sergeant when his service ended. How did Sir know that? Were they still in touch?
“Harper,” Brandon whispered close to my ear, “baby try to calm down. He wants to talk to you.”
“Then talk.” I directed at Sir.
Brandon sighed and ran a hand over his face, keeping it there for a moment. Sir shifted forward in his chair just watching me until my anger slowly started to subside.
“I know I wasn’t the best father, and I know there are a lot of things I should have handled differently since you moved here.” He stopped to clear his throat, “But I always wanted you Harper, you were the only thing that kept me going when Janet di – when she died.”
His eyes watering finished off my almost non-existent anger. My chest ached watching the strongest – emotionally – man I knew slowly start to break down.
“If it weren’t for you, I don’t know how I would have continued my life, but I didn’t know what to do with a baby, especially a girl. Her family hadn’t approved of our relationship, and I’d run away from mine when I joined the military. Your life wasn’t ideal for you, I’m sure, but that’s all I thought I could do for you. You being there was what made me get up every day, and I know I wasn’t around much, but you look and act so much like your mother it killed me to be around you. Not that that constitutes as an excuse, nothing excuses my behavior. It wasn’t your fault you reminded me of her, and I should have embraced it rather than pull away from you.