A girl.
Holy shit, it’s a girl.
I’d better get a gun.
As Avery giggles and raves about the appointment to Lucy, I try to concentrate on driving. It isn’t working, though. My mind is flooded with thoughts of her—my daughter and who she will be. Will she like hockey? Or be a princess? Or both? She looks like a good mix of both of us, and I still can’t believe what I saw. What I felt. When the probe revealed my daughter, it took everything for me to find my next breath. It was love at first sight. Just like it was when I saw Avery for the first time and that scares me. If she’s got me this wrapped up and she isn’t even here yet, no telling what will go down when she gets here. Man, I just want to meet her because I love her already.
With my whole heart.
“I know! They can be best friends.”
I smile as I pull on to the road that leads to the Loveless Cafe where we are meeting Avery’s parents.
“I know. He is freaking out, I think. He hasn’t said much.”
“I’m fine. I’m excited,” I say and she flashes me a grin as Lucy and my mom scream on the other end. Apparently, everyone was hoping for a girl.
So was I.
“Cool, yeah, okay. I’ll call you back later. We are almost there. Thanks, I will. Okay, bye.”
Hanging up the phone, she lays it in her lap and she’s just beaming. I’m so thankful too, because for a second there, I was worried. She scared the shit out of me and I didn’t expect that, but that’s how it is with her anxiety. It can come at any moment. But thankfully, I knew right away that something was wrong. Being around her almost all the time now, I’m learning the signs and I’ve figured out how to help. It makes me feel good that I can help her, that I can calm her down because I hate seeing her like that. But it’s fine. I’ve got her, and together, we can beat this.
“Oh my God, are you excited?”
I lace my fingers with hers when she grabs my hand, bouncing in her seat. “Yeah, baby, I am.”
“A little girl. Eek! So cool.”
“For sure,” I agree, squeezing her hands as I try to push the nervousness out of my chest. I don’t want to be nervous to meet her mom and dad, but I’m still worried he could fuck with my career. I haven’t told Avery that, but it’s weighing heavily on me and I really don’t even want to go to dinner.
But I will.
Grinning over at her because I feel her watching me, I say, “So, no Gretzky for a girl, huh?”
She rolls her eyes. “No, but I like your idea from before about something J and A.”
“Okay, cool, so we’ll go with that.”
“Okay,” she says as I pull into the café. “Do you still like Ashlyn?”
I nod. “Yeah, didn’t you pair it with Joy?”
“I did,” she says with a grin. “I love when you listen to me.”
I scoff. “You’re crazy, but I do like Ashlyn Joy.”
She nods, saying the name a few times before grinning up at me. “Did we just name our baby girl?” she gushes and I laugh.
“If Ashlyn Joy Sinclair sounds good to you, I love it.”
“Eek! I do… I think. What if I change my mind?”
Laughing out loud, I shake my head. “Baby, we’ve got plenty of time to decide.”
She nods as she scrolls through her phone. “You’re right. Okay, let’s go in.”
Leaning over, she kisses my cheek. But before pulling away, she eyes me. “You’re nervous to meet my parents, aren’t you?”
I swallow hard. “No.”
“Liar.”
“Just a little bit.”
“Don’t be. They’ll love you.”
“Liar,” I accuse and she laughs.
“Yeah, I don’t know what is going to happen, but at least we are doing it together, right?” she says hopefully and I nod.
“Yup, let’s go,” I say, kissing her lips before getting out and going around to get her. When we turn, a couple is coming toward us and I assume they are Avery’s parents. They are both smiling. The lady looks a lot like my wife, the same frame and long dark hair like Avery’s. The guy is Benedict Haverbrooke, a very tall man with thinning hair and bushy eyebrows. Avery has his eyes, though. But his sons favor him while Avery does her mother.
Swallowing hard, Avery squeezes my hand as Benedict breathes, “Avery.”
Her mom’s eyes fill with tears as she holds out her arms. “Look at your little belly.”
Avery lets go of me, going into her mother’s arms. I suck in a breath as she kisses Avery’s cheeks, pressing her hand on my daughter’s home. Benedict presses his lips to Avery’s forehead before looking her over. “You look good.”
“I am,” she answers. “I’m really good.”
Her mom takes hold of her, clutching her by her arms. “Before anything else happens, I need to apologize for that phone call. I was shocked, and I was wrong for what I said. I’m so sorry.”
Avery’s eyes cloud with tears as she stares into her mother’s eyes. “We both are,” her dad adds. “We wanted to do this in person.”
Avery doesn’t say anything for a moment, but I can see the relief, the joy on her face as she nods. “Thank you.”
Looking over at me, Benedict smiles. “And this is Jace Sinclair, my new son-in-law?”
Avery turns to me, a smile on her face as I hold my hand out, taking Benedict’s. “Yes, sir. Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” he says sincerely, shaking my hand hard. “Hate that it has taken so long.”
“Agreed.”
Letting go of my hand, he looks back at Avery and smiles. “She’s in one piece.”
I grin as I nod. “She is.”
“This is her mother, my wife, Thea.” Avery’s mom comes to me, her eyes scrutinizing me as she glares. Swallowing loudly, I hold out my hand, taking hers as I flash her a grin. Usually, my grin works on women, but apparently, not this one.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
My mouth quirks. “Good things, I hope?”
Her eyes narrow. “My son, Avery’s twin, used to play with you.”
“He did, good player.”
“He is. He’s going into the draft this year, too.”
I nod. “Yeah, I heard they are saying he’ll be top three.”
“Or first,” she says but I grin.
“No disrespect, but that’s my spot,” I say with a wink, but she still doesn’t smile. Thinking fast, I grin as Avery comes into my side, and I say, “Gotta go big so I can take care of my wife and daughter.”
“It’s a girl?” Thea gushes and Benedict’s face breaks into a huge smile.
“Yeah, we are so excited,” Avery says, holding me tight.
“How sweet. Oh, all the things we can buy,” Thea says, pulling Avery from me and into her side. Avery looks back at me, but I shake my head, smiling as her mother gushes over her. She needs this and they are trying, I feel. The moment I think they aren’t, though, we are out.
“So a girl, huh? They’re hard,” Benedict says and I look over at him, matching his stride as we follow behind our wives. “I could never click with Avery the way I should have. It was easy with the boys, but with her, it was a challenge.”
I don’t answer because I don’t agree. My mom was great with all of us and so was my dad until he turned into a cheating bastard. I plan to be the same with my child, but I nod to keep my composure with my new in-laws. I trust them as far as I can throw them, and by the size of Benedict, he won’t go far.
“I still love her, a lot.”
I nod. “I do too.”
“I’m sure you do, but you’ll see. The love between a father and his daughter is something very special.”
“I look forward to that relationship.”
Because I know I’ll do a hundred times better than he did.
But what do I know because, during dinner, they are actually very sweet to Avery and even me. I still don’t like them and I’m sure they don’t like me, but we are all civil. I can tell Avery is eating it up too. As much as she didn’t want to get her hopes up, I know she has. I just hope they don’t let her down. As dessert is served, Avery leans into me, grinning, and I smile down at her.
“Good, huh?” I say, feeding her a bite of pumpkin pie.
She takes the bite and nods. “Not like your mom’s.”
“Nothing is like my mom’s,” I remind her as I look up to see her parents watching us. They both look pained, as if they were hoping I was a dirtbag or something.
Clearing her throat, Thea says, “Avery, honey, why don’t we go look in the gift shop?”
Avery looks at her, confused. “Why?”
“I want to peek and I wanted to get some stuff for the road.”
Or she wants to leave so that Benedict can talk to me.
Avery knows this too because she looks at me and I shrug. “It’s fine.”
She takes in a breath and shakes her head before getting out of the booth and walking with her mom toward the gift shop. Looking over at Benedict, I take a long pull of my tea and smile.
“I’m ready.”
He smiles. “Yeah?”
“Yup, hit me with what you got.”
Benedict nods as he laughs. “I guess that means there will be no chance of me talking you into letting her go, then? Letting her come home and relieving you of all your duties to her?”
I scoff. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.”
“It’s a big responsibility, especially for a rookie player. You sure you want that?”
“I’m never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“She isn’t well, mentally. She struggles.”
“I know and I’ve got her.”
“It’s a lot for a nineteen-year-old boy.”
“Man,” I correct with a grin. “I’m almost twenty. And I don’t care how much work it is, because there is no me without that girl right there,” I say, pointing to where Avery is looking at silver spoons. “I get it. You don’t like me, don’t trust me. But I can promise you, that girl has never been happier. And she will continue to be happy as long as I’m there loving her.”
He nods slowly, bringing his gaze from Avery to me. “Very sure of yourself.”
“Damn right, and I’m sure that she and I will work. Trust and believe that.”
Sucking on his teeth, he swallows hard and then pins me with a look. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
“No, sir, ’cause I would do the same for my daughter who got knocked up by some rookie,” I say with a grin and he smiles. “I respect you, Mr. Haverbrooke, I do. But I love that girl, and I’m not letting her go.”
He eyes me. “It’s not easy to love her—”
“It is for me.”
“It is for me too,” he says slowly. “But I messed up somewhere. I put her brothers before her, and she holds a certain kind of animosity toward me for that. Not that I don’t deserve it.”
“You do.”
He nods sadly. “Yeah. I know you think I don’t like you, and it isn’t that. It’s that I don’t think anyone is good enough for her. I fully expected to walk into a shitshow, but you’re different.”
“Thank you,” I say, my eyes locked in his gaze. “I love her. All of her.”
“So you know the whole deal, her past?”
“Yes, sir, everything.”
“It doesn’t scare you?”
“Not even a little bit.”
He nods. “Scares the shit out of me. Want to know why?”
“Sure.”
“Because I’m pretty sure I could have prevented it, and I didn’t.”
The remorse, the pain is apparent on his face, and I feel for the guy. I don’t like that he hurt Avery, wasn’t there for her. But he regrets that and hopefully he’ll make it better. Leaning back, I nod. “I really think you should give her a chance to tell you the whole story.”
His face twists in confusion as he holds my gaze. “The whole story?”
“Yeah, the whole thing, because I’m sure it’s more than what you know. And I feel you need to know.”
Before he can say anything else, Avery slides in beside me and shoots me a grin before glancing at her dad. Looking back at me, she asks, “He try to talk you into leaving?”
I laugh as I nod. “Yeah, but it’s cool. I would do it for my daughter too.”
She smiles. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But don’t worry, I told him no.” I add in a wink and she feigns relief.
“Oh, thank God!” she gasps before leaning into me, her hand pressed to her forehead. “I was nervous for a second there,” she jokes and I laugh.
“Sure, you were.”
“Eh, maybe not. I would have chased you down.”
“I wouldn’t get far,” I say with another wink, and when I glance at her parents, they are smiling too.
“He’s great, really,” Avery says and I kiss her temple as her mom nods.
“We are seeing that,” her dad admits.
“Yeah, maybe I was wrong,” Thea says.
Looking up at me, Avery widens her eyes as she hooks a thumb at her mother. “My mom just admitted she might be wrong for thinking you’re a rookie punk.”
My eyes widen too, faking hurt and shock as I look over at my mother-in-law. “You called me a rookie punk?”
“I did.”
“Eh, now I gotta keep proving her wrong.”
That pleases her parents, and when I look at my wife, her face is bright and happy.
I feel good about this.
I feel good about them.
And maybe, just maybe, this will work out.