PROLOGUE
Hank
A LOUD BANGING on my apartment door jolted me awake. The hot morning sun seared into my tired hungover eyes. I glanced over at my alarm clock, my eyes slowly came into focus on the red numbers. It was fucking seven in the morning. “Who the hell?” I groaned, rolling out of bed. I looked over at the left side of the bed expecting to see Becca, I think that was her name, lying next to me. Much to my relief, the sheets were empty. Blondie saved me the trouble of having to kick her ass out.
I flipped the blankets back, swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and rested my feet on the soft beige carpeting. I ran my hands along my face and through my hair before standing up and walking over to my dresser. Slipping a pair of boxers and a t-shirt on then walked through my apartment to the front door. The pounding in my head grew stronger with every step I took, reminding me why I should have stopped after that fifth shot of tequila.
As I opened the door, I was met by a tight lipped, wrinkled faced woman. Her salt and pepper black hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she was conservatively dressed in a dark gray pant suit. She reminded me of the nuns at my elementary school when I was a kid. That stern face was not the image I was expecting to see at my door.
“Are you Hank Ross?” she asked in a stern rasp of a voice.
“I’m Hank Ross, whose asking?” I replied feeling rather annoyed that this up tight bitch had disturbed my sleep.
“I’m Colleen Bateman, I’m with social services. Do you remember a Chloe Jensen?”
Chloe Jensen, now that was a name I hadn’t heard in almost a year. “Yeah, I remember her, why?” Last time I saw Chloe she was picking her clothes up off my bedroom floor.
Chloe was one of the dispatch girls down at the precinct. She had a huge crush on me. After a few too many beers, and a dose of Oxy, I threw her a bone and took her home with me. A month after our night together, she unexpectedly quit her job, and I never saw her again.
“Miss Jensen gave birth to a baby girl two days ago, that she claims is yours. Seems Miss Jensen left the hospital in the middle of the night, leaving this letter behind indicating you as the father.” She handed me the letter, and I stared down at the crisp, white piece of paper, the black lettering blurred all together. Panic ripped through me as the memories of that night came flooding back. Chloe had mentioned that she was on the pill, but I bagged it anyway . . . just to be safe. Chicks will say they are on the pill just so they can try and trap you with a baby. The next morning, I found the broken condom on the floor. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I should have triple bagged it.
“Mr. Ross, I know this is a lot to process, but we need you to come down to the hospital and submit to a DNA test so we can verify that you are indeed Colby’s father.”
Colby, her name was Colby. I had a daughter. The words played over and over in my head. My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and my head felt like it was about to explode. I had a fucking kid. How the hell was I going to take care of a kid. I can barely take care of myself. I’ve always been so careful. It felt like I was being punished. I could tell this woman to fuck off, that there was no way this kid is mine, but something inside me needed to know.
“Fine. Let me get dressed, and I will meet you at the hospital.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, I found myself sitting in a hospital room while a nurse drew my blood. The fluorescent light flickered above my head, the room was cold and sterile. The nurse gave me a small smile before she took the vials of my blood to be tested. Soon, I was going to find out if I was a father.
This all seemed like some crazy nightmare, that at any moment I was going to wake up back in my apartment. During the drive to the hospital, time seemed to stop. I had so many questions racing through my mind. Why didn’t Chloe contact me after she found out she was pregnant? Why did she run away? By the time I reached the hospital, my head was fucking spinning like an out of control car.
A few minutes later, the nurse returned to my room wheeling in a bassinet. “I thought you might want to meet your daughter. She looks like you.” She softly smiled and picked up the pink little bundle, gently placing her into my arms. The moment she made contact with my arms, I felt an instant connection to the tiny infant. She looked up at me with her little blue eyes and softly cooed at me, like she somehow knew I was her dad. I examined her face, she had little, pink, chubby cheeks, and her tiny lips formed a little O. She had my nose, my eyes, and my dark brown hair. I didn’t need a DNA test to tell me that baby was mine.
“Would you like to feed her?” the nurse asked.
“Sure,” I replied nervously.
She handed me the bottle, and I gently push the nipple into her mouth. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Colby the whole time she ate. That sweet little girl already had me completely wrapped around her finger.
Two hours later, the social worker returned with the results of the DNA test. She didn’t even have to read the results.
“We need to talk about your options. Miss Jensen has signed over her parental rights. You can choose to raise Colby or you can put her up for adoption, and I will make sure she finds a loving family to take care of her.”
The thought of another family raising my child made me sick to my stomach. Colby was my responsibility now, and I am going to raise her. I had no fucking clue how to take care of a baby, but I knew, without hesitation, I couldn’t let Colby go.
“There is nothing to discuss. Colby is my daughter, and I am going to take care of her.”
“If that is your final decision, I will have the hospital begin the discharge process and you can take your daughter home.”
I have no idea what the fuck I am doing. On the way to the hospital, I was fully prepared to sign away my rights if the test came back positive, but after holding Colby in my arms, I couldn’t imagine my world without her. I love this little girl, and I will do everything in my power to make she grows up knowing how much she means to me. She may have been an accident, but she will never feel like she was.