“For real. You need to leave,” I say sternly.
She shakes her head. “Can I please have a second?”
“One,” I count like the childish dude I can be when I want. “Leave. You aren’t welcome here. If you want to see her, I’ll see you in court.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t,” she says, meeting my gaze. “I look at her, and I feel absolutely nothing.”
My stomach clenches. “What?”
“I had this monster plan of coming back, getting you back, and playing family, but I can’t do it,” she says, shaking her head. “I can’t. I don’t want to be a mother, and I sure as hell don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t want me.”
I blink. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
There is no remorse in her expression. “I never wanted kids. Hell, at one time, you didn’t want them either.”
“Because I didn’t want to put my kid through what I went through. But when it happened, I stepped up, and I became a dad, ultimately falling in love with not only my daughter but with being a father. I would never do what you have done to her, but somehow you are doing it twice. Thankfully, she’s young and won’t remember a lick of this.”
She nods, her eyes on Celeste again. “Marc called this morning and wants to work it out with me. But before I agreed, I wanted to see her. I wanted to see you. And like I thought, I don’t want this.”
“Yay?” I say sarcastically. “What the fuck? Get out.”
She looks back at me. “I’m going to go to my lawyer’s office and sign over my rights. Marc doesn’t want to deal with a baby, and he suspects you won’t be one of those easygoing dads who goes along with whatever.”
“I’m not. My kid is everything to me.”
“Exactly, and since I don’t want kids either, it’s fine. I’m good.”
I can’t seem to process what she is saying. Again, the pain of her rejection of my daughter sears through me like a really bad case of heartburn. How could she not want her? I don’t care if she doesn’t want me, but Celeste, she’s an angel.
“She’s in good hands and will be loved right. Way better than I could ever do.” Lilly reaches out, about to run her finger along Celeste’s arm, but Celeste tucks her arm into the crook between her body and my armpit. She looks at me, confused, before looking back at Lilly. I’m speechless as Lilly’s eyes meet mine once more.
“Is it serious with her? The girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“And she’s good to Celeste?”
“Loves her like she’s hers.”
She nods. “Good. That’s really good. Have a good life.”
And just like she did before, she walks out without a backward glance. I stand in my living room, my daughter resting her face on my chest, almost in the exact position last time Lilly left us like this. Only, last time, I was sad, not only for my daughter but for myself. That’s not the case anymore. Celeste doesn’t need Lilly; she has me. She has Jaylin.
Lilly will never be in our lives again.
But Jaylin always will.
When we walk into Aviva’s room, Celeste is holding the new baby balloons while I hold the big vase of flowers I got Aviva. In my back pocket is a Snickers for Nico, but of course, I don’t even see Aviva, Nico, or the new baby. My eyes go right to Jaylin. She stands by the window, typing something on her phone, looking every bit the successful, gorgeous woman she is. She has her hair pulled up in a high bun, a shirt that reads “New Aunt,” and jeans. I can tell she hasn’t slept a wink, but I find her irresistible. She looks up from her phone as Celeste squeals at the sight of Jaylin.
“There’s my girl!” she gushes as she comes over, and Celeste opens and closes her palm for Jaylin. I grab the strings of the balloons before they float away. I grin as Celeste reaches up for her, and my grin grows when Jaylin leans in to kiss me softly on my lips. Before she reaches for Celeste, she says, “Hey there.”
“Hey,” I say, kissing the side of her mouth. Celeste wastes no time and openmouth kisses Jaylin’s cheek, much to her pleasure. She laughs loudly as she cuddles her hard.
“Look at you, looking all adorably perfect! Wanna meet your future boyfriend?”
I groan. “It’s a boy! Damn it, he’s gonna be like Nico, and I’ll be the one trying to hide Celeste away like he does Callie.”
From the chair in the corner, Callie laughs. “Yeah, even in college, he’s trying to keep the boys away.”
Nico points to her. “I’m succeeding.”
“For now,” she teases, and the room erupts in laughter. Well, everyone but Nico.
I walk over to check out the little dude. He’s all pink and wrapped tightly in a blanket. I glance at Celeste, who is watching him intently. “Aw, those Merryweather genes are strong.”
Aviva nods. “So strong. I do all the work, and he comes out looking just like him.”
Nico kisses her temple as he gazes down at his son. I’ve never seen Nico so happy in my life. I don’t even think he’ll want the Snickers in my pocket. “What did you guys name him?”
Aviva beams up at me. “Nicolas Vance Merryweather, but he’ll go by Vance.”
“That’s a mouthful,” I say, and then I instantly regret it. “Oh, wait. Dart isn’t here.”
“Unfortunately,” Callie jokes, and Nico glares.
“I will send you back to Nashville.”
More laughter ensues as all the attention goes back to Vance. He sure is cute. “I miss when Celeste was that small.”
“She was a darling baby,” Aviva says, and then proving he is nothing like Celeste, Vance lets out one hell of wail. “Oh, he’s hungry.”
Vance’s wail scares Celeste, and she covers her ears as she cries out, her face turning red and the tears quickly starting to fall. Nico’s eyes widen and I can tell he’s about to freak out, so I hand him the Snickers. “I’m gonna get her out of here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jaylin volunteers as she follows me out.
“Thanks! Leave me with the new parents and the screaming kid!” Callie yells at us, but we ignore her, shutting the door behind us. Jaylin holds Celeste close to her chest as she heads down the hall. I’m unsure where we’re going, but I follow her into a bridge made of glass. You can see all of downtown, and I bet it is a spectacular view at night. Not that I’m thinking much about that; I’m wondering if Jaylin is about to break up with me. Yeah, we were good in the room, but was that all for show? Shit, I hate the way my mind works.
Jaylin stops midway as soon as Celeste has calmed down, and she turns to me. Her eyes meet mine, and without much warning, or maybe I didn’t realize we were doing this right now, she says, “I’m sorry I just left last night.”
My heart kicks into gear. Okay. Here we go. I’m either walking out of here without her or with her. Really want the latter. “It was a lot to take in with Lilly just showing up like that. We never really discussed what we’d do if she came back.”
“Exactly,” she says, pointing to me. “I think we just assumed she was gone and we were going to keep being us. Don’t get me wrong, I love us, but she freaked me out.”