18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Davina

Tripp kissed me. He kissed me on the lips in front of his grown children. It took a minute for the shock to wear off and my discomfort to show in front of Kip and Star. It was the first time I'd been around them when their father showed me any kind of affection and then he simply left me there to deal with the fallout.

"Stop staring at us like we're going to rip your head off," Star insisted.

"Is Coral awake?" Kip asked. I turned my attention away from his sister and back to him as I shook my head. For some reason, it was easier to interact with Kip.

Maybe it was easier with Kip because I was used to dealing with all the club brothers, or perhaps because I knew him intimately. Actually, thinking about the one incident made it awkward again. I wouldn't tell Tripp, because he wouldn't appreciate hearing the details, even if they might make him feel better. I honestly never thought Kip was a strong contender as Coral's father because he never even finished with me. The poor man, he felt guiltier than hell over what he was doing and why. He essentially used me to make one woman jealous and to piss off the other one. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes and hated that he put me in the middle of his shit, but in the end, he couldn't follow through anyway. Not that anyone but the two of us knew that.

"She went down about fifteen minutes ago, but y'all can still go in and sit with her. The way the meds have her all over the place, she might wake up again in a few minutes or she could be out for a couple hours." I lifted my shoulders in a semblance of a shrug before blowing out a long breath and sagging a bit.

To my complete surprise, Star came and wrapped her arms around me. "Come on, let's get in there in case she wakes up. We can have a quiet conversation while she sleeps and hopefully put your mind at ease about a few things."

"Okay." My muttered acquiescence was ignored as we all filed into my daughter's private room. We all moved to the far corner of the room where there was a small couch, chair, and table. I fidgeted nervously, picking at my nails as the siblings got comfortable. Kip, who took the seat beside me, reached over and stilled my hands by putting his on top of mine.

"There is no need to be this nervous around us."

"How can you say that? I had a child with your father and didn't tell anyone."

"You didn't know he was the father," Kip mentioned.

"It could have been you, too," I stupidly reminded him. He smirked at me because we both knew it was the least probable scenario and why. It was Star who cleared her throat to get my attention that caught me off guard since Kip's only response was that dumb half-assed grin.

Star rolled her eyes at her brother. "I'm not even going to discuss how gross it is to think of you and Dad dipping your dicks in the same pussy ponds."

"Pussy ponds?" Kip couldn't even repeat the words without bursting out into laughter which made me giggle as well. Ice thoroughly broken, Star winked at me and then leaned forward to place her hand on top of mine and her brother's.

"First, you need to know we all understand. Heaven forbid, that beautiful girl could have had Breakneck as a father, and I don't blame you one bit for running rather than finding out the truth." Once again, we all had a bit of a laugh at that. Breakneck wasn't a bad guy. He just wasn't someone any of us could see pinned down as a father.

"I don't know. The way he's been with my nanny, I think Breakneck might surprise us all."

"Maybe if he could stop fucking other women behind her back." Star sassed at her brother. It looked as though Kip was about to argue that Breakneck was not doing that shit, but Star cut him off. "The women at the club talk too much. Don't try to tell me that I'm wrong. He better get his shit together before that sweet girl hauls ass for good."

Star turned her attention back to me after setting Kip straight. "We're all here now. The truth is out there and the main focus for all of us is to make sure we do everything we can to give Coral her best fighting chance."

I nodded at that and swiped away the tears that fell in response. Even though I had come to grips with my daughter's diagnosis, it was still a gut-punch response to think about her having to fight for her life at such a young age.

"Davina," Star called out pulling me back to the conversation.

"Yeah? Sorry, it's just…" I freed my hand from theirs to rub over my stomach. "Most of the time, I'm kind of numb to what's going on, but then I get this kick to the belly response when someone else brings me back to reality. I hate this. I hate that my baby is fighting so hard to stay with us and there is literally nothing I can do to help her."

"You're here for her. That's something."

"That's nothing. It's what I would be doing anyway. God!" I moaned. "If I could give her my life, my blood, my soul, whatever could keep her alive, healthy, and happy, I would."

Kip slid his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side where I promptly wet the sleeve of his shirt with tears I didn't even realize were falling.

"You're a good mother, Davina. You're here with her, giving her everything you can. Plus, you went looking for her father, even though it had to be a scary thing for you to do. Neither of you are alone anymore. You have family beside you now. We're family." Star insisted. "That's the gist of what I wanted to tell you, or I guess make you understand." She smirked at me then. "Besides, it appears our dad is smitten with you just as much as he is with our little sister."

I shook my head, as if to deny the chemistry that I shared with their dad. We hadn't really discussed things between us yet. He promised to be there for my daughter and me and told me he'd basically been infatuated with me before but afraid to start something real. There was the kiss too, but I wasn't sure what to make of that.

"I don't think…"

"Do you know that I've never seen my dad kiss another woman if he knew I was around?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he kissed you on the mouth in front of us, and the last woman he consciously did that with was our mother."

"That can't be right," I argued. "You were gone a long time, too."

"Oh, but it is true." Star turned to her brother then. "Have you seen it happen? You would know better than me, since you've been around the whole time I was gone."

"Nope. I've never seen him look at another woman the way he did our mother either, until today."

"Please, stop. I think you're reading things into the situation that aren't there. He's concerned because our daughter is sick, and we just recently had a conversation about everything Coral and I have been through."

"About that," Kip stated in a no-nonsense way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "I overheard a nurse talking out there about how you had your daughter taken away for abuse and how it delayed her getting the care she needed."

"I swear to you, I never abused my baby girl. It was all a misunderstanding because the cancer caused bruises that no one could explain. Since I'm a poor, single mother they decided that I must have…"

"Stop!" Star hissed at me. "We know." She stated emphatically. "We know you would never hurt our sister. I think what Kip was getting at is that we want you to explain to us why that happened, but more importantly who the hell accused you."

I tipped my head to the side in curiosity when I realized that their passionate responses aligned with the way their own father had acted when I told him my story. "I already told Tripp that nothing can happen right now. He's agreed to that."

"Why the hell would Dad agree to not seeking retribution on whoever was responsible for delaying medical care for his sick daughter?"

"He agreed because the first person they will point a finger at, if something were to happen to any of them, would be me."

We all sat quietly as they absorbed that information. "Fair point," Star finally conceded. "If I know my dad, though, he'll treat it as a dish best served cold."

Kip nodded his head. "Give it a little time and then go after the assholes. That's a good plan. We'll focus on getting Coral better first. She needs to be our priority right now, anyway."

I offered them both a small smile. "Thank you for understanding and for being here."

"It's what family does."

"Do you think I could bring Knox in to see Coral? She's his aunt, after all."

I couldn't contain the giggle that escaped me. "That's so weird. My daughter's nephew is older than her."

"Yeah, but cool at the same time," Kip agreed.

"I'll have to check with her doctor. Children carry so many germs that we're not even really aware of sometimes, especially if they're in daycare."

"Knox has a nanny and doesn't go out a lot, but I totally get erring on the side of caution. They can always meet later, when she's feeling better."

I nodded my head again and closed my eyes to imagine a day where my daughter got to meet her nephew who was so close in age to her. They could grow up as friends. At least I hoped for that outcome. I couldn't imagine a future where my baby girl didn't get to grow up like everyone else.