3. Wyla

Chapter 3

"Mommy, watch me do a butt buster," Stevie hollers from the pink princess bounce castle. I can't believe she's four today. Ugh, rip my heart out. My beautiful blonde sunshine. Four.

I'm going to cry again.

"Good job, baby," I cheer as she does her millionth butt buster.

"Wyla, oh my gosh, Wyla, you have to come with us," Waverley says, panting like she ran to me.

"What? What's going on? Is someone hurt?"

"No, phew." Winry bends over trying to catch her breath. "It's hard to run while pregnant. Ugh, you just need to come with us. "

I gesture to the insanity of kids jumping in front of me. "But Stevie's on the bounce castle. Just tell me what's going on."

"Nuh-uh, you have to come with us," Waverley demands.

"But Stevie is…"

"Hey Wyla," Matt greets us with a present in hand. "Where's the birthday girl?"

"Perfect. Matt, Stevie's in the bounce castle. Can you watch her for a few minutes? We need to steal Wyla," Waverley says.

"It's important," Winry adds.

"Uh, yeah, no problem." Matt glances at me, and all I can do is shrug before my sisters each take an arm and drag me inside.

"Wow, guys, what's going on?"

"Just hurry up," Waverley snaps.

They pull me in the house then peer out the sliding glass door.

I cross my arms and huff. "Okay, guys, what the hell is going on? Tell me right now."

My sisters glance at each other and Waverley nods for Winry to start. "So, Anna is here, and she brought her brother with her. "

"Okay, and? I told her it was okay. What's the big deal? What, is he weird or something?"

Waverley snorts. "No, but he's a super-hot blonde whose name is Jett."

My eyes go wide. It couldn't be… could it?

"Well, I'm fairly positive there is more than one person named Jett in this world. I'm sure it's a coincidence."

"Yeah, possibly." Winry shrugs. "But I mean, I don't know of any Jetts besides the one who knocked you up…but there's one way to find out for sure. Look out this way. Owen and Graham are stalling them."

I want to move and look, but I'm terrified. What if it's him? What if it's not him? It can't be him—there's no way. I mean, really, the chances that Jett just stumbled into his own daughter's birthday party nearly five years later is something that happens in books and movies.

"Oh, come look, you're killing us." Waverley pulls me in front of her so I can look out the door, and all it takes is one quick glance to confirm that I have indeed left reality. Because Stevie's dad just waltzed right into his own daughter's birthday party, and he doesn't have a single clue. Someone call Jerry Springer. He's got an announcement to make.

"Well, is it him?" Winry asks .

Is this room spinning? I think it is. "That's Stevie's dad. Oh fuck, I need to sit down."

Winry turns one of the kitchen chairs around, and I collapse into it. "You're sure?"

My head barely bobs up and down. "This doesn't make any sense… How is he here?"

"Apparently, he's Anna's brother. She's only ever called him J, and we've never told anyone Stevie's dad's name." Waverley peers back out the glass. "What do we do? Do we ask him to leave and you can call him later? Kind of feels like now isn't the right time."

Winry swats her arm. "Then tell him what? You know that party we kicked you out of? Yeah, that was your daughter's birthday."

Wav swats her back. "Don't hit me. I was trying to say—"

"Guys!" I interrupt their oncoming bickering. "What do I do? When he sees me with Stevie, he might get suspicious. I don't want to find out how he's going to react in front of an audience." Then an even more terrifying thought enters my mind. "Shit, what if he doesn't recognize me? What if he has no memory of me at all?"

Winry bends down in front of me. "Oh Wyla, he'll recognize you. "

"We don't know that, Win. It's been five years. Five!" I bury my face in my hands.

Fuck, what do I do? His face has been seared into my brain. Despite having a few drinks that night, we were nowhere close to being drunk, but that doesn't mean I had the same impact on him that he had on me.

Waverley bends down too and squeezes my hand. "Wyla, what do you want us to do? We'll do whatever you think is best for right now, but you know you have to tell him."

I take a deep breath. "I know, I know. Do you think we could get him inside so I could at least talk to him privately? Or far away from Dad, specifically." Gah, Dad's going to lose his shit.

"Yeah, I'll text Owen to bring them inside. He'll think of some excuse." Waverley pulls out her phone, thumbs flying across her screen.

"Why don't we go to the living room?" Win asks, taking my hand. She tries to force me to sit, but now that I'm up, I can't manage to sit back down.

I start to pace. Waiting for them to come in feels like an eternity. Biting at my nails, my mind starts to race. Shit, what do I say?

Waverley joins Winry on the couch, watching me dig a ditch in the carpet with all my pacing .

"Wyla, it's going to be okay," Winry says, but I can't form the words for a response.

I hear the back sliding door open and close, and my stomach bottoms out. Don't throw up, Wyla. For the love of God, don't throw up.

Owen and Graham walk in first followed by Anna and Jett… I freeze when my eyes meet his. Gah, for five years I've been downplaying how hot he was, but now, if it's even possible, he's gotten even more attractive with his honey blonde hair that has a slight curl to it, piercing blue eyes, and muscles that you just want to wrap your hands around. And I do mean every muscle. His six foot something towers over my 5'2" stature and suddenly, I feel like I'm Stevie's size.

Jett's eyes go wide for a moment, then he smiles. "Wyla?"

His voice… It may sound a little stunned, but damn, it sounds so good to hear his voice.

"Hey Jett," I somehow manage to say back. Relief partly floods me because he remembers me, but the sickening feeling is now in full swing.

Anna looks back and forth between me and Jett, but he doesn't notice because he hasn't stopped looking at me. "Wait? Do you two know each other? "

I can practically hear my sisters swallow back a response, and frankly, I don't really know how to answer that without blurting it out. I'd rather not get into everything in front of a crowd.

"Yeah, we met a few years back," Jett says, keeping his focus on me.

I nearly laugh. Yeah, we met, alright. We "met" five times that night.

I can practically see the wheels turning in Anna's head. Most of the town knew I had no clue how to find Stevie's dad. When people were nosey, I'd blow them off and say it didn't matter. I had Stevie and she was all I needed. No one—and I mean no one—knows his name other than immediate family.

Anna holds her hands in the air and lets out a nervous laugh. "Wait, wait, wait. A few years ago?" She looks back and forth between us then to Wav. When Waverley avoids her glare, she turns back to us again. She looks back and forth a few more times before finally landing on me. Her face pales. "Hold on, exactly how long ago?"

I can feel the lump forming in my throat already.

"Guys," I choke out. "Do you mind giving us a minute? "

Jett's still staring at me like he can't believe I'm standing in front of him. Man, if he only knew how I felt right about now.

Wav places a hand on my shoulder. "You sure?"

"Yeah, please. Just five minutes, and we'll be back out."

My sisters nod, and they drag their reluctant husbands with them. Anna hesitates, so I give her a pleading look to please let me handle this. After a few seconds she relents, following behind my sisters.

I shuffle on my feet, waiting for the sound of the sliding door to close. Not entirely sure how to go about this, I fidget with the rings on my fingers as I give myself a mental pep talk.

You can do this.

The sliding door closes, and Jett immediately takes a step forward. His hands land on my arms, and it feels so damn good that I nearly forget what I'm supposed to say.

"I can't believe you're here, I've thou—"

"You have a daughter," I blurt out. Smooth Wyla, smooth.

Jett pauses for a second as the words process. His hands fall off my side as he takes back that step he took forward. "I… what? "

Panic claws at my chest. Well, the only way is through at this point. "You, um, well… you have a daughter. And you, um, just showed up to her fourth birthday party."

"I… I don't…" Jett stammers, as I'm sure his brain is running a mile a minute. My ambush way of delivering the news probably wasn't the best option, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Jett, I tried to find you… really, I did. I went back to Nashville before she was born and went back to that hotel, back to that bar… I tried, I swear."

Jett doesn't miss a beat. "Maybe if you hadn't snuck out in the morning, you would have gotten my number or at least my full name."

I might deserve that one a little bit, but my defense comes out. "That's not fair, and you know it. We both agreed on the one-night stand part. You didn't want my full name or number either. Don't—"

"I did," Jett cuts me off.

"Wh-what?" I stammer. No, we agreed, right? Me leaving that room wasn't completely on me… was it?

Jett runs his hands over his face and sighs. "I did want your full name. I did want your number. Honestly, I wanted a lot more, which you would have found out had you stayed. And now, five years later, you're telling me I have a daughter? "

Tears start to pool in my eyes. "I… I…" Words have escaped me. Is this all my fault? I wanted those things from him too, but I didn't think… A tear spills down my cheek. This is all my fault.

I accepted being a single mom after Stevie was born. I wanted to find Jett but looking for him had to be put on the backburner for a bit. But this? I don't know how to process this.

"Wyla, hey, Wy." Jett lifts my chin and sighs. "I'm sorry. This is just a lot to take in." He wipes away the tear, and I struggle to not revel in that small touch. "You're sure she's mine?"

I nod slowly. "Yes, there are no other options. The only person I slept with was you."

Jett lets go of my chin and falls back in the chair. He stares down at the ground. "But we used condoms?"

"We did… except for that time in the shower."

"Fuck." Jett buries his face in his hands.

I wipe another stray tear off my cheek. I want to go sit next to him but before I can, the back door slings open and in runs the little hellion herself with Matt following behind her.

Fuck my life.

"Mommy! Mommy!" She launches herself into my arms. "There you are. Can we open presents now? "

"Sorry, Wyla. She's a persistent little thing." Matt glances at Jett, who isn't looking too hot right now. "You okay, man?"

Jett stands, ignoring Matt completely as he takes in our daughter.

"Um, Matt, this is Jett. Jett, Matt. We work together," I add. Jett continues to ignore Matt's presence as he looks from me to Stevie and back to me. "Okay, um, sweetie, we'll open your presents so soon. Have Matt take you to Wayway. She'll sneak you a cupcake."

"Yay!" Stevie squeals and wiggles out of my arms. "Come on, Matt. Let's go, let's go." She hits the ground running and races back out the door.

Matt looks at me. "Are you good?"

No, yes, fuck if I know. "Yeah, I… we'll… um…"

"We'll be out in a minute," Jett snaps, acknowledging him for the first time.

Matt turns to Jett with no regard that he's a few inches shorter and much lankier than him. "I don't believe I was talking to you." He turns back to me. "Wyla, are you good?"

"Yes, Matt. I'm good. I promise. We'll be back out in a minute." I try to give him a reassuring smile back, but I'm pretty sure it comes off more forced than I'd like.

Matt takes a small step back toward the door but holds his gaze. "Okay, holler if you need me."

"She won't," Jett snaps again, almost possessively.

"Jett," I warn. The last thing I need is for Matt to try to send my dad in here to check on me. "I'm really fine, Matt. Thank you, though."

Matt nods and gives Jett a fuck off look, but I don't even think he notices it or cares, really. I exhale when I hear the door close, and I'm back to being alone with my baby's daddy.

"He your boyfriend or something?" Jett asks, and the tension is back in his tone.

"No, we're friends. We work together," I repeat, because he clearly wasn't listening earlier.

"Right." Jett snorts a laugh.

"We are," I snap, but then hold up my hands. "That's not what we are talking about right now."

"Right, we're talking about how I have a secret daughter," he snaps back.

His hands go up to rest on the top of his head, then he sighs. I have no clue what he's feeling right now, but I imagine anger is a big one considering he thought he was going on a vacation, but suddenly found out he's now strapped with a shit ton of responsibilities.

I can't help it as tears start to fall down my face full force .

"Jett, I swear I tried to find you, I really, really did. All I knew was your first name, and the hotel said there weren't any Jetts there in the books for that weekend. I went back to the bar and sat for hours hoping you'd come in, but you never did and I… I…"

Jett steps in and places his hands gently on my shoulders for a moment then as if he can't stand to see my tears he cups my face wiping them away. "Wyla, hey, it's okay. I believe you. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this."

I stare into the blue eyes that one hundred percent match my daughters. "I'm sorry, but… Jett, she's yours. I swear, there are no other options, but if you want a paternity test, I understand." An even more terrifying thought enters my head next. "Or if you don't want anything to do with us, you can—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Wy. I'm going to tell you right now to get that fucking thought out of your head." The words may seem harsh, but there's nothing but sincerity in his tone.

I nod slowly. He takes a deep breath, his eyes holding mine as his thumbs still gently caress my cheeks. "What's her name?"

A small smile tugs at my lips. "Stevie."

I can physically see the tension leaving Jett's shoulders and he smiles. "Stevie… unique. I like it. "

I chuckle at the deja vu and try to pull myself together. "Jett, I know this is about to sound extremely bitchy, but can we please keep this quiet until we can talk more? I just want her to enjoy her party."

Jett's hands finally leave my face and slide down to my shoulders. "Okay, I won't say a word. Does Anna have your number?"

I look up at him, trying to hold back more tears. "She should, yes."

"Okay, then we're going to drop off her present and go."

"Jett, you don't have to leave…"

"I want her to enjoy her day and not have her mom's attention split in half, worrying about some guy."

His face softens as he lightly brushes his hands up and down my arms. It should feel weird having him touch me after so long but it doesn't. It almost feels like he never truly stopped, even with the time lost.

I snort. "You're not some guy, Jett, you're her dad. If you want to stay… stay."

Part of me doesn't want him to leave. But some time to actually process might be good for the both of us.

Jett cups my face again. "I promise, Wy, I won't miss any more of her birthdays, but for this one, I'm going to go back to Anna's and let you make sure she has the best day. Then I'm going to text you so you can call me with a place to meet you later, and we can talk about this more."

"Thank you," I whisper, not really sure how to respond without losing it again.

Jett swipes a stray tear from my face, and I want to melt into his touch. "Go enjoy the party. Call me when you can, okay?"

His face seems so conflicted. What's he thinking? He's angry, I'm sure. Gah, what I wouldn't give to be able to crawl into his mind.

As the thoughts start racing through my brain, he leans down and kisses my forehead before walking out the front door.