7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Grady

Laughter and screams filter out from the living room as Lilly holds up her latest present and tissue paper goes flying everywhere. Today is my niece’s birthday party and I’m here, like the supportive uncle that I am. But seeing kids running around, screaming and crying, is just another reminder of how my life is about to completely change. Dealing with this as an innocent bystander who can come and go as they please has been my favorite part of my uncle status since Bentley was born eleven years ago.

But now? I’m going to be the newest member of the parent club, and I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around it.

I close the front door behind me, taking a deep breath before moving deeper into the house. Clusters of adults fill the living room, but then I hear my sister’s voice in the kitchen, so I head in that direction.

“Penn, could you…”

“I’m on it, babe.” He kisses her on the cheek, heads to the pantry to grab a trash bag, and then moves into the living room to start picking up the mess that Lilly is making with wrapping paper and bags .

“Look at you. You speak and he moves.” Willow, Dallas’s girlfriend, says. She and Astrid are close friends now, and I’m grateful my sister has someone she clicks with. Willow fit into our little group seamlessly after she moved here.

Astrid rolls her eyes at Willow. “No, we’re a team. He helps. I help.” She sighs wistfully. “It’s amazing.”

“And how’s it been living together? You still think all his weird quirks are cute?”

Laughing, Astrid replies, “There’s been a few bumps here and there, a little tiff or two. But the makeup sex is worth it.”

Willow grins. “Can’t argue with you there. When Dallas and I fight, it actually makes me horny.”

“Uh, did I walk in on a conversation that I shouldn’t be a part of?”

Astrid whips her head in my direction. “Dear lord, did you poke your finger in a light socket?”

“What?” Bringing a hand to my head, I realize my hair is sticking up on all ends. I try to pat it down, but it’s no use. Sighing, I say, “No. It’s just been a long weekend.”

“What happened?” my sister asks, moving to serve slices of cake onto plates.

No sense in beating around the bush. Carrington Cove is a small town, so I’m surprised she doesn’t already know. Though, my sister is busy managing her own business and raising two kids. “The garage got broken into Friday night.”

“Oh my God, Grady! Is it bad?” My sister’s reaction is louder than necessary, but I appreciate her concern.

Penn comes rushing over, concerned by her outburst. “What? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. No.” Astrid turns between me and her boyfriend. “The garage was broken into? Seriously? ”

Dallas steps up next to Willow. “Dude, I fucking heard someone talking about that at the hardware store this morning. Did you catch the guy?”

Groaning, I rub the back of my neck. “Uh, yeah. I caught one of them. It was some kids. Three teenagers. Two of them escaped, but we got their names from the other kid.”

Astrid shakes her head, continuing to serve cake. “Damn. I swear, if Bentley ever did something like that, I’d make sure he didn’t see daylight again for a very long time.”

“Yeah, well I think his mom had the same idea.” I’ve seen Scottie pissed before, but Scottie as a pissed off mom? That was a new experience.

And it was kind of fucking hot.

“You met the kid’s mom?” Penn asks.

“They called her to come pick him up since he’s a minor and I hadn’t decided if I was going to press charges or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you? He smashed in the hood of the Nova,” Dallas says. “At least that’s what I heard.”

Penn winces. “Shit. The Nova?”

“I don’t give a fuck about the car,” I grumble, hanging my head. The break-in is only part of the shitstorm I’m facing now. But I have to tell someone. Keeping the news of my impending fatherhood is eating me up inside. I have so many questions, but mostly, I’m wondering how the fuck I’m going to manage everything that’s been thrown at me recently.

Looks like your life isn’t boring anymore, is it, Grady?

Astrid puts a hand on my back, rubbing in circles. “Grady, what’s going on? I feel like you’re upset about more than the break-in.”

When I lift my head and meet my sister’s eyes, I know instantly that everything is going to be okay because I have her to lean on. She’s the best mom that I know, and she can help me make sense of all of this—my feelings, both about being a dad and about Scottie.

“The kid’s mom is a woman I slept with a few months ago, right around Christmas. And when she came to talk to me yesterday about how to make this right, she also dropped a bomb on me that I wasn’t expecting.” I look around at Penn, Dallas, and Willow, realizing they’re all listening too. So I drop the news. “It looks like I’m about to be a dad.”

Astrid’s eyes bug out as she stutters, “I—I’m sorry?” She shakes her head. “Did…did you just say that you’re going to be a dad?”

Willow leans in closer to my sister. “Astrid, that’s exactly what he just said.”

She swats her friend away and bends her knees so our eyes are at the same level as I continue to brace myself on the counter in front of me. “Grady…how are you…what can I…” She blows out a breath. “Holy shit.”

“Say that a few more times and you might be where I’m at.” I barely slept last night and I’m definitely feeling the effects of it today.

Penn and Dallas share a look, and then Dallas steps forward. “Well, let me be the first to say it since everyone else’s brains have short-circuited.” Reaching out his hand to shake mine, he says, “Congratulations, man.”

Penn repeats the gesture, saying, “Welcome to the club.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, thanks, I think.”

Penn isn’t my niece and nephew’s biological dad, but he’s been a part of their lives since they were born. And since Brandon died, he has stepped in and filled that role, even though he never intends on replacing their father. But he’s a dad to those kids, no doubt about it. Maybe I need to pick his brain about this too .

Astrid reaches for my hand, covering it with her own. “Let me serve the cake and then we can talk, okay?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

Dallas comes up beside me and hands me a beer. “You look like you could use one of these.”

“Definitely.” I pop the top and drain half of it before looking out over the house full of people once more. This is going to be my life from now on—birthday parties, screaming kids, diapers, and late-night feedings.

But I guess the first question that needs answering is, is Scottie going to let me be there for that? How involved does she want me to be in this kid’s life?

She left in such a rush yesterday, and I still don’t have her fucking phone number, so I haven’t had a chance to ask her about what this is going to look like.

Is she going to move in with me? Where is she even living right now? When is she due? How is this going to work with our jobs? Will we need daycare? What about Chase? Does he know he’s going to be a big brother yet?

Regardless of the lack of answers I have right now, at least I know this—I’ll be damned if I’m not there for every moment I can be. Astrid and I grew up without our dad in the picture. He left just after Astrid turned two. I was five and barely remember him, but what I do remember is that he wasn’t there—not for birthdays, Christmases, or baseball games. He wasn’t in pictures, and I always had to explain that my dad wasn’t around.

That will not be my child’s life. Scottie and I have a lot of shit to figure out, but I know for certain that I will be there for everything, and she can’t deny me that opportunity. I am going to be in this child’s life, even if Scottie doesn’t want me in hers .

But can I be the father I didn’t have? Is that a part of a man that’s instinctual, or will I feel like I’m trying to fill a role I was never meant to play?

“Fuck.” I drag a hand through my hair, making it look worse, I’m sure, then drain the other half of my beer, toss the can in the recycling, and head to the bathroom. When I come out, my sister is standing there, waiting for me. She pulls me back to her room, shuts the door behind us, and takes a seat next to me on the bed.

“Grady.” She rubs my back again. “Talk to me.”

“It’s Scottie, Astrid.”

“Scottie…. Scottie…” Her eyes widen in recognition. “Wait. Scottland Daniels?”

“Yup.” I throw myself back on the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

“I saw her in town a few months ago, around Christmas. She stopped by the bakery with her mom and grandma.”

“Well, that was when I ran into her, so…”

“And you two…”

“Slept together,” I finish for her. “I’m sure I don’t need to explain how babies are conceived.”

She slaps my stomach, making me wince. “Don’t get snarky with me. I’m just trying to process this out loud, okay?”

“Sorry.”

“Walk me through it. I thought you guys were just friends, at least back in high school you were, right? What happened? But spare me all the dirty details, okay?” she wrinkles her nose. “You are my brother, after all.”

Sighing, I sit up and replay that night—seeing her at the bar, talking and flirting even though we were just friends before, how she made me feel, taking her back to my place, and how she left without saying goodbye.

Astrid’s eyebrows pinch together as she listens, and when I get to yesterday, when Scottie told me about the baby and then took off, she smacks me in the back of the head. “What the fuck was that for?”

“You let her leave, Grady.”

“What was I supposed to do?” I rub the spot her hand connected with.

“Not let her leave while she was clearly upset.”

“Well, we both were.”

“But she’s carrying your baby, so you can’t be mad…”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s pregnant! That’s the reason!” She throws her hands up in the air. “You can’t be mad at a pregnant woman. It’s a rule. Her mind is not her own, and neither is her body. Hormones make you do crazy shit.”

“But…”

She holds up her palm to stop me. “No. I get it. She left and didn’t say anything, but I’m sure she had a reason. Hell, she lived in another state at the time. Adults can have sex and it mean nothing more.”

“But it meant something to me, Astrid,” I admit, my voice low. I think the part that’s getting to me the most is that there are feelings involved, at least on my end. I felt it that night and every day after she left me without a backward glance.

Her face instantly softens, and for a second, I think she’s back on my team. “I can tell, but that doesn’t sound like that’s what she wants.”

“I don’t know what the hell she wants,” I say, growing more irritated. I want to talk to her, but at the same time, I’m still pissed at her. “She ran off and… fuck.” I stand from the bed and start pacing. “I have so many fucking questions. My life is about to completely change.”

My sister smiles. “I know.”

“Why are you smiling? Are you enjoying watching me spin out of control here?”

She joins me on the other side of the room, gripping my arms so I stop moving. “I’m smiling because my brother is about to be a dad, which means I’m going to be an aunt. And you’re going to be an amazing dad, Grady.” She cups my jaw. “You’re the best uncle, you’re great with kids, and when it’s your own child, I promise it’s even better.”

“How do you know that? I haven’t even had a fucking long-term relationship, Astrid, and I’m almost thirty-six.” Sweat beads at my temples as my stomach churns. “I have no idea how this is supposed to work, and I...”

“You need to talk to Scottie.”

“I don’t even have her fucking phone number. She left before I could ask her for it, for the second time.”

“Then get it.” She taps the side of my head. “You’re not stupid. You should have some idea of how to find her.”

Blowing out a breath, I admit what I’m really feeling. “I never imagined this would be how I had a kid, Astrid. I always envisioned that if I had a shot at being married and having a family, it would be mornings waking up next to my wife, waiting with her as she took a pregnancy test, being excited and knowing that starting a family was what we both wanted. And at this point, I was starting to accept that a life like that wasn’t in the cards for me.”

She raises her eyebrows and walks away from me. “Yeah, well, life doesn’t always work out the way we think it will, Grady.”

My sister sure as hell knows what it’s like to have your world flipped upside down, but this? This is new territory for me. The last time my world spun out of control was when I could no longer play baseball for a living. But back then, the only person I had to worry about was myself.

Now, it’s not just me that’s affected by this. It’s Scottie and Chase. It’s both of our families.

And this woman—seeing her again made me realize how fucking lonely I’ve been. My sister has been pushing me to date for months, but I knew it was a lost cause. Single women in town hit on me all the time, but they all want me for the wrong reasons.

Scottie, though, she really knows me. She knew me before baseball became my job, before I became this grumpy mechanic who doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing with his life.

She’s different. She always has been, and now she’s having my baby.

But I want more. I want her .

“I want a family, Astrid,” I say, breaking the silence.

Spinning around to face me, she clarifies, “What?”

“I want more than just weekend visits. I want what you and Penn have.” I gesture to the other side of the house where Penn is holding the party together while we talk.

Smirking, she crosses her arms over her chest. “Weren’t you just telling me a few months ago when I suggested you start dating that you were better off alone? That you didn’t think that life was meant for you?”

“Yeah, but…”

“So now because Scottie is pregnant, you want that? Are you sure, Grady?” Her face grows serious. “Because as a single mom, I’m going to tell you that the last thing that woman needs is some man who thinks he knows what he wants but is going to change his mind down the line.”

Shit. She’s right. I need to make sure I can be the man she needs, the father and partner that she deserves before I commit to this one hundred percent—because when I commit to something, I go all in, and Scottie can’t have any doubts about how I feel.

“Be really freaking sure that you are ready for everything having a family entails, Grady, because if not, at least you can both go in knowing where you stand.” And then she narrows her eyes at me. “If it was any other woman, would you feel the same way?”

“Like what?”

“Wanting a family, trying to be in a relationship with the mother of your child?”

I shake my head instantly. “No.” And I can say that with certainty.

“You care about her,” Astrid declares, and I nod. “I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice.”

“There was always something there, even back in high school, but I never let myself go there. I had baseball to focus on and Scottie was the same way about softball. But I liked her. I always did.”

“And now?”

“Now we’re having a baby, and that night wasn’t just a fluke. I wanted more, but she left before I could talk to her about it.” I brush a hand through my hair. “She fucking flipped my world upside down…”

Astrid folds her lips in as she smiles. “Oh my God, my brother is in love and he’s having a baby!”

Rolling my eyes, I watch as she jumps up and down with excitement. “Relax. I have to talk to her first, remember. But fuck, Astrid…” Shaking my head, I continue, “If I don’t try to at least make this work, if I don’t take this as a sign that life has a way of pointing you in the right direction if you pay attention, then I’ll regret it. I know there’s a ton of shit to work out, but I owe it to myself, and to this child, to try.”

My sister pulls me into a hug. “You do. My big brother is all grown up,” she teases as we squeeze each other .

“I’m going to need you to get through this.” It’s at this moment that I realize my hands are shaking as Astrid holds me closer.

“I’ll always be here, Grady. I love you and I promise, you will get through this.”

“Love you too, sis.”

She pats me on the back and releases me before saying, “Now go figure out what your future looks like before this baby gets here. You might think you have all the time in the world, but believe me, it goes by faster than you think.”