Page 71 of Crossed Up

Copeland stops him with a hand on his surprisingly muscular chest. “You hurt her, and whatever my friend here does to you, I’ll make it look like a day at fucking Dollywood. Are we clear?”

At the threat, Colin visibly gulps, causing the side of Cope’s mouth to twitch into an almost-grin. “Understood.”

We move aside to let him into the room, and I know the second he lays eyes on my girl because he lets out a choked gasp. “Lyla…”

Cope and I move to hover on one side of the room, choosing to take a seat on the small couch and drop the intimidation act for now. I’m fairly confident he isn’t going to risk fucking things up this time, but only time will tell.

“Honey, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t know what was going on.”

She shrugs, playing with Crew’s hair. I’ve noticed playing with hair is a nervous tick of hers. Mine, Crew’s, or her own. It doesn’t seem to matter either way as long as she has someone’s hair to twirl to calm the anxiety. “I didn’t tell you. And you weren’t around, so I don’t see how you could have known.”

The guy looks like she just shot an arrow straight at his chest, wincing like the quiet words are a physical blow. “I know, and I’ve never been more ashamed than I am right now. I’m sorry, Lyla. So dam—” He glances at Crew. “Darn sorry. I know my promises mean less than nothing to you, but I swear from now on, I’m going to do my best to be an active part of your life, in whatever way you’ll let me be.”

“What about your deal with Mike?”

Colin scoffs, running a hand through his auburn hair. His hair color is what I imagine Lyla’s should look like, with the red undertones that peek through the brown she has now, but I’ve never really asked her if she colors her hair. Knowing she’s been on the run, it would make sense.

“The entire Pennington family can fuck off to some remote island in the middle of the goddamn ocean for all I care. The minute you called me, I called Pennington Corp and told them to shove their deal up their collective shady ass.”

Lyla snorts, still playing with Crew’s hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my boy this quiet for this long, but he finally breaks the awkward silence with a whispered question that might make things even more awkward, if possible. “Mommy, who’s that man? Is he a bad man, too?”

Colin’s jaw drops as he stares at Crew with a look of confusion and awe. “Mommy?”

I expect her to shy away from the question or change topics, but she smiles proudly down at our son and speaks in a clear, firm voice. “This is Crew, and that’s Aidan.” She points at me and kisses the top of Crew’s head. “Crew is Aidan’s son biologically, but mine in every way that matters, and I plan on adopting him as soon as I can. So, I guess… you have a grandson.”

His eyes glisten under the harsh hospital lights as he slowly moves toward the bed, crouching beside Lyla. He’s next to his daughter, but his gaze is firmly fixated on our son. Reaching a hand out slowly, he introduces himself. “Hi Crew, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lyla’s dad, Colin.”

Crew stares at his hand skeptically, glancing nervously at Lyla. “He’s not a bad man, Crew-bug. I promise.”

He nods before slowly reaching out to take Colin’s hand. “If Lyly is my mommy, does that mean you’re my grandpa now?”

Colin looks at his daughter with wide eyes, but hers are solely focused on me. I smile softly at her, trying to convey with my eyes that I trust her judgment and will go along with whatever she thinks is best. I know she wouldn’t risk Crew, so I’m sure she’s going to give her dad a thorough ass-chewing about all of this as soon as she’s feeling up to it.

“If he wants to be,” she says pointedly. The words are for Crew, but she aims them at her father.

His face lights up, reminding me so much of Lyla. It’s easy to see where she gets her mega-watt smile from. “I’ve always wanted to be a grandpa.”

The next several hours are filled with talking, laughter, and some tears as the father-daughter duo catch up and Crew asks endless questions about his new grandfather. But then we’re discharged, and Colin and Copeland leave so we can head home.

After tucking Crew into the living room fort bed with us, I’m finally alone with my sleeping son and the love of my life.

For the first time in months, I feel completely at peace. I’m not worried about protecting Lyla from some unknown threat or waiting for the day she calls things off because she’s scared. I’m breathing without the weight of the world on my shoulders for the first time in my life, and it’s so freeing.

Lyla nuzzles further into my chest, her sweet cherry-vanilla perfume filling my nose and easing any residual fear clinging to my soul. “Aidan?” she murmurs.

“Yes, angel?”

Her glassy eyes meet mine, brimming with hope. “Is it really over?”

My chest clenches for my sweet girl who’s been through so much. Pulling her even closer, I kiss the top of her head. “It’s really over, baby.”

She sighs, staring up at me with love written all over her gorgeous face. “What do we do now?”

My smile is soft but so very real. “Now we start the rest of our lives together. As a family.”

In baseball, when the catcher calls for a specific pitch, but their pitcher does something totally different, we call it getting Crossed Up. Lyla coming into our lives feels kind of like that. I called the play only for the universe to throw me a pitch I never could have expected, and somehow, it worked out to be everything I barely dared to dream I could have.

Lying here with my girl and our son, I know getting crossed up was the best thing that’s ever happened to us. And if I had to do it all over again?

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