Page 63 of Break

She could have hidden it for the rest of her life. I would have stuck around, played happy Uncle with continuing to fuck her to kingdom come. Preferably for the rest of my life, if she was going to have me.

I had a taste and there was no way I was going to stop, I’m still not going to stop. It was like everything clicked into place after I touched her, tasted her.

She became mine.

I was going to beg her for me to move into her bedroom, letting me love her and cherish her. Making her mine, but not as a parent.

But now I don’t have a choice.

I do, I guess? But I don’t want the choice. I want to be a father. I want to be their father.

I want Marie to be my wife. I want Marie to adopt the girls and have our names on their birth certificates. I want nothing to do with our old lives, aside from the good memories, no matter how miniscule they were in the grand scheme of the bullshit surrounding our old lives.

I stare at the photos as they pour in until I finally touch down a few hours later.

I’m shaking, trembling as the taxi takes me to the hospital.

I walk on autopilot through the halls, reading the signs as I head towards the maternity ward.

I step up to the front desk, clearing my throat as I stare down at the nurses around the station, all busy and tapping on their keyboards.

“Are you here to check in as a visitor?”

I nod and lick my dry lips. “Yeah… For Marie Edwards.”

I hand over my ID and fill out a sticker with my name on it, signing a form that I haven’t had a fever in the last twenty-four hours. “Room three-oh-eight down the hall.” She smiles at me and I feel her burning gaze in my back.

I can’t even tell you what the woman looked like… Marie is the only woman on the forefront of my mind right now.

Her door is open and I find the room filled with Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Brenton is holding a baby in his arms, sitting in a chair right beside Marie’s bed. Alyssa and Caroline are snuggled up on a couch in the corner of the room, sleeping with their phones still in their hands.

Bianca is in the bed with Marie, rocking the second baby in her arms as Marie sleeps.

Her brown hair is in a messy bun on her head, she’s still in a hospital gown, it’s completely open in the front and she has a towel over her chest. She has several blankets covering her feet up to her stomach. She’s hooked up to an IV with a few different fluids pumping into her.

She’s pale, but still as angelic as she’s always been.

My angel. If she’ll have me. If she can forgive me.

I step further into the room and collapse down on a lone chair beside Bianca. I stare down at the baby in her arms, itching to hold him or her. Has she chosen names? I place my head in my hands and rock back and forth… remembering at the last moment to send photos to my coaches. I’m sure that Landon and Nolan already have more than enough.

Me:I made it to the hospital. Marie is sleeping, unsure of names.

I send them the photos that the girls sent to me while I was on the jet and sit and wait.

Bianca winks at me and holds out her arms, the tiny baby in a pink hat begins to stir. “Just rock her… Marie will wake up to feed them again in a few. They’ve been nursing every hour on the hour.”

I nod and take her into my arms, cradling her head and neck on one of my hands. I bring her to my nose and breathe her in.

God. I fucked up. I will never abandon them again. I let the tears fall from my face, splashing down my chin.

My daughter. I feel like absolute shit. I can only make it up to all of them from this day on.

Marie blinks her eyes open and jolts when she sees me sitting beside the bed holding our daughter. She rubs her palms into her eyes and glances around the room, finding Brenton still rocking our son in his arms. I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting here for, but the babies are still delightfully asleep.

“What are you doing here?” She whispers and I see the tears filling her deep brown eyes. My heart breaks and I lick my dry lips.

“I’m here… I’m here, Marie. I’m so fucking sorry.”

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