Page 89 of Mr. Almost

“If you can’t trustme to be her father, then I can’t do this with you anymore.”

His words are like a shot to my heart. My eyes start to tear up.

He’s not wrong. I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like everything with him has been too simple. Like it’s the fantasy I always had of us being a family. I can’t trust it. The way he makes me feel is scary. I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want Ari to lose him.

“So you’re leaving us?” I whisper.

He growls, “I will never leave my daughter. I don’t want to leave you, Livvy, but you’re treating me like I’m an interloper in your life, though. One second you tell me you trust me and that I’m Ari’s father. Then the next you are calling her your daughter and acting like I’m some villain out to hurt her. I’m here, Livvy. I have been here. I will be here. If we can’t make this work with me and you, it will be what it is, but I won’t leave our daughter. I will always be here for her. I won’t stop being her father. You are going to have to be okay with that. I have given you time to come to terms with me being here,but I’m done. I won’t have you making me feel like I’m less than you in parenting her. We are equals.”

He’s angry. I get why. I have been treating him like a boyfriend coming into our lives. I’ve been hesitant because of the past. He has done nothing but show me that he’s here for our daughter. For me, even. I’ve just been too stubborn to let go of that fear.

“You’re right,” I find myself saying. “I’m sorry. I fucked this all up.”

I turn away from him, wiping my eyes. He’s at my back in a second, pulling me into his arms.

“Livvy, I am falling so fast for you. I have been. I want this with us. I want to be the man you need. Everything I’ve said about us is true. If I have to choose, though, I will choose Ari every time. I might be falling in love with you, but she’s part of my soul. I won’t let her go, no matter what.”

“I wouldn’t want you to. That’s been my biggest fear. That you would leave when things get hard.”

“What do I have to do to prove to you that I won’t leave? Tell me and I’ll do it,” he pleads.

I let my head fall back on his chest. “I don’t think there is anything you can do. This isn’t a you issue. It’s me.”

He turns me in his arms, looking me in the eye. “It’s an us issue. You’re not alone anymore. I’m here. Use me.”

“Just keep being there. I’ll work harder on letting go of some of the control. I never wanted to make you feel like I was claiming her as only mine. She is our daughter. It’s just taking me some time to get used to remembering that.”

“Take all the time you need, but talk to me. You can’t blow up on me like you did today. I get that you were scared. You didn’t know what happened. Trust me, I was scared when it happened. I looked away for a second, and she had fallen. I think I died for a second. Then it was like it just clicked in what I needed to do.”

“Why did she have like six Band-Aids?” I ask.

“She insisted the kitty ones made her feel better. I couldn’t sayno. It’s just a scrape. She probably only needed them for a few hours, honestly. I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

“No, you were right. It wasn’t your fault. It could have happened to me too. She wasn’t hurt enough to go to the hospital. I get that you meant that when you said it wasn’t serious. I just panicked. I’m not used to depending on anyone, and I’m sorry for making it sound like I don’t trust you because I do.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s really not. Are we okay, though?”

He pulls me in for a quick hug. “We will be.”

“I’d like to go check on her, though, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

Walking to her room, I find her sleeping on the floor. I feel the moment Mason moves in behind me.

“Seems she was exhausted. Let me move her to the bed.”

I watch as he walks into the room, picking her up. He tucks her into bed before kissing her forehead. Then he comes back to the door.

“I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Heading into the room, I check her over before kissing her too.

“I love you, Bug.”

Leaving her night light on, I close her door as I walk back out into the main area. Mason is leaning against the counter, waiting for me like he said.

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