Page 136 of One Good Puck
Gavin flashes a mock-offended face at Emma. “No way. ‘Jingle Bells’ is the ultimate sing-along song.”
He starts singing the first verse horribly off-key, and Emma giggles. I can’t help but chuckle.
He stops singing when he starts to laugh too. I gaze at him, emotion whirring through me, in complete awe at the way he soothed me and protected me when I was distraught. The way he cares for Emma. How he’s going out of his way to make her happy to protect her from the stressful run-in with Levi.
My heart beats faster in my chest, but this time, it’s not because I’m stressed. It’s because it’s crystal clear just how much I love Gavin.
Chapter 53
Gavin
Iwalk over to the couch where Abby is sitting, wrapped in a plush blanket, staring at the Christmas tree.
I hand her a mug of tea and kiss her forehead. She offers a small smile and a quiet “thanks.”
I sit next to her and pull her legs onto my lap so she can stretch out and relax. After coming home from the Christmas tree farm, we set up the tree in the living room, decorated it, and ordered pizza for dinner.
Abby put on a happy face for Emma the whole time, and luckily, Emma was too excited about decorating and pizza to notice the sadness lingering in her mom’s eyes. I know Abby wanted it that way. She didn’t want to upset her.
But now that Emma is sleeping and it’s just Abby and me, I don’t want her to feel like she has to put on a brave face anymore.
She sips her tea, then sets it on the coffee table. I grab her by the waist and pull her onto my lap. She wraps her arms and legs around me, hugging me tight.
“Thank you for everything you did today,” she says. “I would have been a mess without you.”
“I’m here for you, Abby. Always.”
She’s quiet for a long second. Then she leans back and looks off to the side. “It’s just…when Levi said he suddenly wanted to be part of Emma’s life, I got so scared and mad. I couldn’t believe it. He abandons her, and then one day out of the blue, he wants to pop back into her life?”
She shakes her head and crosses her arms over her chest. “He doesn’t even realize how confusing and upsetting that would be for Emma. Her whole life, she lived without her dad. And now she’s supposed to just welcome him back with open arms? This total stranger she doesn’t even know? That would freak her out. I’m not putting her through that.”
She closes her eyes and takes a breath. “I don’t want to be a jerk and keep my daughter from seeing her father. But he can’t be like this, coming into her life whenever he feels like it. That’s so hard on a child. What if he starts seeing her and she forms an attachment to him, but then he disappears like he did before? She’d be heartbroken. I’m not going to let him hurt her like that…”
Her voice trembles as she trails off.
I wrap my arms around her and hug her against me. “You’re not a jerk, Abby. Not even close. You’re a mom who loves her daughter and is doing whatever it takes to protect her.”
“I’m trying, Gavin. I’m really trying.”
Her voice is so soft and weak, it breaks me.
When I think about the way Levi tried to push himself back into Emma’s life today, after ignoring her for her whole life, it makes me want to rage. What kind of father thinks that’s okay? That he can just act like a dad whenever it’s convenient to him after abandoning his own child?
As much as I wanted to go off on him, I held it all back and focused on Abby. She was so shocked and distraught at seeing him, so I did what I could to keep things calm and protect her and Emma.
I wish I could do more. I wish I could make Abby’s pain and worry go away. I wish I could talk some sense into that loser ex of hers.
But instead, I just squeeze my arms around her and hope it’s enough comfort for her in this moment.
Just then, Abby’s phone rings. She slides off my lap, grabs her phone from the coffee table, and answers it.
“Hello?”
A second later, her expression falls. “Why are you calling me, Levi?”
I tense up, that mix of anger and protectiveness from earlier resurfacing.
“Are you kidding me?” Abby’s voice hitches up. “You think you have a right to see Emma?…Levi, for seven years, you didn’t even acknowledge her existence…No, I’m not trying to control her life, I’m trying to protect her….No way is she going to be okay with seeing a complete stranger every weekend…”
