Page 52 of Pumpkin
“Hi, JJ. It’s so good to meet you.” He kept his voice low and steady. “Do you know who I am?”
She looked up at her mother and then back at him. “Mommy says you’re my daddy.”
He nodded, his throat constricting at the words. “I am. Do you know what that means?”
Her little face scrunched and she gave a noncommittal shrug. “You’re like my mommy, but a boy.”
Pumpkin chuckled.Out of the mouth of babes…“Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.” He opened his arms to her. “I don’t know about mommies, but I’ve been told that daddies givethe besthugs.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Grandpa Marmot says the same thing!” Her excitement weaned slightly as she added, “But he’s old. I’m not sure it counts.” Her eyes narrowed in thought as she looked Pumpkin up and down. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-four,” he told her honestly, trying his damnedest not to laugh. Dosia wasn’t doing much better. “How old are you?” he asked, even though she told him the day before and he now knew her birthday.
“Five!” she said, her excitement rising again. “You’re not old like Grandpa Marmot, so I think this will work.”
Pumpkin waited, his arms still outstretched. JJ didn’t tentatively step forward. There was no hesitation in her actionsat allas she leapt forward and ran into his chest. Throwing her little arms around his neck, Pumpkin encircled his own around her.
Fuck. She weighed practically nothing, yet the gravity of this moment moved him so completely that Pumpkin knew he’d never be the same. Holding his son was one thing, but holdinghis daughter? There was nothing like it in the world, no greater joy than the feel of her trust in him.
He would die for his son, but for his daughter? He’d burn down the goddamn world and piss on the ashes. JJ had no idea just how completely devoted to her he was. He buried his face against her little shoulder, completely unashamed as tears free-fell from his eyes.
So many things crossed his mind in that moment, and he suddenly understood why Bear’s first reaction to finding out he and Tessa were having a daughter was a need to build a Rapunzel tower to protect her in. Surrounded by a moat filled with alligators.
A sound from in front of him had him lifting his head in time to see Dosia holding up her phone towards them as she took a picture of her daughter hugging her father for the first time. Tears also streamed down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand, but they just kept coming. Pumpkin knew the feeling.
“You’ve been demoted,” he told Dosia over JJ’s shoulder. “She’s my new favorite girl.”
Dosia laughed and nodded her understanding. She indicated to SJ in her arms. “That’s okay. I’ve already replaced you too.”
He smiled broadly.
The action tickled his beard against JJ’s cheek. She squeaked and giggled, squirming away. Pumpkin didn’t want to release his hold, butthankfully, JJ didn’t move far away. She stood right in front of him, reaching out to his beard. “You’re hairy.”
Pumpkin nodded. He didn’t usually let his beard grow this long, but he hadn’t liked it when the nurses tried to shave him in the hospital or rehab. He figured he’d cut it after he got out, but then discovered that he liked the longer beard. It wasn’t as long as Bulldog’s or Bear’s, and he probably wouldn’t let it get that long, but for now, he was good with letting it continue to grow. Plus, he now had proof that Dosia liked the feel of it between her legs.
“Are all daddies hairy?”
Pumpkin chuckled, bobbing his head back and forth. “Some.”
“We have show and tell in class soon! Can I bring you in and show off my new hairy daddy? I was going to bring in my aunt—she’s a witch,” JJ added in a whisper. “But I’d rather bring you!”
Dosia let out a sound that was a mixture of a cough, a laugh, and a snort.
Pumpkin had a hard time keeping a straight face. He cleared his throat. “If it’s okay with your mother, I would love to come to class with you.”
JJ spun around so quick, she whipped Pumpkin’s face with her long hair. “Can he, Mommy?”
Dosia nodded. “Sure, baby.”
The joyous, innocent smile JJ gave him when she turned back around cracked his heart into a million pieces. There was no sight more beautiful in all the world, and only one thing could make it better.
Pumpkin waved Dosia down to them. “Have you met SJ yet?” he asked JJ. He kept a hand on Dosia’s elbow as she knelt on the carpet next to her daughter.
JJ nodded. “Mommy brought him upstairs before. He’s a baby,” she informed Pumpkin.
He chuckled. “I know. He’s my son. Do you know what that makes him to you?” JJ shook her head, her eyes going wide. “He’s your brother.” None of that half- or step-bullshit. He was JJ’s brother and would be Dosia’s son.
JJ gasped. “Abrother? You brought me a brother?” Before Pumpkin could respond, she spun towards Dosia. “Did you hear that, Mommy? He got me a brother!”
