The Miracle Baby Box Set: Volume One: Books 1 - 4

by Hamel, B. B.

  “Not at all.” I can’t suppress a giddy laugh. “I have a daughter!”

  Addie nods but doesn’t say anything. We keep walking and I can sense that she’s thinking about something else. I don’t push her, though. I’ve learned over the years that Addie will say what’s on her mind, but on her time, and pushing won’t help.

  We round a bend in the path. She stops and breaks a low-hanging branch off, snapping it over her knee. She throws one half away and uses the other as a walking stick, not saying anything as she does this. I just watch, waiting.

  Finally, she speaks up. “That first night we slept together, you said we’d talk about how we felt in the morning.”

  My eyes narrow a bit. “I did?”

  “You did,” she confirms. “But it never happened. That really hurt, Will. I thought…” She trails off.

  “Oh, shit,” I say softly. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

  She shrugs, a little motion. “You blew me off.”

  “Addie, wait.” I turn to her, forcing her to stop in front of me. She won’t meet my eyes. “I’m so, so sorry I did that. I was afraid to talk to you about it in the morning. I was afraid we’d ruin whatever we had. I was afraid that I loved you.”

  She finally looks up at me. “Did you?”

  “Yes,” I say. “God, I loved you so much. I missed you every day when I left. When you stopped talking to me, it was like… it was like a piece of my body got ripped off. It almost broke me, Addie, but now I get it.”

  “I was afraid,” she whispers.

  “I was terrified.” I laugh a little bit, which makes her frown more. “I’m still fucking terrified. But I know that I love you, and I want to be Cara’s father. I want to be in your life. I was too young and too stupid back then to realize it. I chased some childish dream halfway across the world when all I really needed was to be right here with you.”

  She’s blinking fast now and I know she’s about to cry. I pull her against me as the sobs come, and I hold her tight. I just hold her and hug her as she slowly calms down. “You don’t know how much I’ve needed to hear that,” she says finally. “Seriously, Will. I really needed to hear that.”

  “It’s the truth. It’s you, Addie, always was. Always will be.”

  I kiss her, just to make sure she really gets it. She kisses me back just as deeply, and I know she does.

  We break apart and keep walking. We’re close to the waterfall now. Soon we’ll be out on our rock together, like in the old days.

  “One more thing,” she says, cutting into the silence. “Cara.”

  “What about her?”

  She hesitates. “I know you’re her biological father, but… you don’t have to be in her life, you know. You don’t owe her anything.”

  I laugh and squeeze her hand. “I owe her a lot, actually.”

  “You don’t. It’s not your fault I never told you.”

  “It’s my fault,” I say over her protests. “It really is, believe me. And I’m ready to make it up to both of you. I’m ready to be a father.”

  She laughs at that. “I’ve been wanting to hear those words for a long, long time.”

  “Addie, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

  We make it to the falls. She goes first, and I watch her with a huge smile. She climbs down easily, taking practiced steps, until she reaches the end. She stands on that last rock, out near the edge of the falls, and she looks over her shoulder. Her hat blows off her head suddenly, making her whoop and laugh as it flies over the edge. Her hair blows around her face and I laugh, unable to stop myself. The moment is so beautiful and perfect as she gets her hair under control.

  “What are you waiting for?” she calls out to me. “Are you coming?”

  “Fuck, yeah, I’m coming,” I say softly to myself, grinning huge.

  I step down onto the rocks and walk out toward her, feeling steadier, stronger, happier than I’ve ever felt in my whole life. I walk out to the edge of the falls to be with the woman I love, finally moving beyond the past, and into something better.

  23

  Addie

  Two Years Later

  The crowd goes fucking nuts.

  I clap my hands raw, Cara at my side, cheering along with everyone else. I think she understands what’s going on even better than I do, mostly because Will’s been giving her special lessons on the side.

  “She’s gonna go pro,” he keeps saying with this big dorky grin. “She’s gonna make it.”

  I just roll my eyes at him, but as long as they’re having fun, I don’t care.

  Will looks over his shoulder and catches my eye. I grin at him and he winks as he turns back to the ice and his players, shouting and high-fiving every guy that skates past. The Weston Trojans are up four to three in the final period with only two minutes to go. It’s the biggest game of Will’s career, and maybe the biggest game in Weston history.

  A first-year varsity coach has never taken his team to the state championship game before, let alone been in the position to win it all. He’s up in the series, and all he needs now is to hold on, and he’ll make history.

  This is what he’s been working toward ever since he took the JV job. Every day he spends trying to improve himself as a coach, and the school board saw it. He got the varsity job this year, although he felt bad about it. He said they passed over a good friend and a good guy for him to get it, but he couldn’t turn down the offer. Vernon landed on his feet apparently, working at a rival school.

  Meanwhile, I’ve been full-time at Teddy’s company. Turns out, the paper business isn’t so boring, at least it isn’t if you throw yourself into it. Teddy keeps talking about promoting me, giving me more responsibility, but I like where I am. I have flexibility, I make decent money, and I get to spend a lot of time with my daughter.

  We all moved into a single-family home six months ago. Turns out, Will had more saved from playing hockey than I realized, and he bought the place with cash. Now we live five minutes from Eleanor, and maybe a fifteen-minute walk from the falls. We go down there all the time, and we bring Cara whenever we can. She loves climbing out onto the rocks, although we never let her go to our spot, not yet at least. Maybe one day when she’s old enough.

  Now though, things are incredible. The feeling in the arena is unbelievable as the seconds slip by. The opposition puts up a great fight, but it’s just not enough. In the end, Will’s players hold on, and the crowd goes absolutely wild. I pick up Cara and scream Will’s name. He turns around and gives me a wave before joining his players out on the ice to celebrate.

  A few hours later, out in the parking lot, I throw my arms around him. “You’re amazing!” I say, making him laugh.

  “I just stood there in my suit, the guys did all the work.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” I say.

  He pulls back and picks Cara up. “Daddy, you’re so good!” she says and he laughs, hugging her tight.

  I give him a kiss, and I stand there enjoying this moment. He’s a champion now, the coach of the best team in the state. There will be more games, more losses and victories, but right now is all that matters to me. I squeeze his hand and kiss him one more time, and he gives me that look again, the one that always ends up with me in his bed. My favorite look in the whole damn world.

  “I love you guys,” he says, putting Cara down. “But I think I have to go shake some more hands. You know, drum up donations for the PTA and all that.”

  “Good luck, coach,” I say, kissing his cheek.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” he says, giving me a look.

  I smile and blush and he’s off, heading out toward the crowds of people milling around, shaking hands with a few older people as he goes.

  I get into our little SUV with Cara and slowly drive back to my beautiful house. “When will daddy get home?” Cara asks me as I put her to bed.

  “Soon,” I say, giving her a kiss.

  And when Will does finally get home, he pulls me into his arms. I fee
l so safe and warm there, and I know nothing can hurt me as long as he holds me.

  “You’re a good dad,” I say to him. “You know that? I don’t tell you enough.”

  “Thanks,” he says softly, and laughs a little bit. “I can’t believe we’re here.”

  “I can’t either,” I say. “But I’m really glad I’m here with you.”

  He doesn’t answer. He just kisses me, more deeply this time, pushing me up against a wall. I know what he wants. I want it too.

  And I’ll give it to him, over and over, for the rest of my life. That’s what I need. Will and love and family, making new memories all the time, making our lives move as slowly as possible. With him, I know it’ll always be getting better and better.

  * * *

  Keep reading the Miracle Baby series! His Amazing Baby is the steamy fifth book. My brother’s best friend got me pregnant. And now that gorgeous bastard’s coming for his baby. I gave up on becoming a mother. I replaced a family with my job. Having a baby was supposed to be impossible for me. One night with Aaron Ward, my brother’s old best friend and my childhood crush, was all it took to knock me up. He proved my doctors wrong and changed my life forever. >> Click Here to start reading!

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  Also by BB Hamel

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  Series include Steamy Daddies, SEAL Team Hotties, Love to Hate, Baby Daddy, Miracle Babies, and more.

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  XO, BB