Caleb's Blessing (19 page)

“She’s gone now.”

“Good, now Amanda you come with me we have lots to talk about.” And just like that the two of them left the room with their heads together giggling about babies. Fucking women are a trip no man would ever understand.

“Son do you know what any of this is about?”

“Yeah, uh, Amanda’s pregnant. To make a long story short Diane saw us coming out of docs’.

We tried heading her off because I wasn’t ready to share the news yet, but she wasn’t fooled apparently and she got pissed or something equally stupid and told Cecily, who then hunted down Amanda’s ex who went to prison for trying to kill her.

Don’t you start now too.” His face had gone that shade of red that usually meant an explosion.

“Dad what’re you doing?” He hadn’t said a word, just walked over to the antiquated phone and picked it up.

“Drake when’s your break? You need to get out here as soon as.”

Shit, what now? I just wanted shit to settle down and go back to normal, all this upheaval was fucking with my program.

“Dad Drake already feels bad.”

“This isn’t about your brother feeling bad, this is about him reeling his wife in once and for all. We’re a family here and we’re only as strong as our weakest link. I won’t have discord in my family among my children you weren’t raised like that, and more importantly I won’t see your mother upset one more time by this girl and her selfish bullshit.” He stormed out of the room leaving me mumbling behind him.

“What the fuck did I do?”

Needless to say the day turned into chaos. Mom was on a tear because I didn’t call her the second the doctor said the words you’re pregnant and was threatening all manner of mayhem on my life for that little faux pas.

Drake was pissed because he felt we were being too hard on his wife who wasn’t invited because my mother who had lost her mind sometime in the last twenty-four hours threatened to snatch her bald.

I wasn’t sure where any of this shit with her was coming from, granted I was pissed the fuck off at the idiot myself, but what was mom’s deal?

Turns out she’d dragged the whole story out of Diane and she knew what had been done to Amanda before she came here. It was still a mystery how they’d found out because Drake swore her hadn’t told her, but after Amanda went back over that day that Diane had paid her a visit I think she went snooping or some shit and put the pieces together.

Whatever the case, she’d bitten off more than she could chew, because apparently mom’s breaking point was when her future daughter in law’s life was threatened, not to mention the grandchild she was carrying.

I was hurting for my brother, he seemed lost as fuck, but the truth is, he needed to put her ass in check a long time ago. If Amanda had done some shit like that I would put her little ass on lock.

Nothing was resolved by the time the sun was going down and it was time to go. Mom wasn’t budging from her position and dad was backing her one hundred percent.

I took my woman home and left them to sort their shit out, I’d done what I needed to do.

“How’re you feeling baby? You had a long two days, the baby okay?”

“Yeah we’re good. Caleb your mom’s nuts, please remind me, to never get on her bad side.”

“You won’t, she likes you.” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it and we rode the rest of the way in silence.

“I’ll make dinner tonight you sit and relax.”

“Oh but.”

“Amanda, are you still afraid of being hurt?” She gave me a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Do you think I will ever take my fists to you, or shoot you?”

“Of course not, why do you ask?”

“Because I need you to understand something babe. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. Now just because I won’t take my fists to you, that don’t mean there aren’t other ways for me to deal with your ass if you get out of line. Are you getting where I’m going with this?”

She didn’t look too pleased but I didn’t expect her to be. “Now sit, I’ll get you some juice and you can keep me company while I cook.”

She parked her ass at the table in a snit but whatever. “Now.” I got the ingredients for a quick stew out of the fridge and started chopping the vegetables. “How do you feel about yesterday, feel good?”

That perked her little bloodthirsty heart right up. “Yes it did, it’s so strange though, he didn’t seem the same at all.” She squinted her eyes as she looked up at me.

“In what way baby?”

“Well, always before he seemed so big you know, larger than life. I don’t know, maybe it was because no one in town would stand up to him, and I knew I was trapped. I don’t know, I just know that before he always seemed like this big tough person, someone to be feared. But yesterday he seemed like nothing.”

Fucking excellent. “So you’re no longer afraid?”

“No I’m not afraid, I know you won’t let him hurt me anyway.”

“Damn straight baby.”

She’s here. My baby girl came into the world kicking and screaming a little over three years ago. I wasn’t sure which of them she was more like, the mother or the grandmother.

Can I tell you a story? The shy quiet reserved girl that showed up on my ranch a little over four years ago is no more, that shit was a con.

In her place is the most vibrant, self-confident, fiery beauty, that keeps my heart soft and my dick hard.

It’s a thing of great joy to watch her grow day by day. And my kid! Fuck if the two of them don’t have me tied up in knots. She opened her eyes in that delivery room and I was gone all the way gone.

“Come on daddy.”

“I’m coming princess.” I had to wash my hands because I’d just come in from the range. I’ve been delegating a lot lately I still do my thing but daddy’s always on hand for tea parties and nail painting sessions. I wasn’t sure what she had in store for me today and I didn’t much care.

The first time I’d knocked Alex on his ass the rest of those fucks had stopped laughing. A man ought to be able to spend quality time with his kid without having to deal with fuckery.

Now the joke was on them because she’s reeled them into her mess. You’ve not seen anything until you’ve seen nine grown ass men bending over backward to please a little half pint sized termagant.

Mikey the fuck is her favorite because she can get him to do anything, after me of course, I’m here go to guy. It makes her mother and mine nuts, but my little girl doesn’t run to anyone but her daddy.

Amanda is hoping that the boy she’s carrying this time around will help balance things out, be all hers as she puts it, we’ll see. One thing’s for sure I make some beautiful babies.

She has mother’s coloring, but everything else is all me, but that temper of hers whew, that’s pure Amanda.

For a while there I thought she was making up for the years the asshole had stifled her, but I soon realized it was her nature. It’s a wonder she hadn’t killed that fuck.

It was also a testament to how free and happy she was in our life together that she gave me as much shit as she did, only she tries covering that shit up with her bullshit, but I know when I’m being snowed, and nine times out of ten my own mother is behind her, egging her on with her shit.

At least I know life will never be boring with the amount of shit she finds to get into.

Everyone in town has adopted her in some way or another. No one knows anything about her past of course, but her own natural sweetness has won them over and now I can’t walk down main street with my woman and kid without being stopped every five feet.

We’ve had quite a few barbecues and lawn parties as well as mom has started passing the torch so to speak, something that I wasn’t quite ready for but Amanda jumped into with both feet.

We haven’t heard or seen Cecily since she took my advice and left the state that day, but last I heard through the grapevine she hadn’t changed much, just found a new playground.

Diane, what can I say about Diane? She’s changed significantly. I don’t know if it was something my brother said or the fact that mom cut her out of that year’s holiday celebrations with the family, which was always one of the biggest things in our little town, but something woke her the hell up.

I won’t give her saint status, but she’s been keeping her shit to herself, which is more than enough for me. Amanda has new female friends now and she doesn’t have much to do with her sister in law and I’m not gonna force her to, she’s had enough forced on her in this lifetime, she gets to do whatever the fuck she wants from here on out and I back her one hundred percent to make sure she does.

The ex recovered, but his bones didn’t mend so well and he’s a bit lopsided, or so I hear. Last I heard he was the town drunk, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Her dad had been out this year for the first time, because even though she’d been ready to forgive and forget, I wasn’t. I can’t imagine any man leaving his daughter to that shit. Some motherfucker put hands on my little girl he’s done. The boys were already digging holes around the place for her teenage years, true story.

Speaking of Caleigh, it turns out Diane can’t have kids, mom and Amanda thinks this is part of her problem I don’t know. But she loves the fuck outta my kid.

She lights up when she sees her and it’s the same for Caleigh, she loves her aunty Diane, the two of them ate thick as thieves, and the fucked up thing is, Amanda doesn’t deal with Diane like that, but she has no problem letting her have as much time as she wants with her niece.

I guess that’ a female thing, I was dead sat against it in the beginning, then again I was dead set against anyone taking my kid out of my sight or spending more time with her than I did.

But it didn’t matter what she was doing or who with, as soon as she saw her daddy they were forgotten. I love that shit.

I walked into her room where she already had everything set up. “The fuck are you doing here?” I growled under my breath at Mikey who was sitting in one of the little chairs that looked like it would break every time one of us sat in them.

“It’s Thursday idiot.”

“The fuck does that mean?” He had the nerve to roll his eyes at me like I was stupid.

“Today is glamour day and you don’t know how to do it.”

“And you do? Get out.” fucker, first the mother and now my kid, filch. Though he had his own girl these days and was getting ready to settle down. I wish he’d hurry the fuck up and get his own kids.

I couldn’t kick his ass the way I wanted because my little buttercup came back to the table with her loot.

Her aunty Diane had got her the biggest makeup kit in the universe or some shit with every color known to man, which she likes practicing on us guys, especially now that her mom is big as Brutus and can’t sit still for two seconds.

“Daddy sit.” I did as I was told and waited patiently while she put gold gook on the idiot’s eye. Now we have a sworn rule that nothing that goes on in these little sessions leaves this room, but since he was encroaching on my time I figured I’d fix his ass.

“Boss what’re you doing?” I snapped a few pics with my phone and smirked at him.

The two of us spent the next half hour entertaining her and being entertained by her because my kid is a ham.

When her mother came in and said it was naptime and I knew world war eight was about to start, I headed her off with promises of ice cream after supper, which seemed to suffice.

As usual if I was at home at naptime, I was the one to put her to bed and lay with her until she fell asleep on my chest, it was my favorite part of the day, except for the time I spent with my wife.

Sometimes like now, I felt the whole of it well up inside me and it’s almost too much. The love I had for these two, and now the little one that she was carrying.

“Is she asleep yet?” I looked down at my daughter as her mom stood in the doorway watching us.

“Yeah she’s out.” I eased her off my chest and kissed her forehead before leaving the bed and the room.

As soon as I reached my wife my mouth was on hers and my hand covered the hard mound of her stomach where my son was doing his swimming lessons.

“I need you.” I hustled her down the hall to our room and closed the door.