Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I couldn’t blame him. She was wonderful, beautiful even.
She was everything a man would desire to have a wife, a companion, a partner, and I had taken her for granted. I let her slip away from me.
Moving from my office, I headed back out into the living room to where Tally was sitting with the baby propped up in his bouncer, unpacking the bags that she had gotten with gifts in them for her various people.
The majority of it though, of course, being for my grandson.
“I think you managed to probably buy out the entire store this time,” I said teasingly, watching as her eyes lifted up to mine, before she rolled them with a smirk on her face.
“Hey, I never knew that stores like that existed. I mean, come on, it was fifty percent off everything. You can’t blame me for buying all of it.”
One of the other things that Tally had learned since becoming a mother was the importance of money. Even though she had money, she was limited to a certain amount, and no longer could she spend it frivolously upon herself.
Instead, I told her that I was not going to give her any more every month than what she already got because it was an allowance she should have been capable of living off. So instead, she had to learn to save and invest and make a means for herself so that if anything ever did happen to me, she would be settled without having to worry about a thing.
And surprisingly, she was keeping to it.
“It’s going to be a wonderful Christmas. I’m glad that I have you and my grandson here to spend it with,” I said to her, clearing the air.
She hesitated before raising her gaze to mine once more from the packages in front of her. Her smile fell into a small frown as she nodded. “I wish that you would just call her. You told me how much you cared about her, and I am so sorry that I caused so many issues between the two of you, but if you love her, you can’t let her go.”
“It isn’t that easy, Tally,” I replied, knowing exactly where the conversation was going. She had been on me for weeks at calling Becca, at trying to make amends and fix things, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she had moved on to Neal.
“It is that easy, Dad. I’ve known Becca my entire life. She isn’t someone who forgets easily. She isn’t someone who just lets go of love when she finds it.”
Love was definitely something that I was not accustomed to talking about with her. I had loved her mother once upon a time, and even to this day, there was a part of me that would always care for her because she was the mother of my child.
However, I didn’t like the person she had become, and at one point in time, I never thought that I would ever, under any circumstances, fall in love again. But when I first kissed Becca, I felt that powerful connection with her.
That feeling of desire and want.
The desire to fall in love again, and I did. I fell deeply in love with Becca.
“Things happened for a reason, Tally, and she’s happy she’s moving on with her life. I’m not going to jeopardize any happiness that she has gotten since she has left us.”
“But she’s coming into town, and now you can actually talk to her,” she replied, giving me that knowing glance that she had done since she was little. That glance that told me she knew what I needed to do, and I was being too stubborn to do it.
“What makes you think that Rebecca is going to want to come and see me after everything that I had put her through, that you had put her through?”
A soft chuckle left her lips before she slowly stood and walked towards me. “I have my own plans to make with her, and I plan to do that while she’s here. I f*cked up, and I need to apologize for what I did. But if it wasn’t for her, there was a good chance that I’d be dead.”
In some aspects, the moment that Becca had helped her outside of her apartment did save her life. Because had she not had anywhere to go and had stayed with Chad, there’s no telling what that family would have done to my daughter.
I would be forever grateful to Becca for helping Tally.
Lord knows neither of us deserved her forgiveness after everything that happened.
If Becca could forgive Tally, then perhaps there was some kind of hope that she could forgive me. The idea swirled like a mass of clouds in my mind, and as they slowly cleared, I had a new objective of what I could do to make things right with her.
Maybe I wouldn’t have her the way I did before, but perhaps she would let me just be her friend. Perhaps she could redeem a crooked man who simply wanted to start over.
The only thing I could do was pray.
The flight went by quicker than I thought it was going to, and by the time the wheels of the plane touched the tarmac in Miami, I was ready to see everyone. I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around Allegra and spend much-needed time with her.
“If you wait here a moment, sweetie, I’ll make sure they load everything into the car, and then I’ll come back for you,” Neal said as he stood and kissed my cheek.
Casting my gaze up to him, I smiled with a nod. “Sounds good.”
Since the moment we took off from New York City, Neal had been wrapped in a fury of emotions. I wasn’t quite sure what was bothering him, but I had a feeling it had to do with our trip to Miami in general. I understood he was concerned about the issues revolving around James, but he couldn’t let that ruin our trip.
These plans were made long before he had told me about the issues with the Russians, and it was my job to show him that we didn’t have anything to fear.
After all, we didn’t do anything wrong.
It was James’ problem and had nothing to do with me.
Fifteen minutes later, Neal’s smiling face popped through the door of the side of the plane, and he gestured for me to follow. I had already put my coat on, and even though it was December, it wasn’t exactly as cold as it had been in New York, but still chilly enough to make me want to bundle up.
“I’m glad to see there isn’t any snow here,” I chuckled, only to have him hold my hand as I walked down the steps of this plane.
“Yes, if I remember correctly, ice and snow don’t agree with you.”
“Hey, I can’t help being slightly uncoordinated.” I laughed, smacking his arm playfully as my feet hit the ground.
With a chuckle, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him, kissing the top of my head as we walked towards the car. “Glad that we’re finally here.”
I was shocked by his statement. I hadn’t thought he was happy about being here, but hearing him say that warmed me. “You’re happy to see your sister then and everything else that she has planned for us.”
“Oh, God, don’t remind me. I still can’t believe that she’s throwing that party.”
When Allegra found out that we were booking our tickets to come down, she was so excited that she decided to take it upon herself to put together a little Christmas party to ensure that we were able to celebrate the holidays properly with her.
Even though I had asked her to come up to my father’s instead, she was adamant that everything had to be a party. That was simply her personality, though, and I loved her bright and bubbly side.
“It’s not going to be that bad. The party is tomorrow night, everything will be fine.”
“You say that.” He smirked. “But I know my sister. It will be over the top.”
Sliding into the back seat of the car, Neal to his place next to me just as the driver shut the door. I was glad to be here, but my mind kept reeling over what I would do while I was here. I hadn’t exactly told Neal what I was planning, but to close the chap ter I had with James, I had to confront the secrets I was hiding.
It was the only way I could move forward with my future.
As the car sped through the streets of Miami, I admired the different Christmas ornaments, lights, and decorations that glittered the streets. They’d obviously recently had their Christmas parade, and though the streets were bare as it was late in the night, I could still see the remnants of streamers on the ground, the festival signs, and the store windows.
“It’s so beautiful outside. I love how everybody did the lights in the city.”
Lacing his fingers with mine, Neal cast his gaze out the window to see what it was that I was seeing. A smile crept across his face as he pulled me close. “Did you know that Christmas was actually my favorite time of year as a child?”
“Why is that?” I grinned, glancing at him. “Because you got tons of presents?”
“No.” He chuckled to himself. “It’s because it was the one time of year that everybody seemed happy and seemed to be brought together. There was no fighting. No arguing. Everyone just smiled.”
I was surprised by his answer. It wasn’t what I was expecting.