Page 77 of Shattered Dreams
Richard
The girls loved being outside; the boys played hard. We hiked, swam, and ate campfire food until it was time to tear down the tent and pack up for home.
On the drive home, everyone crashed out, making it a quiet ride.
I glanced over at Jo, and this was the first time I’d seen her relaxed since the day on the side of the road.
Layla.
Thoughts of Jo at her grandparent’s, alone, dealing with a pregnancy raced through my head.
She shouldn’t have gone through that without me.
A quick check in the rearview mirror showed me the kids, and my heart squeezed tight. I meant what I said to Cooper. I didn’t care that they weren’t biologically mine.
Briar was a “daddy’s girl”. And as far as she was concerned, I was her daddy.
Back in high school, I didn’t want kids because I didn’t want to chance that I would end up a miserable asshole, like my dad.
Now I knew I could never and would never be like him.
My life, my world, was inside this van.
We can house hunt when she’s ready. A big yard. Decent garage. Basement for the kids to have friends over and be crazy.
Jo stretched in her seat and her eyes fluttered open. “We almost home?”
“Yeah.” I reached for her hand and brought it to my lips. “Good nap?”
“Mm-hmm.” She covered our hands with her other hand. “I’m sorry about …”
“Jo.” I tugged our hands. “Don’t. You have nothing to be sorry for. I get why you ran.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“No.” I shrugged. “But we can’t change the past. All we can do is change the future. Right?”
“You’re right.” She nodded.
I turned onto the street leading to her dad’s house. “Back to reality?”
“Ugh.” She shook her head. “I love my dad, but we need our space.”
“House hunting this week?”
“If you’re sure?” Her face scrunched up.
“Never been more sure of anything.” I pulled into the driveway. “Let’s unload before the natives wake.”
We left our doors open, hoping to get unloaded before the kids woke and our plan worked. The moment I closed the hatch on the van, our weary campers roused from sleep and crawled out.
I collected hugs, gave Jo a kiss and a pat on the ass, then walked through their backyard, hopping the fence into my mom’s yard.
School was about to start, and I didn’t want the boys to switch schools in the middle of a semester. We’ll need to look for a place in our neighborhood.
My life felt like it was falling into place and I was excited to see its direction.
“Will we ride the same bus?” Grady leaned against me as I surveyed the kitchen.