Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
As I stack the cups, Rory falls into a coughing fit, and I check the time to see if I can give her some more medicine. She hates taking it, throwing a tantrum every time, but eventually, she gives in, and it helps.
“Time for medicine,” I announce, lifting her into my arms and carrying her to the kitchen. The second she sees the medicine, her eyes fill with tears, and I wish I could snap my fingers and make her and Sadie better. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way, so I set her on the counter, holding her so she doesn’t fall, and fill the syringe with her cough medicine. She whimpers, her bottom lip jutting out, and my heart breaks.
“I know, princess, but it’s going to make you all better,” I tell her.
“Hey, is she okay?” Sadie asks, stepping into the kitchen. Her eyes are a bit puffy, and her hair’s a damn mess, but fuck, if she isn’t as beautiful as always. Every time I look at her, I’m reminded of what I had and lost.
“Yeah, I just gave her some cough medicine.” I carry Rory back into the living room and set her down in front of the cups. She immediately remembers that she never knocked them down and swipes her hand out, sending them crashing to the floor with a laugh.
“It’s the little things,” I joke, making Sadie chuckle.
Rory grabs a cup and stands, glancing at her mom, sitting in the loveseat several feet away.
“Mama!” Rory babbles, trying to hand her the cup.
“Come here,” Sadie says, extending her arms. Up until now, Rory’s refused to walk unless she’s moving across the furniture, so when she takes a step toward Sadie, Sadie’s eyes go wide in shock as I whip out my phone.
“Mama!” Rory yells as she puts one foot in front of the other. I get every step on camera, not stopping the recording until Rory’s in Sadie’s arms and she’s giving her daughter kisses, telling her how proud she is of her.
“Let’s see if she does it again,” Sadie says. “Ror, give Daddy the cup.” Rory’s eyes go straight to me, and the fact that she knows who I am has me choking up with emotion.
Sadie sets Rory on her feet, and instead of her dropping to her knees, she starts walking toward me, waving the cup in the air while she smiles wide. “Dada!”
I watch her, frozen in place, as she wobbles over to me. Once she arrives, I lift her into my arms and kiss the tip of her nose. “Look at you walking.”
“I can’t believe she’s walking,” Sadie says, smiling at Rory.
“I got it on video. I’ll text it to you.”
“Thank you. She seriously needs to stop growing. It’s like every day she wakes up, she’s speaking more words, doing something new… growing out of her clothes.” She sniffles. “Sometimes, I feel like I took being a mom for granted with Collin. I was so busy dealing with Vincent that I didn’t get to enjoy Collin like I do Rory. It’s probably not healthy, but I want to spend every minute with her, not wanting to miss a single moment.”
“It’s not unhealthy,” I choke out, feeling the same damn way. “You know what it’s like to lose people you love, so it makes you appreciate those in your life that much more.”
“Hey, what’s going on with you?” Camden asks, with only concern laced in his words. It’s been five days since I left Sadie and Rory to come home. I didn’t want to leave, especially not with both of them still somewhat sick, but I couldn’t leave the guys hanging, and we had the studio scheduled to nail down more songs. We’re almost halfway done with the songs, and then the recording will begin. When I told Sadie I needed to go, she didn’t argue. Just simply thanked me for being there and said she’d see me soon. She might not need me, but fuck, if I’m not starting to need them.
They call me every night, but it’s not enough. Not after spending five days with them. Waking up with them, having breakfast with them. Getting to see my daughter every day. Watch her walk for the first time… By the time I was reluctantly saying goodbye, she was crying for me and not wanting me to leave, and fuck if that didn’t make it that much harder to walk away.
The problem is, I can’t be in two places at once.
“Gage? What the hell, man? You’ve missed the cue three times now. You need a break?”
“I’m sorry,” I say, snapping out of it. “I’m good.”
Camden stares at me for a long beat, then nods. “All right. Let’s take it from the top.”
He starts to count down when my pocket vibrates with an incoming text. I yank it out in case it’s Sadie, and sure enough, it is.