Every Other Memory by Kaylee Ryan

Chapter 8

Trevin

It’s Sunday night at six, and I’m still in Indianapolis. I have a long three hours’ drive back to Lexington, but I can’t seem to make moves to go. I hate the thought of leaving here, leaving them. It’s pulling at my heart, and I hate it.

“Don’t you need to get on the road?” Scott asks.

“Yeah,” I agree, not taking my eyes off Cadence and Hazel, where they sit on the couch with my sister and nephew, Clint.

“I can’t believe Cadence is your dream girl.” He smiles. “It’s a small world. At least now I know it wasn’t just some drunken dream,” he comments.

“Hey.” I turn to face him.

“There he is. Now I have your attention.”

“I don’t want to leave them here.”

“They’re going to be just fine. I’m next door, and I’ve been watching out for her since the moment my wife declared Cadence as her new bestie.”

“It’s my job,” I say, irritated and thankful at the same time that my best friend has been looking out for my family.

My family.

“Maybe I can convince her to come with me?”

“Nah, she’s got a good job, which she never misses unless it’s for Hazel. She saves all of her time off for that little girl.”

“She’s a good mom.”

“She is.”

“I’m in love with her.” I see him nod from the corner of my eye.

“Figured as much.”

“It’s crazy, right? One night, and then this weekend, and my heart feels as though it could explode from how much I feel for her.”

“Is it maybe just because she’s the mother of your daughter? And by the way, no paternity test?”

“No. She’s mine. I feel it.”

“She looks like you. I don’t know how Thea and I didn’t put it together before now. Well, I do. I knew about your dream girl, and so did Thea.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” I say to him, but he keeps going.

“She also knew about Cadence’s situation. I’m shocked she didn’t put two and two together.”

“She probably would have, but I never told you where I was when I met her. I didn’t tell you it was my last visit.”

“That’s probably it. You know my wife, if she even suspected, she would have been all over that like a rat on a Cheeto.”

“I do know my sister, and you’re right. She would have been,” I agree. Cadence and I both have regrets from that night. We both have to live with them, and move forward. That’s exactly what I plan to do. Move forward as a family. Leaving him, I go to my girls, lowering myself to the floor to sit next to them. I offer Hazel my finger, which she latches onto immediately.

“Are you ready to go?” Cadence asks.

“No.”

“You have a three-hour drive,” Thea reminds me.

“I know. I’m not going.”

“What do you mean you’re not going?” my sister asks.

I ignore her and look to Cadence. “I can’t make myself leave the two of you.” I hear my sister say “aww,” but I continue to ignore her. “Do you think you can take a day or two off and come with me?”

“I don’t know. I save that time in case Hazel gets sick.”

“You’re not doing it all on your own anymore, Cadence. You have me, and I promise you I’ll be there for every minute. Please?” I’m aware of the pleading in my voice, and I’m not the least bit ashamed, not when it comes to my girls. I’ll do what it takes.

“Babe, have you seen my phone? I need to record this. Trevin Hubbard is begging.” Scott chuckles.

Raising my hand in the air, I flip him off, making him laugh. Hazel turns to look at me, and I move to take her from Cadence. “Hey, baby girl,” I say softly. “Tell Momma you want to take a road trip with Daddy,” I tell my daughter. She just smiles and coos. “See, babe. She wants to go.”

“I can’t just call in, Trevin.”

“How much time do you need?”

She’s quiet so long I think she’s going to flat out turn me down. I’m surprised when she pulls out her phone and taps the screen before putting it to her ear. “Hi, Debbie, this is Cadence. Something has come up, and I was hoping to take a few days off. I know I have patients scheduled, but—” She stops and listens. “Really? Are you sure? Thank you so much, Debbie. I’ll be back on Monday.” She hangs up and looks at me. “That was my boss. It turns out she was going to offer me some time off this week. There’s a new therapist starting, and she wants her to take my schedule for the week, while Debbie works with her to show her the ropes.”

“Why not just have you train her?” Thea asks.

“Debbie likes to get firsthand knowledge of how her new hires are with patients. She always trains herself. The last time she did this, I got caught up on charting and did some continuing education classes.”

“You said Monday.”

“Yeah, I’m free this entire week.” I don’t even try to hide my smile. My girls are coming home with me, which means I don’t have to be without them. I’ve already missed so much time, the thought of leaving them even temporarily was tearing me in two.

“Come here.” I motion for her to lean closer. As soon as her lips are close enough, I kiss her, not giving a damn that we have an audience. “You’re coming home with me?”

“For a few days.”

“That’s all I need. Come on.” I manage to stand, still holding Hazel. “We need to pack what she’s going to need for the week. I read that it’s best to travel when babies are sleeping to not interrupt their routine. If we leave here around eight, we can make it to my place at eleven, feed her, and maybe she’ll sleep for the rest of the night.”

“You read? Why have you been reading about babies?” Scott asks.

“Because I’m a father.”

“When?” Thea asks.

“While my girls were sleeping the past two nights.”

“Trevin,” Cadence whispers. I can see the wonder in her eyes, and the disbelief. I don’t care how long it takes, I’m going to prove to her that I’m in this. That she and our daughter are my world. I know it’s fast, but when you know, you know, and I am certain that she is who I want. I want us to raise our daughter together, and have more babies that I’ll be there for every step of the way.

“I needed to know what to expect, how to take care of Hazel, and help you. You’ve had the entire pregnancy and the first three months of her life to get up to speed. I had some catching up to do. I still have some catching up to do.”

Cadence nods, leaning in and pressing her lips to mine. “You’re one of a kind, Trevin Hubbard. I’m so glad we found our way back.”

“Me too, baby. Me too.” My voice is thick, and I’m man enough to admit I’m choked up. I went from wondering if I had imagined her and our night together, to having a family. I’ll take the latter every damn time.

“You better get moving,” Thea says. I can hear the tears in her voice, and sure enough, when I glance at my sister, she’s wiping at her cheeks as Scott takes their son into his arms.

“Hear that, baby girl?” I ask Hazel. “You get to come home with Daddy for a few days.” I’m already imagining them in my space. Sure it’s not where we’re going to be living, but having them in my home, it’s going to make this all that much more real.

“Call me when you get there,” Thea says.

“We will,” Cadence assures her.

I stand with Hazel in my arms, offering Cadence my hand. We say a quick goodbye before heading across the hall to pack.

* * *

“For such a tiny thing, she sure needs a lot,” I say as I carry in the final bag.

“Well, she needed the Pack ’n Play to have a safe place to sleep. Bottles, diapers, formula, clothes, blankets, toys.” Cadence stops and begins to laugh. “She does have a lot. I’ve never gone anywhere except to Thea’s or to visit Shelby for a few hours or to the doctor’s office. This is a first for me.”

“Well, we’re going to need to find a bigger place. She’s already overrunning your apartment, and when we have more, it’s going to get worse. Besides, there are only two bedrooms.”

“We? A bigger house?” she asks.

“Yeah, we’re doing this, right? You, me, and Hazel?” I study her hard and see the tears well in her eyes.

Slowly, she nods. “Y-Yes. We’re doing this.”

“Good. Now, let me figure out how to set this thing up in my room, and we’ll get her fed and changed and back into bed.”

“Let’s just set up the Pack ’n Play and try to lay her down. She might sleep a little longer.”

“Okay. Well, here goes nothing.”

“You watch her, and I’ll put it up.”

“I need to learn how to do it,” I tell her.

“It’s easy. It just pops open. Show me where to set it up.”

Picking up Hazel’s car seat which she’s snoozing in, I lead Cadence to my bedroom. “In the corner, maybe?”

“That should be fine.” Cadence wastes no time getting to work setting up the Pack ’n Play, and I watch, making sure I see how she does it. I don’t want to be the dad who never does a damn thing for his kid. We made her together. We’re going to take care of her together. That’s how my parents raised Thea and me, and that’s how I plan for us to raise Hazel.

Together.

“You want to try, or do you want me to?” Cadence points to our sleeping daughter.

“I’ll do it.” I set the seat on the bed and slowly unclasp the straps. Well, I try to. “What is this, some kind of torture device?” I ask Cadence, making her laugh.

“Let me show you.” She moves in close, and I step back, letting her do her thing. My hands rest on her hips. She’s standing in front of me, with me looking over her shoulder, watching her as she expertly unclasps the straps and lifts our sleeping daughter. Hazel’s little body stretches, but she doesn’t wake up, not even when Cadence lays her back down. “She’ll sleep for a few more hours.”

“Okay. Well, let’s make sure we have everything we might need unpacked for when she does, and we can lie down and try to get some sleep too.”

“Everything we should need is going to be in the diaper bag. I made sure it was well packed before we left.”

“Perfect. T-shirts are in the top drawer. I’m going to go lock up. Need anything?”

“No.” She shakes her head.

“I’ll be right back.” With a quick kiss to her lips, I leave my room to lock up the house. I find myself checking all the doors twice, and even the windows. I have two ladies to protect, and I take that shit seriously. Satisfied that the house is secure, I grab two bottles of water from the fridge and, in the dark, make my way to my room.

“Is this okay?” she asks, looking down at the old concert T-shirt of mine that’s covering what I know is the sexiest body I’ll ever lay eyes on.

“You’re perfect.” I place one of the bottles of water on the nightstand next to where she’s standing and walk around the bed, peeking in on Hazel before stripping down to my underwear. I take a drink of water and turn to Cadence. “Do we need to keep the lamp on for her?”

“No, she’ll be fine in the dark.”

“What about you?”

“You’re here to protect me, right?” she teases.

“Always.” I switch off the lamp and crawl under the covers. The bed dips when she does the same, and I waste no time moving over and pulling her into my arms. “Night, baby.”

“Night, Trevin.”

I’m exhausted from the drive and the two previous sleepless nights. With both of my girls here with me, though, it takes no amount of time for sleep to claim me.