Page 67 of The Deadbeat DILF
The relief in his voice made an ache fill my chest. All he ever needed was someone to fight for him for once. He took so many hits without fighting back, never believing he was worth defending.
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll always have your back.”
Finally, we were fighting. Together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A few months later.
I strode out of my office with a smile on my face, ready to get home and see Robert after a long day of work. As I expected, he crushed his interview with the big construction company, and they hired him immediately after that, paying him far more than his old job.
It was exactly what he needed for a confidence boost, and it also helped that Emily and Noel were smart enough to settle outside of court. In the end, we hired Lynn to represent Robert, since she was an expert in that area of law.
Showing up at Emily and Noel’s house, in retrospect, wasn’t my most thought-out move, but I didn’t regret it. It was important for me to defend Robert in front of his family.
Emily and Noel had settled a month ago. They kept the house and the company, which Robert didn’t mind—he didn’t want them anymore since they were associated with bad memories. However, they did have to pay Robert back everything that was unfairly taken from him. It was an eye-watering lump sum of money, and when Robert found out how much it was, he’d hadn’t been able to speak for several minutes.
As great as all that money was, the best thing that came out of that situation was Robert repairing his relationship with Mike. During the legal battle, Mike had realized his mother wasn’t a complete victim, and had some manipulative tendencies. He’d decided to take a step back, and finally moved out, so he hadmore independence and wasn’t constantly subjected to Emily’s influence.
Now, Mike was slowly growing closer with Robert. Things weren’t perfect, but they usually hung out once a week, and Mike was gradually seeing that Robert wasn’t the deadbeat dad he always thought he was, but rather someone who’d tried his best in a shitty situation.
To my surprise, Mike had learned to accept my relationship with Robert. I’d expected him to still find it weird, but he must’ve seen how much we cared for each other. In fact, he’d once thanked me for helping his dad out and apologized for everything he’d said in my office.
I forgave him. I’d understood where he was coming from. He just wanted to protect me.
I’d also told my friends everything. When I revealed that Robert and I were back together, and that I loved him, they were incandescently happy for me. I’d invited them over for dinner, so Alison could meet Robert for the first time. Emilia had praised his cooking like she’d done the first time she’d met him. It was a lovely evening, and I was glad that they liked each other. Afterwards, Alison and Emilia told me they could tell how much he made me happy, and that it was so obvious he was desperately in love with me.
“He didn’t take his eyes off you all night!” Emilia had said.
Alison had mentioned hosting another party, and that she would invite Robert too. I was excited to show him off. Sure, we might get some weird looks because people thought the age gap was strange, but I didn’t care. I had the handsomest, sweetest man in the world.
Now, I opened up my messages with Robert, smiling at his last text message that told me how beautiful I looked this morning. He still made me blush to this day, and I didn’t see thatstopping any time soon, especially since he finally moved in for good.
There was no longer any uncertainty about living arrangements. We were staying together, and I couldn’t be happier. My apartment felt more like home than ever before.
When I arrived home, my heart was racing with excitement. I was still excited to see him every day, and that was just another reason I knew I loved him.
“I’m home!” I called out once I stepped into the foyer, already smelling what I believed to be spaghetti.
“In the kitchen,” Robert called. “We have a guest.”
My brow furrowed. A guest? I wandered into the kitchen and froze at the sight of my mother sitting at the dining table. “What are you doing here?”
Mom tried to smile, but she looked embarrassed. “Hi, Brooke. I just wanted to talk. I promise I’m not here for anything else.”
Translation: she wasn’t here for money. I wasn’t sure whether to believe her.
“Talk about what?” I asked cautiously.
“You. Us,” Mom replied before sighing. “Everything.”
I glanced over at Robert as he stood by the stove. When he gave me an encouraging smile, I nodded at Mom. We hadn’t spoken since the time I showed up at the family’s house and told them to fuck off. But if she was going to put in the effort to come here, the least I could do was give her a chance.
“Dinner is ready. I’m going to eat in my room and finish looking at some blueprints,” Robert said as he placed two bowls full of spaghetti and a plate of garlic bread on the dining table between my mother and me. He kissed me on the forehead before leaving the room, allowing my mother and me to have the dining area to ourselves.
I gave him a grateful smile as he left, then sat down across from Mom. I picked up the fork, but I didn’t eat yet.
“You said you wanted to talk.”
