Page 62 of Grasp The Moment

“What would you do if you saw her again? I mean, of course, I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but?—”

I know that in this moment, if I don’t explain the true gravity of my relationship with my ex, then the connection that Georgia and I are forming will break.

Instead of letting the signal between us go, I grasp it.

“She left myweek-olddaughter on my mom’s doorstep. It was May eleventh, six days after Delilah was born, according to the birth certificate placed near her head…” I sigh, slouching as I run a hand through my hair.

Georgia’s eyes widen as she sucks in a deep breath. “Shelefther? Oh my goodness… she left her there on my birthday.”

“Really? Well, she left the both of us. You know, I would’ve given her everything. I was ready to be amanfor her—I wasseventeen, Georgia, but I was ready. I started making cooking videos on social media, and I went to job fairs. Hell, Itransformed my bedroom into a nursery and begged Mamá to let her move in. Then she fucking left my daughter on adoorstep.”

Georgia slides in close, her hand wrapping around my shoulder.

I remember it all like it was yesterday. Delilah’s cries, my mother’s prayers. It was all so much. In a span of five minutes, my world changed drastically. I went from creating a two-parent household for my kid two weeks before to being a single dad at seventeen.

I didn’t know the first thing about being a father, let alone having adaughter.

I wanted nothing more than for my daughter to have a mother. Someone to help her grow into womanhood and be the beacon she’s always needed to guide her.

Instead, she was dealt the cards of an immature teenage hockey player from Texas as her only parent.

I can feel Georgia’s rage as she squeezes my shoulder. “You two are better off. No one deserves to be abandoned?—”

“But—”

“No onedeserves to be abandoned, Derek. I don’t care if you were some immature teenager who got his dick wet for the first time. You didn’t deserve that.Shedidn’t deserve you, and you know what? I’m happy she’s gone—not happy how she left, but happy she’s gone. She doesn’t deserve to see the two balls of sunshine that you and Delilah are. You deserve all of the cupcakes, pasta, and love this world has to offer. Give her ass the scraps.”

Chuckling, I bend to rest my head on her shoulder. “Yeah, well, I hope Delilah will understand when she’s older. I tried, Georgia, I did.”

“I know, honey… You’re a fighter,” she says, placing a light kiss on my temple asI sigh.

Getting up from our circle of sadness on the bed, I pull Georgia up.

“Are you hungry?”

She grins sheepishly. “What gave it away?”

“Maybe you mentioning all of your favorite foods in your speech.”

“Touché.”

We walk hand in hand into the kitchen with Georgia leading the way. She makes it a point to sit on the kitchen island, watching as I get dinner ready with a small smile on her face.

She gives me a small thumbs up, turning to the speaker in the corner of the kitchen before winking at me, jumping off of the island.

Seconds later, “Three Little Birds” plays on the loudspeaker, and the small blonde is dancing arrhythmically toward me.

Holding my laughter back, I allow her to pull me into her dance, twisting my body in the same awkward way as her.

“If this is how you dance, I’m happy we didn’t have a real wedding—we’d go viral for lack of rhythm,” she teases, throwing her head back in laughter as I gape at her.

“Ihave no rhythm? Darlin’, you were dancing my way like a male bird on the prowl for his lady,” I toss back as she smiles, rolling her eyes at my teasing.

Georgia pulls me into her, grabbing my hands and placing them on her hips as she sways to the low reggae. My hands fall perfectly on her body, settling as if this is where they’ve always belonged as she leans her head into my chest—the food I’d been about to cook be damned.

“My mom knew,” she says softly and cracks my heart open in three words.

“She knew?”