She turns to head back into the bathroom. I take a deep breath, flexing my hand. Blood drips down from my knuckles. To my surprise, she comes back out of the bathroom with a small towel in her hand. She heads straight for me.
“Let me see.” She reaches for my hand. I let her take it. She can touch me anywhere she wants. “Why did you do this? It’s not helping anything,” she scolds me. I try not to smile.
“It made me feel better.” She rolls her eyes, holding the towel against my knuckles.
“I was scared,” she admits. I flinch at her words. There is no hiding it.
“I would never harm a hair on your head. You are and will always be my precious girl.” She tilts her head, giving me a small smile. One I’ve missed every day since she disappeared.
“I like when you call me precious. It makes me—”
“Feel loved,” I finish for her. My Kennedy was all alone in the world until I found her and took her for myself.
“I’ve said that before.”
“Yes.” She stares up at me for a long moment.
“I’m sorry I felt that way. I have no idea what happened to me or if someone was trying to kill me or if I was trying to get away.”
“You think you ran from me?” I keep my face expressionless. The thought of her actually trying to get away from me for some reason almost brings me to my knees.
“Not really. When you pushed me back into the bathroom earlier I should have been freaking out then. Instead I let you kiss me. It felt right.”
I relax more. We have enough shit to deal with. I don’t need her thinking I’m the bad guy in her life.
“I started thinking about the baby. I got freaked out. It’s not just me that I have to worry about anymore.” She puts her hand on her stomach. “Thoughts of something happening to the baby started to overwhelm me.”
“I still can’t believe you’re pregnant.” I rest my other hand on top of hers. I try to push down the thoughts of what I’m going to do to whoever did this. They hadn’t only gone after my girl. They put our child in danger too.
“You didn’t know? We weren't trying or anything?”
“No, I didn’t know. As for trying, we never came out and said let's have a baby but we never took precautions either.”
“Do you think you want one now?” I can see the worry in her eyes. It gives me hope that she wants this. That she wants us to be real and for me to be in her life to take care of her and our baby.
“I damn well knew what I was doing each time I took you without protection. I told you I’m a jealous possessive asshole. You being pregnant with our child binds you to me for the rest of our lives.” I watch as her face flushes.
She lifts up the towel to check on my knuckles. “We should get something to make sure it doesn't get infected.”
“It’s fine.” I blow it off.
“No, I want to put something on it.”
I let out a laugh. “All right. If you want to take care of me, I’m sure as hell not going to stop you. I can have someone bring it up. I need to get you food too.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“I’m still ordering you something. You went into the diner and didn't eat. You’re pregnant.”
“Okay,” she agrees. I lead her over to the sitting area, grabbing the phone on the way to call downstairs. I place the order and tell them to bring something for my hand before I end the call.
“You didn't ask what I wanted.” She doesn't look mad about it.
“Did I get it wrong? If there is a chicken marsala on a menu you’re getting it.”
“This is true.” She lets out a small giggle that helps calm me down. I found her. I need to focus on that right now. “It’s so strange. You know me better than I know myself. Will you tell me more?”
Honestly I’m not sure if I want to. Life hasn't always been easy for her. She was dealt some fucking shit parents that I wouldn’t mind her forgetting. They left emotional scars on her. I had to work my way past her walls and try to heal them. I wanted her to realize that every man wasn’t like her father.
I reach over, picking her up easily and putting her in my lap. She doesn't protest. In fact, she leans into me.
“Your father is a piece of shit.” Her eyes go round. “Your mom has problems too. The only thing that she thinks can fix them is at the bottom of a bottle of booze.”
“Do I have anyone?” She doesn't look upset but more curious. I suppose you can’t miss something if you don’t know it was even there to begin with. I hold her tighter.