The Pickup (Imperfect Love 1)

“You okay?” Coach asks, concern evident in his eyes. I glance from my son to him, and I know what I need to do. My words aren’t going to make a difference with Liv or her dad. I need to show them through my actions.

“Yeah.”

“We’re going out for brunch to celebrate a belated Christmas. Would you like to join us?”

I consider it for a moment, but then Olivia walks back out, dressed and shooting daggers at me, and I figure it would be best not to upset her further.

“That’s okay. There’s something I need to take care of. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.” I’m about to walk out the door, but before I do, I stop and lean down and give my son a kiss on his forehead.

When I get home, I put a call in to my attorney with my request. He says he’ll file the paperwork today, and Olivia should receive the papers in the next two to three days. Next, I call Celeste, not wanting her to hear it from anyone else. When it goes straight to her voicemail, I remember she’s on a plane to Los Angeles.

I text Killian and ask him to meet me at the baby store, and he agrees. I’m scared as shit at the idea of being someone’s dad, but I’m confident that with time I’ll get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect, right?

* * *

I’m pretty sure we purchased every item imaginable at the baby store. Luckily, they deliver, and I won’t have to deal with any of it until tomorrow when it all arrives. I have practice in the morning, so I scheduled it all to arrive in the afternoon. Seeing that it’s almost nine o’clock here, I call Celeste since she more than likely arrived in LA a couple hours ago.

“Nick,” she answers.

“How’s it going in LA?”

“Good. It’s a quick visit for a last minute shoot for my spring line. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Look, if it’s about me not going with you to see Olivia…”

“I’ve decided to file for joint custody. My attorney is filing the paperwork today.”

When she doesn’t say anything, I continue. “I want to be Reed’s dad.”

“Reed?” Her voice is soft, very unlike Celeste.

“That’s his name. I saw him today, and he has the most beautiful green eyes and a thick mop of brown curls. He deserves to have a dad. I know you of all people can understand that.” Celeste stays quiet, so I keep talking. If we’re going to work in any way she’s going to have to be on board with my son staying here in our home. “I got a bunch of baby stuff today. It’s all being delivered tomorrow.”

“Where’s it all going to go? We only have three bedrooms.”

“Killian is helping me move my desk and files into your office. I figured we can just share one office. And that will open up a room, so that I can turn it into a nursery for when Reed comes over.” When Celeste doesn’t say anything, I pull the phone away from my ear. It shows she’s still on the line. “Celeste?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “I need to run.”

“Okay…have a good night.”

“You, too.”

Eleven

Olivia

“That motherfucker!” I throw the papers onto the table, and Giselle swipes them up. I’m so pissed I could murder him!

“He filed for joint custody?” she questions after reading the top document.

“Yep! The last thing he said to me was that he didn’t want kids! He said he wouldn’t be a good dad! Now…he wants shared fucking custody! Fifty-fifty!”

I sit down at the table, my head resting in my hands. I don’t know what happened, what changed his mind, but he could’ve let me know. “We could’ve discussed this. I don’t understand what happened that made him not only change his mind but file for joint-fucking-custody.”

“It says he agrees to pay child support as well.” Giselle sets the document on the table. “Maybe he’s just trying to do the right thing.”

Do the right thing…those are the same words Nick threw at me the other day.

“I should’ve known he was up to something when he came back the other day.” I pull out my phone and call my attorney. His assistant puts me through.

“Olivia, I just received the petition.”

“He said he didn’t want kids.” My voice cracks at the thought of my baby having to go with him and his evil fiancée—which reminds me that I still need to throw away all of the makeup with her stupid name on them! “He didn’t want Reed. Why is he doing this?”

“I’m not sure. But as a father who has established paternity, he’s within his rights. You have thirty days to respond, but he’s requested he be given visitation in the meantime.”

“How long do I have before I need to respond to his request for visitation?”