The Pickup (Imperfect Love 1)

Giselle has taken off to go have dinner with Christian, so when there’s a knock on the door, my thoughts are that it’s probably my dad. Corrine asked if she could tell him about the petition Nick filed, and I told her she could.

I look through the peephole, and when I see it’s Nick, I swing the door open. “Don’t you know how to use the intercom system downstairs like everyone else?”

He shrugs. “I figured Reed might be asleep, so I followed someone in.” He steps into my home without invitation. “Have you received my petition yet?”

Guess we’re getting right to it. “Yep, thanks for the heads up.” I go to slam the door but catch it. My anger isn’t worth waking up my newborn baby.

“I was going to tell you, but you weren’t in a good mood. I figured it would be best to show you through my actions.”

“Oh, you sure showed me.” My hands go to my hips.

“Okay…” He gives me a confused look, and I glare at him, silently wishing for a space shuttle to come down and kidnap him. “Well, I haven’t heard back yet, so I wanted to ask if I could see Reed.”

An oversized lump forms in my throat, and I have to swallow several times before I speak. “I just got the papers. I have fourteen days to respond.”

“Yeah, I know, but I was thinking I could spend some time with him while we wait for it all to go through the courts and become official.”

“No.” The word is out before I can stop it, and Nick’s confused look morphs into anger.

“No? You’re going to keep my kid from me?” His eyes glance over my shoulder and around the room for Reed.

“He’s sleeping. I think it’s best if you go. As I said, I have fourteen days to respond, and until then there’s no agreement.” My palms are sweaty, so I rub them down my jeans to calm my nerves.

Nick gives me an incredulous look. “I don’t get it.” He scrubs up and down his face with his hands and then locks eyes with me. “You gotta give me something here, Liv. You can’t really be considering fighting against me for wanting to spend time with our son. You came to me. That day in the locker room. You came in there and flipped my world upside down. You said you didn’t want anything from me. You just wanted me to know I’m the father. What did you think the outcome would be when you told me? If you didn’t want me to be a dad, you shouldn’t have said anything when you recognized me. You fought for this, and now you’re fighting against this. What you’re doing doesn’t make any sense.”

He’s frustrated and confused, and I don’t blame him. He hit the nail directly on the head. I didn’t think any of this through. I saw him playing, and all I thought was that I would be able to give my baby his father. I never imagined that he would be engaged and we wouldn’t be a family. I never considered I would have to give up my son fifty percent of the time. I was blinded by wanting that stupid effing happily-ever-after. But none of this is Nick’s problem. He’s doing the right thing, and he’s right, I can’t keep our son from him.

After I take a calming breath, so I don’t cry in front of him, I force my tears back and say, “You’re right.” I nod once. “It’s late, and like I said, he’s sleeping. Would tomorrow be okay?” I only suggest this because tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. There’s no way he’ll agree to take a baby on one of the biggest partying nights of the year. I’m sure he and his fiancée have plans.

Nick’s shoulders sag in relief. “Yeah, I’m off tomorrow since we played today. I can come by in the afternoon.”

“It’s New Year’s Eve,” I point out, but he simply shrugs.

“I’m pretty sure our only plans were to go to the team party, but I’ll cancel them, or she can go alone.”

“And when would you bring him back?” Please say in a few hours. Please say in a few hours.

“I bought a crib and stuff, so I can keep him for the night and bring him back in the morning. We don’t have practice until the following day.” Not able to speak, I nod again, then walk over to the door, opening it up to indicate I want him to leave. He gives me a quizzical look, but I avert my eyes, not wanting to look at him. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He shoots me a small smile, thanks me, then leaves. When he’s just on the other side of my threshold, he turns around like he’s going to say something but changes his mind. He seems to do that a lot. I shut the door, lock it, and close my eyes, wishing that this entire ordeal is one big nightmare that I’ll soon wakeup from.