Forever the One (Always and Forever 3)

“Jeffery! I need a word with you, now!” My mom stomps her feet toward the kitchen.

“Fine. Just so you know,” stepping within inches of Kings, he pokes his chest, “I don’t support you two together and hopefully you have some good sense to stay the hell away from Lana.”

“Dad!”

“Don’t, Lana. I can’t even look at you right now.” Walking away from us, my sobs come back full force. Kingston’s arms wrap around me.

“Fuck, I thought I still had time baby. I’m sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine, god Kings he hates me, my dad hates me!” I cry into his shoulder my hands squeezing the shirt at his lower back.

“No, he’s just hurt. If anything he hates me and I don’t blame him. If our baby is a little girl and she came home pregnant by a man like me, I would snap too. Lose it.” I snort into his shirt, seeing it now.

“Is that a laugh? Wait, is there a smile?” Leaning back he cradles my face. “Don’t cry babe, we will get through this. Nothing can pull us apart.” I nod as he wipes my tears with his thumbs. Grabbing his wrist, I smile up at him, his green eyes sparkling.

“I love you, Kingston.”

“I love you.”

“Enough. I want to take my daughter out, alone.” My dad breaks our contact and I fix my shirt, my baby bump catching my dad’s attention. I see something flash in his eyes. Sadness? Happiness? I don’t know, but it leaves as quick as it came.

Kingston doesn’t acknowledge my dad, instead he stays facing me. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he whispers.

“No, I need to. I’ll be fine. Stay with mom and I’ll be back.” Reaching up I kiss his cheek and slide out from his hold on me. My dad glares at him, moving us out the door. We make it to his big truck and he comes around to my side. Before I can open the door he does it, lifting me up by my hips and setting me in the truck. Reaching over me he grabs the seat belt and buckles me in.

I smirk. “Dad, I’m a not little girl. I got it.”

“You’re still my little girl.” Shutting the door I watch him walk around the front of the truck before climbing in and starting her up. The roar of the diesel engine causes the truck to vibrate under us.

We drive around, getting farther out of town and deeper into the canyon. The mountains are a deep green from the snowfall they got last winter. It looks beautiful on this sunny day, almost making me forget the crappy morning I’ve had.

“I don’t trust him farther than I can throw him and that’s not far. That fucker has gotten big since you guys left.” I look at his side profile, he doesn’t take his eyes off the road and I look back out my window smiling over his comment, because Kingston has gotten big, he’s my big man. I love how strong and muscular he is compared to my tiny frame.

“Dad, he’s a great man. He’s not that adolescent playboy you knew, you really think that less of me?” I drop my head, my hands rubbing up and down my thighs wiping the sweat off. My dad hurt me when he said that, telling me I don’t think highly of myself.

“I didn’t mean to say that, okay? I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. Lana, you’re only twenty-two. You’re still so young.”

“I know that dad, I was shocked when I found out too.” I want to roll down the window because the truck feels like it’s closing in on me, the tension coming from my father starting to consume me.

Pulling into a parking space in front of Bridal Veils, he throws the truck into park. I love this spot, my dad and I used to come out here before he would leave on one of his assignments to have lunch and hike the waterfall. The lush green mountain has a waterfall cascading over rocks, it’s beautiful and heavy after every winter.

“Let’s take a walk around the pond.” My dad slides out of the truck, gaining stares and smiles from other people. He’s still in uniform so people tend to smile. Sometimes people will even come up and thank him for his service. I take pride in knowing he’s my father and the service he has done for our country.

I see the pond glistening in the high sun. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I squint and do my best to look forward.

“Here, baby, wear these.” My dad removes his ray-bans and places them in my line of vision. Smiling I take them and slide them on.

“Thanks dad. I swear the sun burns my eyes these days. Seattle is always overcast, they must need to adjust to the sun again.”

“Come home, then.” I look up at him, now able to see better and send him a frown.

“Dad, I’m happy there. Shay and I have a successful business. Kingston and Trey are doing really well also.”

“Don’t say his name right now, please.” I feel the misty breeze hit me and it cools down my heated skin. I’m so confused on what to say or what to do that I can’t control my bodily functions. I feel like a marshmallow roasting on an open fire.

“Please don’t hate me. I can’t stand the thought of you hating me, dad.” I pull my glasses from my eyes just enough to slip a finger in and wipe my falling tears. Pregnancy makes me overly emotional. I used to never cry. Ever. I became voided emotionally after the abuse, but my little peanut inside me makes me unpredictable most days.

“I don’t hate you, baby. I’m just trying to understand this all. I mean you left town against our wants to start a new life. You were fucking broken when you left me, baby girl. I had to lock myself away to keep from going up there to drag you back home.” We stop at a park bench and he sits down. I hesitate and stay standing until he tilts his head, signaling me to sit.