Hold On to Me

“Oh. Well, Ben has brown eyes if I recall correctly.”

Alyssa shivered thinking about his eyes and the power they wielded. “They’re brown.” She confirmed.

“Yeah, so I’m thinking Brooke would have been born with brown eyes since it’s a dominate gene if she was Ben’s, right? Anything else would either be green or blue coming from either parent if they both had those colors, right?”

Alyssa shrugged. What John said made sense, but the hell if she knew. “I guess.”

“I haven’t gone for the paternity test yet …” she trailed off, looking away when she sat down.

“Understandable. You have a lot on your plate right now.”

How was he so understanding? “I’ll go soon. I promise.”

John looked at her. “I know you will.” He was so happy he was beaming from ear to ear. Brooke was the cutest, most adorable baby he had ever laid eyes on. He already wanted to give her the world.

“Oh, shoot … she’s fussing.

”

Alyssa leaned on John’s shoulder, feeling the heat beneath his shirt. “It’s okay. Just give her the pacifier.”

“Does she sleep at night for you?”

“Oh heck no, but your mom has been a blessing. During the day I’ll sleep and she’ll watch her. I can’t complain.”

“That’s good, Alyssa. Real good.”

She smiled softly.

“I know you told my mom two months and then you’d leave. I was thinking, what if you got a place by me?”

Alyssa looked at the lake. Aside from some heartbreaking memories, how could she ever leave South Fork? She had grown to love the small, homey town.

“I don’t know … I would be all alone with a newborn.”

What the hell was he? Chopped liver? “There are places all around my base in South Carolina. We wouldn’t be far from Georgia … and I can come and help on the weekends, maybe even on my days off.”

Alyssa stayed silent.

“All I know is that I want you near me, and I’m willing to do what it takes. I miss having you around, Alyssa. I miss our friendship … I miss us.” He looked deeply in her eyes when he said us. “So, I’ll pay half the rent, you pay the other half because I know you won’t have it any other way.”

“There is that.” No one was going to call her a mooch. She didn’t have much money saved, but she had enough to get her by.

“What do you have here? What’s holding you back?”

“Nothing, apparently,” she responded dejectedly.

“So just think about it, you have time. All I know is that I have to be near this little cupcake,” John raised his chin at Brooke. He had only been in her presence for an hour and he already hated the idea of having to leave her.

The choice had been an easy one to make.

Their friendship had grown strong, much stronger than she anticipated considering all the strife both of them dealt with. He could do anything he wanted, yet he was with her as many weekends a month as his training permitted him. John was slowly working his way under her skin, weaving himself through her emotions and latching on to her heart. It was a big step for Alyssa, one she was hoping wasn’t a mistake as she gradually let him in. She tried to push back her emotions, the feeling in her heart when he was around, but it wasn’t easy.

As she stood in the kitchen of her new apartment–a small two bedroom that John found for her outside his base–with boxes surrounding her and a fussing Brooke on her shoulders, bright lights blazed through the window. Her heart kicked up, skipped a beat and lodged in her throat as she patted her daughter’s back while she bounced her. She hadn’t been alone since leaving Ben and she suddenly found herself frightened.

Knocking twice, John pushed the knob down and then entered the apartment. “Alyssa?” he yelled. Big eyes and pale skin, Alyssa stood in the kitchen with Brooke, who was gnawing at her tiny fist and drooling everywhere. John’s brows furrowed.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s only you.”