Fighting For a Second Chance (Fighting 1)

She huffs and puffs but finally relents. “Okay, I guess I’ll go get my costume.” My poor baby looks so defeated, it breaks my heart.

I look over at Cooper and he looks just as defeated as our little girl. These two are going to be the death of me. I can’t have them ganging up on me.

When we get home from the costume shop, Bella takes her costume up to her room to put in her closet. Luckily once we got there her mood improved and after almost an hour of debating, she decided on the Elsa costume. Of course, Cooper bought her every matching accessory to go with the costume, most likely out of guilt, but I didn’t stop him. He tried to be upbeat for Bella, but I could still see the sadness in his eyes.

Glancing at the clock and seeing it’s almost time for my parents and brother to arrive, I do a sweep through of the house, making sure everything is clean. Because we don’t have any guestrooms, they’ll be staying at a hotel nearby, but they’ll be coming here after they check-in to have dinner with us and meet Cooper.

I look around for Cooper and notice he’s disappeared. I search the house for him and find him in the office.

“Hey, handsome. What are you up to?”

He looks up and with sadness in his eyes. “Nothing, just looking at a couple of work emails. What time will your family be here?”

Wanting to speak to him about his sour mood, but knowing we don’t have time since my family is due to arrive any minute, I move in front of him to sit on the desk, wrapping my legs around his body and my arms around his neck. I pull his face toward mine. He knows what I’m after, and as always, he doesn’t disappoint.

His lips meet mine in a punishing kiss as his hands move to my ass. He pulls me closer to him until my body is almost one with his. We kiss for several minutes, our tongues swirling around one another until Cooper backs up.

“Fuck, baby girl, I needed that. I’m sorry I’m being a cranky ass. I’ll try to shake it off before your parents get here. I don’t want them to think I’m an ogre.”

Laughing at his comment, I lean in for another kiss, my tongue swiping across his lips, seeking entrance. When my tongue enters, he sucks on it before backing away leaving me unsatisfied and frowning.

“Hey, now who’s the one pouting? We both can’t be cranky.” He runs his thumb along my lips to straighten out the frown on my face.

“Cooper, there’s no reason to feel guilty. You have to work. There’ll be plenty of holidays in the future. Don’t let this get to you and ruin your day.”

“Liz, did you see how upset Bella was? Of course I’m going to be upset and feel guilty. I don’t want to miss important shit in her life. This is exactly why I said…”

I cut him off, knowing exactly where he is going, refusing to let him go there.

“Oh no, you don’t. Don’t start. Missing a holiday doesn’t make you a crappy dad or boyfriend and it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have us in your life. So just get those thoughts out of your head. You hear me?”

“Yeah, baby,” he says, the sad undertone still residing in his voice. I’m going to need to come up with a way to make this right. I can’t have him beating himself up every time he has to go away for work.

I hear a knock on the front door as Bella starts yelling my parents are here.

Letting her open the door, she squeals in glee as my mom and dad both take her in their arms for a hug and then move on to me. My brother lifts Bella into his arms and gives her a huge hug as he carries her into the living room.

“Mom, Dad, Mathew, this is my boyfriend, Cooper. Cooper, this is my mom, Macy, my dad, Randy, and my brother, Mathew.”

Cooper shakes everyone’s hands and says it’s nice to meet them. Bella watches the entire exchange and then has to join in the conversation.

“Umm, you forgot to tell them the best news ever. Cooper is also my daddy! And the bestest daddy ever.”

Everybody laughs. My family might live long distance, but we talk almost every day and they know all about Cooper. Bella runs right into Cooper and latches on to his legs, giving him the cutest leg hug.

My mom looks at me, her eyes glossy like she’s about to cry from the sweet exchange. I understand completely. We agree on Chinese food to keep it easy, and Bella drags everyone upstairs to show off her room. She spends the entire time explaining every toy and movie her dad has bought her until the food arrives.