Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Morning,” I say, and she looks over at me. I move to her and bend to kiss her head.
“I’m making a bagel,” she states, and I turn to the coffee machine, putting a pod in before starting it. She makes herself her breakfast, stopping at the fridge and grabbing some fruit from the shelf before sitting on one of the stools. She takes a bite of her bagel before she pushes back from the island and walks out of the room. I make my coffee, looking back when I hear something slapping the island. “We can study while I eat,” she states, and I can’t help but smile. She must get that from her mom because there was no way when I was her age. I even thought about studying. I don’t have many regrets in my life, but not knowing her mother is going to be one of the biggest ones. I wish I knew her even a little.
I sit on the stool next to her, grabbing her book, “What lesson?” I ask as I open the book and start flipping pages. We spend the next hour going over her spelling words and then her math to make sure she understands it. I wish I could say I understood it, but the way they are teaching math today is just to fucking complicated.
“What time are we leaving,” Penelope asks when she puts her plate in the dishwasher, “to go to lunch?”
“You really want to go to lunch?” I ask her. “You just ate.”
“That was breakfast. I’m going to go get dressed.”
“We can go catch a movie.” I try to make her change her mind, but she just pulls her eyebrows together and shakes her head. She leaves me alone in the kitchen as she goes to get dressed.
I put my own cup in the sink before I go upstairs and get in the shower. I literally take the longest time getting dressed. So long that Penelope comes into my room twice to ask me what I’m doing. I put on jeans and a baby-blue polo shirt and a pair of white sneakers. Penelope is dressed in jeans and a pullover.
I make my way over to Matthew’s place, and like always, cars are everywhere. I park on the street as far away from the cars as possible so I can get out easily when we leave. Last time, Cooper was stuck in the driveway for forty-five minutes, waiting for people to move their cars.
Penelope puts her hand in mine as we walk up the driveway to the front door. I don’t bother ringing because I did that the first time, and then they asked me what the fuck was wrong with me. The minute Penelope opens the door, I hear the chaos coming from the back of the house.
I don’t even see Penelope as she walks in and hugs a couple of the adults before she makes her way over to the kids, who yell her name when she gets there. I can’t help but smile when I see her run to them but then turn around and come back to me. I’m kissing Parker on the cheek when Penelope finds me. “Dad, can you get my backpack so Dylan can sign my puck?”
“Sure thing,” I say, hugging Cooper, OG I call him. Actually, everyone is calling him OG lately. The kids are even calling him Grandpa OG. “I’ll be right back,” I tell Matthew when he finds me walking toward the front door. “Penelope forgot her bag in the car.”
I take five steps to the front door when everything stops. I literally stop mid-step when I see her walking in. She is so fucking beautiful I stop even breathing. Her eyes go big when she sees me but then she is pushed inside the door by Gabriella behind her. “Can you move any slower?” she huffs before she is pushed aside by Michael, who comes in with Jillian and their kids, followed by Dylan and Alex. There are about ten people now standing in the entryway, but my eyes are only on her. Always on her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ABIGAIL
I push open the door, breathing through my nose and out my mouth. The queasiness has never been this strong. The only thing I’m trying to control is not barfing all over the place. My hand is still on the door handle when I take a step in and see him coming to me. My eyes go big when I see him. I don’t even have a chance to do or say anything when I’m pushed inside the door by Gabriella behind me. “Can you move any slower?” she huffs out at me.
I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. My breathing is coming out in puffs right now. My ears feel like they are ringing, and all I can hear is the thumping of my heart. My mouth goes so dry it feels like paste in my mouth. I don’t even have a chance to do anything before Gabriella is pushed aside by Michael, who comes in with Jillian and their kids. “What are you guys doing blocking the door?” He is then pushed to the side by Dylan.