I nod, squeezing his hand. “I thank the universe every day that you found me throwing up in that toilet, Owen Bower.”
He laughs, running his thumb up and down the top of my hand. “Me too, Lottie. Me too.”
I lean in to give him a quick kiss before pulling back.
“And if you’re worried about legal advice, you could talk to my mum about it,” he says.
“I’ll call her tomorrow,” I say. “Thank you for caring about me and my baby as much as you do, Owen.”
He takes the opportunity to pull me into him, our bodies perfectly aligned. I bring my lips to his, thankful for our little moments alone. I know from experience that the beginning stages of a relationship usually mean more time with one another, but we’ve never had a typical relationship to begin with.
So, while we have this time together, we take full advantage of it. Both our clothes end up in a pile on the floor. Neither of us stop the exploration of one another until we’re exhausted, a heaped mess, tangled together.
“I have to say, I was a little surprised you called.” Reeve stares at Rosie sleeping in her pram while he sips his piccolo. That’s Reeve for you, dark coffee to match that dark exterior.
We’re at the café where Stana used to work, a small coffee shop in my neck of the woods. After my talk with Owen, I figured it might do me some good to get the perspective of someone who’s been in a position similar to Rosie’s. Reeve’s dad abandoned him before he was even born—well, that’s what he was told, anyway. The reality of the situation was much more complicated than anyone could have known.
“I figure I should have reached out months ago, but with everything that went on with you and Em, it probably wasn’t the right time.”
His face pinches at the memory of the turmoil he had with Em at the start of the year.
I wrap my hand around my warm drink while the other rocks Rosie so she’ll stay asleep.
“You need to do these things on your own time.”
I nod. “Well, either way, I appreciate you meeting me on your lunch break. I know how busy you are.”
“It’s really no problem, Lottie. I’m assuming you want to know about my childhood?” He leans back in his chair. “Ask away.”
“Uh, okay,” I say, suddenly unsure how to begin. “I guess what I really want to know is how you felt growing up without a dad. I know Owen didn’t have his around either, but different set of circumstances. I guess I just wanted to get a perspective from someone who really knows what it’s like to be—”
“Abandoned?” he cuts in, no malice behind his words.
I nod. “Yeah, I guess to put it bluntly.” That’s the thing about Reeve—he doesn’t beat around the bush and waste time.
“Honestly?”
“Don’t sugarcoat shit for me. I want the truth.”
He chuckles. “I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of sugarcoating a situation, Lottie.”
My lips pull slightly at the sides. “So?”
“In short? It felt like shit and gave me a plethora of long-term issues that then spread into my relationship with Emilia and nearly cost me the most important thing in my life.”
My mouth drops open, a spot of coffee spilling out.
“But,” he says, leaning forward, his arms resting upon his long legs, “it wasn’t as simple as Dad leaving did all that to me. I think the biggest part of my issues stemmed from how it was handled by my mum. She’s not a bad person, but she refused to tell me anything about him, wouldn’t speak of him, had an excess of husbands over the years, and I didn’t handle it well.”
I nod, knowing the home situations of Rosie and Reeve are quite different.
“The root of my anger with it all was that I felt lied to. I never had another father figure. Hell, I struggled to feel like I had a mum most days. But Lottie, hear me when I say this. Not having a dad around isn’t a recipe for disaster.”
“Okay?”
“I know Emilia filled you in on everything that happened with my dad last year.”
I nod, thinking back to the fact it came out that his father didn’t know he existed, his mother keeping the secret from them both his entire life. But as a mother myself, I feel the need to think she must have had her reasons.
“I thought my entire life if I just had a dad, everything would have been okay. But over the past year I’ve come to realize that sure, Mum handled it terribly, but she did it because she loved me. My dad was in no state to be a father; I still question if he is. I don’t think it would have done me any favors to have him in my life. Sometimes them not being there is better. And sometimes they just can’t be there, even if you want them to.”
I nod, knowing that as much as I wish Beck had stepped up, if he was only planning to disappoint her, that wasn’t the type of role model she needed in life.
“Plus, I think we both know Rosie isn’t lacking a father figure in her life. I have zero worry for you and her. I had a different situation than her, but I get it and if down the line when she’s older she has questions, she can come to me.”
I’m speechless. In the year I’ve known Reeve, I’ve never known him to say so much. I could swear this is more than I’ve ever heard him talk combined.
“You know, Reeve Sawyer, I might have to guess you’re a big softy under that hard exterior.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he says, suddenly out of words.
I chuckle, clearly making him a little
