Protecting His Forever(40)

“You ready to go, baby girl?”

~*~

We ride for hours before we let the horses take a break. Arabella and I walk off into the field. She looks sad and looks off in the distance.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” I bend down beside her.

“I miss momma.” She hangs her head down.

“Oh I know, baby. Your momma is in heaven. She’s always with you in here.” I touch her heart before pushing her hair behind her ear.

“She wants me to be sad. She huwt me.” Tears roll down her face.

Taking her in my arms, I tell her, “I’m so sorry, baby. I promise to never ever hurt you.” Leaning up, I wipe away all her tears. Her bottom lip trembles.

Taking her hand, I lead her back to Kane. This is the beginning for us. This curve ball changes our lives forever. I’m glad that Arabella came into our lives, and I know Kane feels the same way.





Chapter Twelve


Two months later





Two months have passed since we got Arabella. We have had our ups and downs. I fall more in love with Kane every single day watching him be a father to that little girl.

Arabella is the sweetest little girl. She isn’t afraid of us anymore. The scars of what happened to her before she got here will always be there and that kills me. Every single day I try to replace those bad memories with good ones.

“You ready to go, darlin’?”

Turning around, I see Kane leaning against the door frame. Giving him a shy smile, I nod. I still get nervous around him like we just went on our first date. He comes and grabs the cooler which is full of food to take it outside to his truck. I go to the living room. Arabella is sitting on the floor combing her doll's hair.

“You ready to go, sweetheart?”

She looks up and gives me a smile before standing up. Walking over to me she takes my hand. Leading her to the door, I put her shoes on.

“We meeting your momma?”

Looking up at her she is staring at me nervously.

“Yes, my momma.” I tweak her nose which causes her to giggle.

“Will you be my momma?” Arabella places her little hand on my cheek.

The oxygen is sucked out of me. Blinking rapidly, I try to keep the tears at bay.

“I want nothing more, lady bug.”

“Otay, Momma,” she whispers and lays her head on my shoulder.

I love this girl as much as a mother can love her child. No, she is my child. My baby. She changed everything when she came into my life.

She pulls back to look at me before asking, “What ‘bout Kaney?”

“Go ask him about that, sweetheart.” Kissing her forehead, she starts squirming in my arms wanting down. As soon as her feet touch the ground she takes off outside to Kane.

Kane

Turning around I see my baby girl standing beside me. She takes my hand and pulls me down so I’m eye level with her. She shuffles her feet nervously.

“What's the matter, baby girl?” I tip her chin so she is looking directly at me.

“Will you be my daddy?”

My heart stops. I want nothing more than to be her father. To be the person who will protect her from the world, to love her fiercely and unconditionally. To do anything for her. I want to be the man to walk her down the aisle when she gets married. If that ever happens—no one will be good enough for my baby girl. The person that she comes to when she’s sad, the person who holds her hand when she’s afraid to take that next step in life. The person she looks up to. This little girl came into my life and flipped it’s on its head just like Sydney.

“There is nothing more in this world that I would rather be.” I pull her to me and give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Wuv you, Daddy.”

Emotions overcome me. Coughing to get the knot out of my throat, I say, “I love you too, baby girl.”

Hearing sniffling from beside us, I look over to see Syd crying. Her tears break me every fucking time.

“Come here, sweetheart.”

She walks over and cuddles up to my other side. My girls. My world.

Sydney

I watch as Kane holds Arabella to him. His eyes close and his arms flexed around her protectively. She is so small compared to him. I start to cry at the overflowing emotion I feel. Kane looks up and motions for me to join them. Cuddling up to his other side, Kane hugs us both tightly to us.

“Okay, we have to go.” I pull back.

Standing up, I take Arabella’s hand to help her up. Kane leans down to give me a quick kiss. Even that little kiss leaves me breathless. He picks Arabella up and takes her to the truck to buckle her in her car seat.

He gets in and takes my hand. Smiling, I look at the window as we drive past fields of horses. The whole gang is there at the park waiting to meet Arabella. She has had a really rough time starting out with us and we didn’t want to overwhelm her right away, so we kept her away from everyone. I think she’s ready. It’s been two months.