I got out of my car and walked toward the front of the hospital when he saw me.
He staggered over to me, lifting a bottle I hadn’t noticed before.
“Oh, ho. If it isn’t the Benson boy. All grown up now.”
I didn’t want to stop, but he walked up to me, grabbing my arm.
I pulled it away from him and stared down at him, “What do you want?”
“What every father wants. To see how my kids are.”
“Why would I know how your kids are?”
“I saw the game today. I saw you check on my boy. You know, it was your fault he got his ass kicked as often as he did.”
“It wasn’t my fault. It was yours. You wanted perfection out of a kid that was fifteen you sick fuck. Did it bring you pleasure to beat up your kid?”
Their dad tried to square up to me, “You know nothing.”
I lifted a brow, “I know more than you think. Fuck you. You are a horrible excuse for a father and a man. Your kids got to where they are because they worked hard, not because of anything you did for them. Especially Creed. He came out better despite you.”
I turned, walking into the hospital, when I saw Kresslee standing behind me.
Their father said, “Kress! My girl.”
I turned, holding up my hand, “Don’t talk to her. You lost that right a long time ago.”
“She is my daughter!”
Kresslee put her hand in mine, “No, I’m not. You are nothing to me, and nothing to Creed.”
She pulled me away, and I followed her. I heard her father yelling at us, but we both ignored him.
As soon as we were in the hospital, away from prying eyes, Kresslee fell into my arms.
I pulled her around a corner and held her tightly as she shuddered against my chest. I knew she was crying.
Her shoulders shook, and I let her cry for a few seconds longer until I couldn’t stand it. I lifted her chin, making her look up at me.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she still was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
“I heard what you said to my father. Why?”
“I couldn’t help it. I saw him, and I couldn’t stand that he broke you guys down. That he broke Creed down. Creed shouldn’t have had to suffer as much as he had in his life. That’s not what a real man does. He doesn’t break his kids down until they think they are nothing. He lifts them up so that they rise above. That’s what my dad did for me. I refuse to ever let our kids ever feel as if they are nothing. I won’t let it happen. I will protect you from what life has to throw at us. I will do my best to make Creed believe that I’m on his side too. I won’t let you go babe. I refuse to let you go. Not now. Creed will just have to deal with it.”
She looked up at me, a tear sliding down her cheeks, “I love you. I knew you were meant to be mine from the moment I saw you.”
“I think that’s my line.”
I leaned in so that I could kiss her, “Come on. I need to talk to Creed. It’s time to put this behind us. We are going to make our own family, and he needs to be part of it.”
She bit her lip, smiling at me, then led the way to Creed’s room.
She opened the door, and I took a deep breath before following her inside.
Creed was looking out the window but turned his head when we walked inside his room.
He glared at me, “What are you doing here?”
