Fighting for her (Novak series #1) {Completed}

19. "It's time to shape up for f**k's sake!"

Darby’s POV



Yesterday’s date was everything I imagined it would be, or well, almost anyway, except for the whole Freddie thing. But no, I don’t regret that part either, because it made me and Hope now stand closer to each other. We shared our pain with each other and became stronger as a result.

However, it was challenging to hold back when our lips met, but I had to remind myself that she deserved better than I could give her at the time. If we’re ever going to have s*x, then it shouldn’t just be a one-night stand, for that matter. No. If so, it’s because we want to be one forever.

Ugh, I sound like Fiona does after she reads one of her romance novels and gets a crush on one of the characters. But the truth is, one-night stands don’t interest me anymore. I don’t want to have s*x with Hope just because I can. If we’re going to do that, then it should be more significant than a meeting through lust.

That’s what made me calm down in the harbor, even though I wanted to rip her pants off and make her p***y drip. I could’ve easily had s*x with her there and then or rented a room at some sleazy motel nearby, but I couldn’t do it. Like I said, Hope, deserves better than that.

Judging by her words, she doesn’t seem to have had any s****l contact or any contact at all with anyone to possibly establish a relationship with. Since it’s the same for me, I think we should wait until the situation feels right for both of us and one of us doesn’t make such a big decision in the heat of the moment because the person is upset.

An infinite number of things can go wrong if such a decision is made at the wrong time, and I want to be able to give her a magical evening that she’ll never forget, if ever. Once we got home yesterday, I kissed her at her bedroom door and saw her red face smiling big at me before I walked into my room to hug my little girl.

That’s why I’m currently making breakfast for the whole family while humming the song Hope sang for Camilla on her first day here. I woke up early but for once felt rested despite my few hours of sleep. Hopefully, those hours of deep sleep were enough for me to be able to carry on with the rest of the day.

I whisk the pancake batter and whistle lowly, utterly unaware of the person slowly coming up behind me. It’s not until an arm embraces me from behind and someone giggles that I react. Behind me stands a smiling Hope with a dressed Camilla in her arms. My little girl gives off a squeal of joy that makes me laugh.

“Hello, my princess,” I say, kissing her cheek. “What are my two favorite girls doing up at this time?”

“Someone missed their dad,” Hope replies.

“Only her?” I ask, smiling smugly.

” No, I did too,” she replies confidently, and it amazes me, considering how shy she usually is in my presence.

Instead of questioning or embarrassing the situation, I decide to kiss her forehead and then continue cooking breakfast. Hope helps the best she can with an arm as Camilla still cuddles in her arms. In the end, all the food is ready, and when our eyes meet, I can’t help but press my lips against hers.

Our mouths move softly towards each other, and I now know there was no one before, and there’ll be no one after her. Hope is whom I’m meant to be with, hopefully for the rest of my life. She’s the one I want to wake up next to and protect through it all.

Someone clears their throat, and we jump apart, only to see the rest of the family standing in the doorway to the kitchen with their mouths open. I guess none of them were prepared to witness us being intimate this early in the morning in my parents’ kitchen additionally. In the end, Jessie and Noah start laughing loudly.

”I knew it was a matter of time!” Jessie exclaims, extending his hand to Noah. “You owe me twenty dollars.”

What surprises me, even more, is when he smugly turns around to the rest of my family with his hand outstretched, and they all sigh before also handing over money to Hope’s little brother. Hope’s cheeks are red, and she puts her hair behind her ear as she usually does when she gets embarrassed.

”I’ve been waiting forever for you stubborn young people to see what the rest of us have seen for weeks now,” mom says, hugging Hope with all her motherly love. “Welcome to the family, honey.”

Hope smiles at mom with tears in her eyes; she probably feels moved that we all accept her for who she is, without her having to be someone else. Dad is the next person to congratulate us and hug Hope as one of the family. Finally, we all sit down at the table, including Caleb, which surprises me considerably considering our recent fight.

“Thank you for making breakfast, Hope,” mom says.” I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, it wasn’t me,” she replies, smiling at me when mom looks confused. “It was Darby who cooked the food. I just helped with little things.”

“Who are you, and what have you done to my son?” mom asks me and laughs.

We eat and laugh together until it’s time for us to leave. The adults go to work and the children to school. Hope and Camilla are the only ones staying. Jessie is back at school, even though he would rather be home. On the other hand, what teenager wouldn’t rather be at home than at school?

“See you tonight, princess,” I say, kissing Camilla on the forehead before my eyes meet Hopes.” And I’ll see you tonight too, my queen.”

❖ ❣ ❖ ❣ ❖

The hours move slowly during the day. It doesn’t matter how many stories Hugo tells about his sons; time doesn’t go any faster anyway. My gaze glides back to the clock repeatedly until it finally turns four, and I can go back home to my girls. I practically throw myself into the car and drive home like a maniac.

Hope and Camilla are out on the lawn when I get home. She shows something that she has in her hand to Camilla, who stares, fascinated. I move towards them and look down. Hope holds a bright red ladybug with five black dots. The ladybug stretches out its wings and flies away while Camilla bounces excitedly in Hope’s arms.

“What is this, little queen?” I ask, and Camilla turns around with a big smile. “Don’t you notice when daddy comes home anymore?”

As if she can understand what I’m saying, she starts bouncing like crazy and screaming with joy. I laugh and sit down behind Hope. She leans against my chest, and I put my head on her shoulder to be able to look down at Camilla. I caress her hand and kiss Hope on the cheek.

More cars roll into the driveway, and the rest of the family jumps out one by one. Mom smiles big at the picture of us while Noah giggles with Jessie beside him, as they always do when they see us doing something “cute” together. I’m not ashamed, though, and neither does Hope seem to be when she turns her head to kiss my lips.

“You’re divinely sweet!” mom exclaims, almost bouncing out of her shoes in euphoria.

Unfortunately, everything good ends, and Hope has to move to be able to pick up her ringing phone from her pocket. She looks anxiously at the screen before handing Camilla over to me and standing up. I want to follow her but conclude that she needs some privacy when she takes the call.

“How was your day, my boy?” mom asks, sitting next to me while my younger siblings rush into the house.

I answer without thinking about what I’m saying and look at Hope instead, who’s obviously upset about something. In the end, she hangs up and wipes her tears which apparently fall, before slowly walking towards me. But instead of coming up to me, she walks to the doorway and shouts at Jessie.

“Jessie, we have to go to the hospital!” she calls, and footsteps thump down the stairs.

“Why? What happened? Are you hurt?” he asks anxiously, studying her body.

“The police called,” she replies, and understanding sweeps over Jessie’s face. “Farris is in the hospital. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Well, if you’re going there, I’ll go with you,” he replies, and Hope nods before turning in our direction.

Mom and I both nod. We’ll be there to support her if she needs us there.

❖ ❣ ❖ ❣ ❖

We follow Hope through the hospital’s corridors and wait outside the door when the siblings enter. I want to come along but understand that it’s crossing a line if she doesn’t personally ask me to go in. Farris says something to Jessie, who responds briefly, and it doesn’t take long before he comes out again. He sits down away from us, and we leave him alone while we listen to Hope.

“Why doesn’t he want to talk to me? I’m his dad,” Farris mumbles, sounding like an immature child.

“Why doesn’t he want to talk to you? Are you kidding me?” Hope asks with anything but kindness in her voice. “You have let the boy down again and again since he was born. You aren’t his father and don’t deserve to be called a parent at all.”

“I did my best to be able to–.”

“You didn’t do anything to help, Farris!” she roars. “You’ve made it clear to us once again how selfish you actually are. Considering that you are hospitalized for alcohol poisoning.”

“Hope, I don’t know what to say...”

“There’s nothing you can say that will change the situation. If you decide to start being a parent at some point, get sober. You know where to find us. It’s time to shape up, for f**k’s sake!” she answers, moving towards the doorway before turning around one last time. “And you’ve never been Jessie’s dad. I’ve been his mom and dad all these years. Don’t embarrass yourself further by calling yourself that; it’s awkward enough for both of us.”

Hope comes out of the room with tears in her eyes that she won’t let release. She walks up to Jessie, who’s crying and hugging him. Over and over again, she tells him that everything will be fine. At the same time, I see that she’s not even sure herself that what she says is true. Something is missing from the version of the conversation I heard, but what?

❖ ❣ ❖ ❣ ❖

We ride back to the house in silence, and I notice that the mood between the siblings is getting darker. Jessie looks angrier, and Hope seems instead to be in a panic-stricken state. She looks at him repeatedly while Jessie’s hands are clenching. Something will happen when we jump out of the car, and I don’t know what.

“Please, Jessie. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, but this doesn’t change anything!” Hope pleads to him when she desperately runs after him into the house.

“Doesn’t change anything!? How can you say that it doesn’t change anything!?” he roars, and I feel like hitting him because he uses that tone to her. “You knew that Farris wasn’t my father. You’ve known that for many years, yet you’ve never said anything!”

“I’m sorry, Jessie. I should’ve told you the truth. But I thought it would do more harm than good since I didn’t know who he was. You would’ve walked around in pain, wondering who he is, without knowing the answer. I wanted to protect you from getting into the system,” Hope explains with tears on her cheeks, and Jessie walks up to her until there is barely any gap between them while my family watches from the door. “It doesn’t change anything because you are and remain my little brother. The one I nurtured and cared for when no one else did.”

“You’re no longer my sister, and I never want to see you again,” he says, and Hope’s tears fall silently over her cheeks.

She turns around and starts walking towards the street. Before I have time to react, she jumps into the car and drives off. I angrily turn to Jessie and walk towards him with threatening steps before taking a firm grip on the collar of his shirt. Dad tells me to let him go, and Jessie’s eyes are wide with horror.

“How can you say that to your sister? Do you think it has been easy for her to take care of you all these years while at the same time she had to take care of Farris and your home, huh?” I growl, and Jessie’s eyes sparkle with tears; he begins to understand that he took out his anger on the wrong person. “She has protected you from everything in your life because she didn’t want something to happen to you. Okay, she didn’t say anything about Farris not being your dad. But even if she had said something, what would it have changed? You would probably have ended up in the system without a way out of foster care. Where would you like to spend your childhood, in a foster family or with your sister who loves you more than everything?”

A/N:

Hello everyone!

Wow, someone has messed up. Although understandably, Jessie is angry, it's not Hope's fault. She just wanted to protect him, and now she has run away to do God knows what.

~ Where is Hope going?

~ Will Farris stop drinking?

~ Can they fix what has broken?

I was hoping you could give me some comments with your thoughts. Hugs and kisses!