Redeem Me (Kin #6)(50)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Then, after cutting the cord, she was placed in my arms. The world stopped spinning, as I looked down into those opened eyes. I’d already loved her, but this was unexplainable. This was the most beautiful little thing I’d ever seen in my life, and she was all mine. “Hello there, little girl. I’m your daddy. Yes I am,” I spoke like a child, making my voice high-pitched. “I love you so much.”

I reached over and placed the little princess in her mother’s waiting arms. Cam looked toward me, just as I leaned down for a kiss. “We did it, babe. She’s perfect.”

“I know,” I agreed.

The family passed her around until they’d all had a turn, and then finally we were all alone. I looked down at my two girls, and felt like I was the luckiest man in the world.

Cameron

Sometimes I felt bad about Parker losing his scholarship because of what happened. Even though he said it no longer mattered, I did my best to try to make him proud of what we did have. While I was still pregnant with Freya, he’d tried out for the Baltimore Ravens. They kept him on until the first preseason game and then cut him. I know it broke his heart, but some of the coaches had asked him to come back next season. They’d even given him pointers on what he had to work on.

In the meantime, Parker focused on working with his dad, which also helped them rebuild their once broken relationship. Once our daughter was born, he changed. Even though he still worked out, I found that he spent more time with Freya than he did on anything else. From the moment he arrived home from work at night, she was his main focus. It helped me out since I was still working on getting my degree in teaching. With two more semesters left, I had a ton of studying ahead of me.

I never would have pegged my life changing so drastically. Given everything that we’d dealt with, I had to say we were pretty blessed. It was amazing how his family treated me like I was blood. Even though it took me a while, I was even beginning to build a relationship with Ashley. Sometimes I still have difficulties seeing the twins as being Shayne’s children, but I never made it obvious. If Parker was happy with the way life was, it wasn’t my place to voice an opinion. No matter what, we were all family. We’d be able to watch them grow up, and celebrate every event in their life. Had they been put up for adoption that never would have happened.

It took me six months to allow my parents to meet Freya. Even though I still had a ton of pent up anger, I knew it was important for them to meet the little girl that they didn’t want me to have. For the first time in my life I watched my mother cry. She held her granddaughter and broke down. It was the first sign of real love that I’d ever seen her display. As touching as it was, I still found myself protective of my child. My father only held her for a moment, in which she screamed so loudly that I had to take her. All in all it was a good visit, and a start to rebuilding whatever kind of relationship that we could ever have. I wasn’t looking to be close to them, but I also wanted to be someone that my daughter would be proud of. Since everyone deserved a second chance, I agreed that I’d visit, and see how it went after time.

I could tell they were still unhappy with my choice to change majors and become a teacher. I had a child to raise, and wanted my summers off to be able to spend them with my family. It was important to me to be able to spend as much time with my little girl. I wanted to watch her experience every first, and I wasn’t going to hold her back from anything she dreamed. I knew with Parker by my side we’d make it work, and there would be no more regrets.

The only thing we’d have to worry about was finding the time to make more babies, because Freya was going to need a brother or sister to play with very soon.