Touchdown Daddy by Ava Walsh Read Free Book Online

expecting a baby was probably the worst news of all. The condo was quaint and cozy, and I spent a lot of time decorating the living room and my bedroom, while I waited to decorate the nursery. My mom came poking around, and I was shocked when I told her that I was pregnant before anyone else knew. “Who’s the father?” she asked as her dark eyes took me in and she sipped coffee with shaking hands. This wasn’t what I wanted from my mother.
    “It’s over. It doesn’t matter,” I choked out as she nodded and stared at me. “Why did you leave us, Mom? What made you hate us that much?” As stunned as I was with my situation, abandoning this baby was never an option.
    “It’s complicated,” she said after a few moments of silence. She was once a pretty woman, and I could see her in some of my features. “I couldn’t hold myself together, Jennifer. Your father was so happy and all I did was crave a drink carrying you. Once you were born, the addiction got harder and harder to contain until I couldn’t pretend anymore.” A tear slid down her cheek and she shook her head. “You turned out so good, and I am proud of you.” She stared at me for a long time. “You’ll be an amazing mother.”
    We hugged, and I felt like we broke the ice after talking more over the meal. Mom could never replace what I’d lost, but we could start over.
    I went over to Dad’s after lunch and sat with him and Rosie on their screened in back porch. I sipped some tea and took a deep breath. “So, I have something to tell you. I’m pregnant, about two or so months along. It wasn’t…planned but I am here, and I’m going to make it work.”
    “Where is the father?” Dad asked me as his blue eyes darkened and Rosie squeezed his hand.
    “He’s not here. I want to do this on my own, Daddy. He was a huge mistake.” I felt ashamed as I spoke and dropped my face forward. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
    “Is this the reason you left the team?” I shrugged and looked into his eyes.
    “In part, yes. I wanted to be closer to you guys with all of this going on and the job was a great opportunity.” I was honest, and he nodded as he took a deep breath.
    Rosie looked at him for a long time before she smiled at me. “We’ll be here for you, Jen. It’ll be okay.”
    I told the team coach after that, saying that it was news to me as well. They accepted it since I came with glowing recommendations and I promised I’d work as hard and as long as I could. I was due to get insurance in a month or two, and I saved enough money to take care of myself before then. I could do this on my own.
    I felt better once everyone knew and I started to see old friends when I wasn’t working. We were in a bar where they were drinking, and I was sipping water when I saw the story on television. He’d hurt himself playing, and I cried as I watched him get carried off the field on a stretcher. It was an old story from about a month ago, but they updated it saying that he was out while his rotator cuff healed. The team was working with their second string quarterback, and my best friend from high school wrapped her arm around me. “Is that him?”
    “I’m such an idiot,” I whispered as the guys behind the desk discussed the team’s lessened chances for the championship and speculated when he’d return to the sport. “It was just one night before I realized I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. I left and tried to put everything behind me, and now there’s this baby.”
    “You could contact him,” Brandy suggested softly as I shook my head. I’d seen all of the pictures of him with new women, and it was worse than before.
    “That’s not his style. He wants to be free, and now he has to deal with this. I knew that it was going to end up more severe,” I lamented as our friends looked from me to the television. “It’s better this way.”
    I focused on work, and the team kept me busy considering they were one of the most aggressive teams in