Second Chance Romance (Southern Nights) Completed

Chapter 18

“Second Chance Romance”

Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved

Chapter 18

Austin stared down blankly at the white tiled floor feeling like all the breath in him had been knocked clear out of his lungs. He had clearly heard the words that his brother had told him but comprehending the meaning behind those words was a whole different matter entirely.

He was a father; someone else’s dad. According to the county registered birth certificate, little Libby Sampson was in truth his daughter.

Austin slumped back against the wall and ran his fingers disbelievingly through his hair. He and Jade had a daughter together. He could hardly believe it but a special kind of warmth that he wasn’t accustomed to began to bloom inside of his chest.

A little girl- he had a little girl.

Austin felt a twinge of smile come on as he thought of the little girl that he had breakfast with this morning. With her dark curly hair and bright green eyes, she was the spitting image of her mother. So sweet and trusting. So beautiful and bright… and she was a part of him.

He shook his head in amazement. How was this even possible?

Slowly but surely though, the reality of the situation started to seep in and the smile that Austin wore just seconds earlier slipped from his face. Taking a much needed deep breath, he closed his eyes.

Four years. He had lost four years of watching his little girl grow up. Her first steps, her first teeth, her first haircut… so many firsts that he could never get back and why?

Because Jade hadn’t seen fit to tell him that they had a child together?

He wanted to be mad, he wanted to scream. He wanted to rail at someone but whom? Whose fault was it that he lost those four years with his daughter? Whose fault was it that he wasn’t there to hold Jade’s hand when she labored and birthed their baby? Was it Jade’s or Was it his?

Who the hell did you blame in this situation?

His gut twisted into a pretzel sized knot. He knew that he was partly to blame, if not mostly. He could have gone after Jade when she left all those years ago and told her then how he really felt. He could have groveled, he could have begged for her forgiveness and maybe not then, but later she could have found it in her heart to forgive him. At the very least, she would have told him about his little girl.

But the truth of the matter was that he didn’t. He didn’t do anything. Whether it was pride or his ego that held him back, he wasn’t sure. He had loved her so much back then but made one hell of a colossal mistake when he let his lust override his heart. Unfortunately, it was a mistake that he would be paying for the rest of his life. Those four years he would never be able to get back. They were gone to him forever.

Could he blame Jade?  Yes and no.  It was his own fault that she left him in the first place.

Was he angry?  Hell yes.

But the rising anger that simmered just below the surface was directed at none other than himself. He was the one that started this train wreck of events. Now he just had to figure out what he was going to do about it from this point forward.

The way that he saw it, he had two choices. One, he could bitch and complain about what time he had already lost with Libby and the unfairness of it all which would get him absolutely nowhere. Or two, he could put the past aside and focus on a future. A future with his daughter and possibly even a future with Jade.

With a sense of renewed determination, Austin pushed himself up off the wall and straightened up. He already knew what his choice was going to be. There was no doubt about it. Libby would come first and foremost. What she needed most right now was the connection that she shared with her mother before Jade lost her memory. And one way or the other, he was going to help the two of them rediscover that connection. He had a feeling that right now Jade needed to feel that connection just as much as Libby did.