Perfect Match

Part 4

Stella bit her bottom lip as she thought about what Kelly was asking her—he wanted to help her move on. She thought she was moving on; she thought she let Grant go years ago, but seeing Jessica brought back all the emotions she was trying to forget. Yes, she wants to be able to give her heart to someone again, maybe even Kelly, but with everything she has been through, she has big trust issues. Thanks to Grant and Jessica, learning to trust someone is harder than letting go of someone you once thought was your world.

Kelly watched her as she considered what he said: he wanted to help her, he wanted to move on, he wanted to move on with her, even though he'd been hurt too, and he had a feeling her past was a little more troubling than he could even think of. "Sometimes, all you need are open arms to hug and hold you, a shoulder to cry on, and someone there to tell you it's all going to be alright. Stella, let me be that person for you."

"Kelly, I'm pretty broken. Maybe I'm too broken," she said as she looked away.

He cupped her face, making her look at him. "Bull, everyone is fixable; they just have to want help. Look," he paused," I know what it's like to be broken. The day Christina left me broke my heart. I planned on asking her to marry me that weekend. I loved her more than I thought it was possible to love anyone. I thought she felt the same, but she told me she wasn't happy. I never knew it, or I just didn't pay attention. Maybe the signs were there, but I didn't see them. " He took a deep breath. "After she left, I kind of went through this I don't care stage. I lay in bed and refused to do anything or talk to anyone, even my daughter, who was only a month old. Gabby and Casey, especially my mom, tried every day to get me up, yelling at me and telling me how much Madison needed me now more than ever. My mom was so disappointed in me, she said. She didn't raise me to turn my back on my child just because life wasn't going my way. She said life isn't easy; you can't just climb into a hole every time something doesn't go your way. She said, you're a father now, Kelly, and you have a responsibility to your daughter. That little girl depends on you; she needs you; one parent just walked out on her; she doesn't deserve to lose both her parents.

For two weeks, I pretend like Madison didn't exist, my heartbreak was more important than her not having a mom, one night Madison was crying so loud, and she wouldn't stop, I had the pillow over my head, my mom came to the room and said that they were taking her to the hospital. She said, something is wrong Kelly, I can feel it, and at that moment I forgot all about how hurt I was, all that I could think of was, I can't lose Madison, " He started to cry, and he looked away from her, so she didn't see him. "She was six weeks old, and her fever was 102; even though it was just a fever, my mom still panicked. She was diagnosed with sepsis."

Stella squeezed his hand, her eyes filling with tears. "What is sepsis?"

"It's a blood infection. Sepsis is rare in infants, but it can be a serious complication of any type of infection. They started her on an antibiotic, and she was in the hospital with around-the-clock care for almost a month. The scariest month of my life, and I pray every day that God didn't take her from me. I made a promise to him if he didn't take my daughter that I would be the best father, get my life straight, and protect her."

"You're doing a great job with her," Stella assured him.

"She got better, and I got better; we have a great father-daughter relationship."

" She's a lucky little girl."

Kelly just smiled and said, "So is there anything else you want to know about me?" He wanted to let her in and tell her everything, hoping she would trust him enough to let him in again.

She bit her lip. "Did you and Christina fight a lot?" She asked, staring him in the eyes,

"Like, did we disagree on a lot of stuff?" she nodded. "Yeah, all couples have disagreements; I mean, we had our share. She used to make me so mad over the littlest thing. She was convinced I was cheating, which I never did. I've never cheated on her, but she would still accuse me even after Madison was born. She swears I was seeing someone else. But I wasn't. Why? Did you and Haley's dad fight a lot?" he asked, knowing there was a reason for her question.