Babysitting the Bad Boy: Books 1&2

2: 14.

When we got to the house, I opened the car door while Smith was still driving up in the driveway. I grabbed Hailey and carried her, almost throwing her over my shoulder. I rushed inside to see Ryan in the kitchen with a glass of whiskey in his hand. His hair was a mess and he was staring blankly in a direction, but I couldn't tell where his eyes landed. I turned around to see Smith already behind me and I handed Hailey to him.

He noticed that Ryan was behaving the way he was and he nodded slowly, understanding that I wanted some time alone with Ryan. "I'll go take her for a drive," Smith whispered and Hailey didn't want to go, so she stretched out her arm toward me. I pushed it aside and I gave her a kiss on top of her head instead. I closed the door and watched through the window as Smith and Hailey went back to the car.

"Ryan, what's wrong?" I asked as soon as I saw Smith leave the driveway in the car. I walked toward him, and he continued to stare blankly. I looked around, patiently waiting for an answer, and that's when I saw that he had a liquor cabinet that was wide open. And the bottle of whiskey he's drinking from is on the counter with the lid screwed off. I grabbed the cup of whiskey from his hand and he didn't resist. I took it toward the sink and placed it on the counter beside it. "Ryan..."

That's when I realized he had tears in his eyes that were ready to spill out. I rushed to him and I grabbed his face gently with both my hands and turned his head so that way he can look up at me. "She.." He wasn't able to finish his words and I understood as I let him bury his face into my abdomen. His arms wrapped around my hips and he sobbed loudly. Every time he would take a deep breath and let out another sob, my heart broken into more and more pieces. I rubbed his back gently in circles, hoping it could give him any comfort.

That's when it hit me. There's only one person that came to my mind: his mother. He's been so focused on finding her, because he really wanted to be with her and keep her safe, but the reason why he's like this has to mean that something happened to her.

"She's in a better place," I said, continuing to rub his back and he looked up, his face wet with tears and his eyes were puffy and swollen. "You did everything you could, so don't feel like it's your fault at all, okay?" I talked as softly as I could toward him and he seemed to calm down a bit.

"How did you know?" He asked, curious and I gave him a smile as I used my sleeves to dry his tears.

"Because I just knew. As soon as I saw you, I knew something had happened." I continued to pat his cheeks dry and he grabbed my waist, pulling me even closer to him. He almost looked like a lost child sitting there, looking exhausted as he wrapped his arms around me even tighter and buried his face even deeper into my abdomen.

"I lost her.. and I'm afraid, Kimberly. I'm afraid." His voice trembled and I wrap my arms around his neck, bending over slightly to rest my cheek on his head.

"Of what?" I asked.

"Of losing you, too.." He paused, taking in a shaky breath of air to keep himself calm. "Losing Hailey. I'm so terrified."

"It's going to take a lot to lose me. Because I won't go down without a fight," I told him, giving him my full honesty, but trying to joke a little to lighten the mood up a bit. "I'm also afraid to lose you as well, Ryan. But I trust in our love. I trust in us. I trust that no matter what happens, we won't lose each other. Ever."

A long silence followed after my words and I realized that silence was all we needed. No words. No movement. We just needed a moment to ourselves that could just be ours. A piece of time in our lives that we could give to one another.

Then, Ryan pulled away. He seemed calm, and he looked a lot better than when I first came home. "Kimberly, I've been thinking..."

"Thinking about what?" I asked, tilting my head slightly at him as our gazes held each other's.

"This might seem a little crazy for me to bring this up.. but I want to have children with you," he answered honestly and I saw his cheeks flush a bright pink. I've never seen him this embarrassed, but I found it cute, and I giggled, which embarrassed him even more.

"It's not crazy at all," I eventually said, offering him some reassurance. "You don't know how much I think about having kids with you. I think about it almost everyday."

"I think about how much time we have left in the world with each other.. Then I ask myself, 'Do we we even have enough?'. Because I want more time to spend with you, and eventually with.. our children," he lowered his voice at the "our children" part out of embarrassment and I smiled as I sighed, taking a seat next to him.

"Ryan, what if we called a truce?" I asked all of a sudden and his face fell. I began to regret asking.

He looked away from me, even turning some of his body away. "Then what? Do everything my father asks us to do? Sacrifice the progress we've made so far just so we can sign some peace treaty?" He spat out in disgust as he stood to his feet. "I lost my mother because of him. I won't give up!" He was about to walk out but I jumped off the chair and rushed toward him.

"Ryan! What about our children?!" I raised my voice, making him stop in his tracks. "Ryan, you know that I hate him more than anyone in this entire world. But, if we want a family, and if we want more time to spend together, we cannot keep on fighting like this. We're not getting any younger and I honestly feel... I feel exhausted."

"I understand what you're saying, Kimberly," he said slowly as he turned to look back at me. "If we stop now, it'll be like he won. And I don't want him to win. Ever." He walked out of the kitchen, leaving me behind, and I watched as he went into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

As if on cue, my phone began to ring and I pulled it out of my pocket. I saw it was Nathan and I immediately answered. "Nathan?" I asked and I heard him take a deep breath on the other side.

"I want to apologize for how I've been behaving," he told me and I felt tears well up in my eyes. "But I want to say it all in person. Will you meet up with me?"

++++++++++++++++++++++

Hmm, I'd say that this story has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

But I so enjoy writing this despite all the mistakes I've made. This book needs some major editing and revising 😂

Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading and supporting!

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~Bethany<3