Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Dinner wasn’t all that amazing, just some meatloaf and potatoes, but Dad seemed pleased with it. He even came in the kitchen and sat down at the table with us. But it was no surprise that he listened more than he talked. I watched him watching us, and he seemed good. Real good.
And that meant something to me.
Halfway through dinner, Presley gave me a look. When I didn’t react, she gave me a nudge and pushed, “Well? Are you gonna show him?”
“You do it.”
“What? I thought you were going to.”
“Show me what?” Dad asked, actually sounding curious.
“Go on,” I told her. “Show him.”
“You gonna tell me what this is about?”
“It’s a surprise,” I answered. “I think you’ll actually like it.”
Presley got up and grabbed the envelope from her purse, then offered it to him. He studied it, and he seemed a bit hesitant about opening it. Eventually, he pulled out the thin photo and glanced down at it. He squinted, then adjusted his glasses and leaned in closer. “This what I think it is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be damned.”
Quiet stretched across the room, and his brows furrowed slightly. After a moment he looked up at me with surprise, “Twins?”
“That’s right. She’s due in September.”
“Well, I’ll be.” He kept looking at the picture, his thumb brushing across the edge like he was making sure it was real. “Never would’ve thought it.”
“I didn’t know twins ran in your family.”
“I was a twin,” Dad answered without looking up.
He didn’t explain.
Just said it like that was the end of the story. Then, after another second, he looked up at me with glistening eyes and a warm smile. “I’m gonna be a grandpa.”
Something warm spread through my chest as I told him, “Yeah, and I’ve got a feeling you’ll be a damn good one, too.”
For a second, there was something lighter in his eyes. And I might be wrong, but the man actually looked happy. Truly, truly happy. It’d been a long time since I’d seen it, and damn near brought tears to my eyes.
Presley reached over and laced her fingers through mine. And sitting there in my ol’ man’s kitchen, it hit me how much our lives had changed over the past year. I came close to losing everything, and somehow, life had found a way of giving it all back.
Even more than before.
I had a home, a woman at my side, two babies on the way, and a father who was tickled about being a grandpa. I couldn’t ask for more than that.
Life was good.
Hell, life was better than good. It was fucking incredible.
The End