The Boot (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I don't know what this new 'girlfriend,'" he does mocking air quotes. "Has done to you, boy, but I don't like it! You've become entitled and rude, and I won't be having it! No, sir!"

I silently weighed my options on how I could handle this situation. "What you call being entitled and rude, I call being a good fiance and a good father."

The truth is out. It feels as though a massive weight has at last been lifted off of my shoulders. My dad just stands there, gawking at me. His eyes are wide and his jaw hangs open. "What the hell did you just say, boy?"

I gulp nervously, but I stand my ground. Lucy needs me to handle this. I need to do it. For her. She has enough stressors as it is. If I can alleviate one thing, as long as it helps her, it's worth it. Even if that means showing my dominance over my father, something I never dared to do growing up.

"You need to grow up and accept the fact that I'm not a kid anymore! I have a right to build a life for myself, and I am old enough to not need permission from you! If I want to get a girlfriend, that's my choice. If I want to move in with her, that's my choice."

"Wait, you're living together?!

"We've been living together, not that it's any of your business nor are you entitled to any sort of explanation here."

"You need to watch your tone-"

"I'm not finished," I cut him off, leveling my gaze on him. As I continue my mini-speech, my voice gets louder and faster. "If I want to buy a house with her, if I want to get a dog with her, if I want to transfer to a different unit so we can be together, if I want to spoil her rotten, if I want to propose to her, if I want children with her..."

"Son-"

"I'm an adult! Whatever the f*ck I want to do, whoever I choose to be with, what we choose for our relationship..." I pause to take a deep breath to calm myself. "That is my choice, not yours! You need to get it through your head that you don't have authority over my life anymore!"

My phone buzzes with a text.

2:00 pm - SEBASTIAN: Tim, where are you?

2:00 pm - SEBASTIAN: Are you still outside?

2:01 pm - SEBASTIAN: I need your help with damage control.

2:01 pm - SEBASTIAN: I've tried everything to calm her down.

2:01 pm - ME: Calm who down?

2:01 pm - ME: What's going on?

2:01 pm - SEBASTIAN: Lucy is crying her eyes out.

2:02 pm - ME: What? Why?

2:02 pm - SEBASTIAN: I don't know. She won't tell me.

2:02 pm - ME: Damn, okay. I'll be there in a second.

2:03 pm - SEBASTIAN: Please hurry. I don't know what to do. She's inconsolable.

I look back up at my dad. "You behave yourself. If I have to come back out here one more time, you're not going to like what happens."

"Where the hell do you think that you're going?"

"This may come as a shock to you, but there are some things in life that take priority over you," I mutter, shoving past him and making my way to Lucy's room.

A nurse tries to stop me. "We can only have one visitor at a time."

"Too bad. I'm the father and it's my responsibility to look after her. I'm not a visitor. Now do you want to try to calm her down, which her own brother was unsuccessful at, or are you going to let me in to take care of my girl?"

The nurse recoils, stepping out of my way. "Of course, sir. My apologies."

I give her a curt nod, walking past her and into Lucy's room. It's worse than I'd thought. I knew she was crying, but I had no idea that it was this bad. Sebastian just stands beside her, looking panicked as he tries and fails to console her.

"Lucy, baby, what happened?" I ask, slowly approaching her.

"It's stupid."

I reach for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "What happened, babe?"

She sniffles as she looks up at me with bloodshot eyes. "Are you embarrassed of me?"

My face falls as I hurry to hug her. "No, baby. Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"I was scrolling on social media,"

Uh-oh. Social media can be a mean place. With her pregnancy hormones, I can only imagine what must've set her off.

"What did you see?"

"I was looking through the 'pregnancy' hashtag and pretty much all I saw were pictures of happy couples, excited for their new bundle of joy."

I'm confused. "Baby, we are a happy couple. Aren't we?"

"Yeah," she sniffles. "But we're not them."

"What do you mean?" I ask, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"We never did an official pregnancy announcement. We haven't made any posts about it. We haven't even officially told our families."

I choke on air at that last part.

"What?" Lucy cocks a brow at me.

Regaining my composure, I try to find the right way to tell her. Just as I open my mouth to speak, the door bursts open, and in stumbles my father.

"Not now, Dad!" I hiss. But when I get a good look at him, I can tell that something is wrong. That fact is only further confirmed by John appearing behind him, looking panicked. "What the hell happened?"

"Tim..." Nolan sighs sadly. "I'm so sorry."

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I've gotta leave the readers wanting more :)

What do you think happened? Let me know your guesses in the comments :)

No question of the chapter this time, I'm running out of ideas lol