Page 99 of Power Play Daddies

I should be angry, but mostly I just feel… small. The kind of small that comes from being misunderstood.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep myself together as I wait for my Uber. But I can’t. It’s like the world’s closing in on me, and before I know it, tears are welling up in my eyes.

I hate it. I hate this feeling. I don’t want to cry. Not here, not now. But when the car pulls up, I wipe my face and try to pretend like nothing’s wrong.

But before I can get in, someone calls my name.

“Daisy.”

I turn around, blinking away the tears, and there’s Uncle Ace standing there. He’s got this concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” He steps closer to me, looking me up and down. His expression softens when he sees the state I’m in, and then—God, I don’t even know why—I step into his arms.

He pulls me into a hug, and it’s… the first time he’s hugged me in forever.

I don’t know why that makes me cry harder, but I can’t stop it.

“I’m fine,” I tell him, sniffling as I pull back, wiping my eyes. “It’s just… I just need to be alone.”

Uncle Ace doesn’t buy it, though. He raises an eyebrow. “You’re not fine. What’s going on?”

I try to hold it in, I do. But I can’t anymore.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out, my voice shaking, the words slipping out before I can stop them. I feel my face burn with embarrassment, but once I’ve said them, there’s no taking it back.

He just looks at me for a long moment. At my belly, then back at my face.

“Wow,” he says simply, not making a big deal about it like everyone else would. “You’re pregnant.”

I nod. I’m scared. So scared. And I don’t know why I told him, but there’s something comforting in his reaction. He doesn’t freak out. Doesn’t act like it’s the end of the world.

He pats me on the shoulder, nodding toward his car. “Come on. Let’s talk in the car. I’ll drive you. We’ll figure it out.” Then he leans in to speak to the Uber driver. I watch him pass the driver some money, then he takes my hand.

I nod, silently following my uncle to the car, feeling a little better already. It’s weird, but for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel completely alone.

We climb into his car. Uncle Ace hands me a box of tissues.

I take one, wiping my cheeks, trying to pull myself together. My hand shakes as I dab at my eyes, and then I notice the pictures hanging from his rearview mirror.

Two pictures. One is of a younger version of him, and my dad—back when they were friends, or whatever you’d call it. They can’t be older than ten in that picture.

The second one… it’s of a tiny baby in a bassinet. I blink, my breath catching as I trace the picture with my finger.

My heart starts to hammer in my chest as I pause, staring. “Is that… is that me?”

Uncle Ace doesn’t answer right away. I glance over at him, and I see him swallow hard. He nods, a tight, painful movement.

“Yeah, that’s you.”

I stare at the picture again. My tiny face stares up from the bassinet. I can feel the knot tightening in my chest.

My eyes shift from the picture to him. “Where’d you get this?”

He hesitates before answering. “It’s the only picture of you that your dad ever sent me.” He gives a small, humorless chuckle. “Guess he thought that would make up for… everything else.”

I don’t know what to say to that. I feel this strange weight in the air, a heaviness that I didn’t expect.

This silence is thick, suffocating, like the air itself is trying to choke me. I blink a few times, trying to get rid of the sting in my eyes.