Duncan's Pride (2.5) (Across the Aisle Book 3) by Xyla Turner

Author:Xyla Turner [Turner, Xyla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AZINA MEDIA PUBLICATION
Published: 2019-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

The next day, they released Denean, and we caught an Uber home. She was better and was asleep half of the time. I kept hugging her. My poor baby. She must have been beyond distraught with no other way to express herself but by crying. I also thought about adjusting her food, the way she is being held, and trying other ways to soothe her.

When I arrived home, Trent and Duncan were at the kitchen counter, talking. It was late morning, but he was up and seemed fairly lucid.

“Morning,” I called to them.

“Good morning, Portia.” Duncan looked at me with remorseful eyes, and then he looked at Denean with cautious ones.

Normally, he would have plucked her out of my arms as soon as he saw her, but this time, he did not.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him.

“I am OK—a bit fatigued, but OK.”

“Hey, I’m going to head out, but you guys are good, right? How’s my goddaughter?” Trent called.

“She’s good. They said it was colic, and it’s been treated.”

“Colic?” Duncan gasped.

I went and put her down while Trent left. Then I joined Duncan in the living room.

“Tell me what happened.” I sat down next to him and squeezed his hand hard like he liked.

Duncan sighed and said, “Denean was crying a lot even though Duncan Lee was not. This was not on the schedule, and after attempts to provide her with nourishment, toys, and even skin-to-skin contact, she continued to cry and scream. I looked up what could be the cause, and everything I tried did not work. So I put her in her crib and tried to block out her screaming, but all the noise and confusion, it was not good. I was scared to hold them or anything, so I closed the door. I am sorry, Portia. I have failed them and you,” he started.

“Wait, wait.” I held up my hand. “No, you did not.”

“I could not figure out what was wrong with her,” he exclaimed. “I should have figured it out.”

“Duncan, I couldn’t figure it out. We are not doctors. That’s why I took her to one. That does not mean we fail as parents,” I corrected.

He peered at me from under his eyelashes, like a kid who was caught doing the wrong thing.

“Duncan.” I squeezed his hand again.

But he wouldn’t let it go.

“I should have known,” he countered.

“Duncan, the only thing you should have done was call me,” I told him, “when you felt yourself spiraling. That’s what you should have done.”

His head jerked around, and he looked at me as if I had two heads.

“Why?” he exclaimed.

“So I could have come to help before you started losing your shit, too,” I said.

“But I am her father,” he said. “I should have known.”

“Duncan, I didn’t know.” I smiled. “That’s why I called the hotline. They told me to go to the emergency room, and that’s what I did, but I’m not talking about Denean. I’m talking about you. When you saw it was getting no better, you should have called me.

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