Molly

When I walked into my house later that night, it was with a full heart, and Daryl King's hand in mine.

The minute we stepped into the kitchen, my father's eyes went straight to the tall boy standing beside me. "I see she found her way back to you."

Nodding, Daryl squeezed my hand tightly. "Yes, sir."

A small smile ghosted my father's lips. "I see."

"I owe you an apology, Mr. Peterson," Daryl blurted out, keeping ahold of my hand, as he addressed my father. "For putting the cart before the horse with Molly, or so to speak." His cheeks reddened as he spoke. "I know that we're young, and we don’t have everything figured out just yet, but I can promise you here and now that when it comes to your daughter, I will do right by her. I swear it. I won't ever turn my back on Molly or the baby. I'm not my father's son. I will take care of them both. I'll give them my name. I'll give them everything I have. I will be a good man to your daughter. And a good father – "

"You are already a good man, Daryl," my father interjected with a sigh. "And for the record, you have always been a good man when it comes to my daughter. Even when you were little more than a boy. It's one of the few things in life that I've never had to doubt."

"Thank you," Daryl replied, voice thick with emotion.

"It's true, D." Shivering, I squeezed his hand in reassurance, loving this boy more than was good for me. "Always." Turning to my father, I asked, "Can he stay?"

"I should say no," Dad replied, rising from the table. "But the circumstances are extenuating, and, to be quite truthful, I'm all out of reasons to keep you apart," he added, setting his empty coffee mug in the sink. "And while the circumstances are less than ideal, and I'm not happy about the timing of this pregnancy, I have faith in you," he continued. "In both of you."

Blowing out a shaky breath, Daryl nodded in relief. "Thank you, sir."

"We have a lot to discuss," Dad said, stepping around us and moving for the kitchen door. "Decisions to make and plans to agree on, but all of that can wait for another day."

"I thought your father was gonna kill me back there," Daryl said when we were getting ready for bed. After a pause, he frowned and added, "I still think he might."

"He won't kill you," I chuckled, pulling back the covers and climbing into bed. "He would never leave his grandchild fatherless."

"Maybe," he replied, not sounding convinced, as he climbed into bed alongside me. "Either way, I think I'll sleep with one eye open tonight."

"You're so ridiculous," I chuckled, settling down on my side, facing him.

"Molls?"

"Yeah, D?"

Resting on his side, facing me, he reached out and placed his hand on my stomach. "I love you."