SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) (80 page)

Chapter Twenty
Eight

Taylor

I rehearsed my argument one more time.
Well, not an argument, but a presentation to my parents. I had the benefits and
drawbacks of being a nurse. I had my list of colleges ready.

Dylan had offered to be there when I did
it for moral support, but I declined. I had to do this on my own. I had to
stand on my own two feet or my parents would never take what I had to say
seriously.

I told them at dinner that I needed to
talk to them. They told me that they’d be available for whatever I needed.
Butterflies danced in my stomach as I knew they were waiting for me in the
dining room. My father had probably opened a bottle of wine for them.

I could probably use a drink right now,
but that would be bad.

I opened my door to Dylan, who was about
to knock. I smiled.

“You ready?” he asked.

“As I’m ever going to be. I might throw up
first.”

He hugged me. “You can do this, Taylor.
It’s the right thing and they’ll see that.”

“Thanks, Dylan.”

“You can change your mind. I can be in the
room.”

“No. I need to do this on my own. It will
make them think more about what I’m saying,” I said.

He nodded and let me go. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

I took a deep breath and walked downstairs,
my brain full of answers to any argument they might have.

They sat at the table, both on one side of
it. They had glasses of wine in front of them and they held hands. It was nice
to see them when they were like this. I watched them for a moment as they
talked quietly.

My mother looked up and saw me. She
smiled. “Taylor?”

I strode into the room.

“You look nervous, kitten. Is everything
okay?” my father said.

“I hope so.” I took a deep breath then let
it out. “I’ve been thinking. About college.”

“That can’t be bad, Taylor,” my father
said.

“First, I don’t want to be an engineer. I
don’t like math and I’m not good at it,” I said. I paused to let that sink in.

“Your grade this quarter was much better,”
my mother said.

“That was only because Dylan helped me so
much,” I said.

The two exchanged a look, but I couldn’t
read it.

“Go on, kitten.”

I took another deep breath before I went
on. “But I have decided I want to go to a four year college and what I want to
major in.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Taylor,”
my mother prompted. “Enough of the drama.”

I frowned. “I want to be a nurse. I want
to get my Bachelor’s Degree in nursing.”

I waited. My mother blinked. My father
smiled, but he always did that before he made a decision. The two looked at
each other.

“Nursing?” my mother said.

“Yes, nursing,” I said. I wasn’t backing
down. I wanted this. I could do this.

“Well,” my father began.

“Listen a minute,” I said. “I can get a
job in nursing.”

“Awful hours.”

I shrugged. “Not a concern at this point.
I’ll deal with that. With a BSN, I can do more than hospital nursing. I can be
in a doctor’s office. I can be a supervisor eventually,” I said.

I was doing to sell them on this if it
killed me. “If I marry someone who has to move, I can move with him since there
are nurses everywhere. You always said I need to do something that puts food on
the table and roof over my head. Nursing does that.”

“Okay, Taylor. I get that you’re
passionate about this,” my mother said. “What made you think of nursing?”

“Because when I do community service with
the cheerleaders, I really enjoyed it. I like helping people.”

“Nursing and a few hours of helping people
are different,” my mother said.

“I know that, mom. If you want, I can
shadow a nurse. My guidance counselor will set it up. I’ll see if I can handle
it all.”

“You’ve clearly thought about this,
kitten. I’m proud of that.”

“Proud of her being a nurse? When she
could be so much more?” my mother objected.

“But what if I’m happy? What if I can make
a living and it makes me happy?” I said.

My father might listen to that, but my
mother might not. She was only just now pursuing what she wanted as a career.
She had no sympathy for having to give up your dreams.

“That’s a good point. Mallory, we need to
think about this, for Taylor’s sake. If she really wants this, let’s listen and
try to support.”

My mother crossed her arms. She was done.
She didn’t want to listen.

“I’ve picked a few schools that I’d like
to go see,” I said, ignoring my mother.

“Have you set up dates to visit?” my
father said.

“No because I wanted to coordinate with
you before I did.”

“Okay, yeah. I have some trips coming up,
so let’s sit down and do that. Let’s look at weekends we can go.”

At least my father was supporting me. My
mother clearly didn’t want to. Couldn’t she just let me be happy? She was going
to make a bigger stink about Dylan than my father would.

“I don’t like this, Taylor.”

“Mom, it’s what I want.”

She frowned. “It’s a hard job. You’ve
never worked in your life.”

“Then, I guess I’ll figure that out, won’t
I?” I wasn’t afraid of hard work.

“Okay, fine.” She left the room in a huff.

“She’ll come around, kitten,” my father
said. “It seems like you did your homework.”

“I did, Daddy. I really want this.”

“I’m proud of you. Just give your mother
time. She will see the light. Now. We have to schedule those visits. Your
computer or mine?”

Chapter Twenty
Nine

Dylan

I was packed and ready for my weekend
visit to Penn State. Mr. Dean lent me a suitcase and it was only half full, but
I thought I had anything I would need.

Taylor was in her room. She wasn’t looking
forward to the weekend without me, but I had to do this. Mr. Dean’s co-worker
had a son who was hosting me. I’d texted him a few times and now I was on my
way there with Mr. Dean.

The drive would take two hours – a lot of
time to fill. Hopefully, he wouldn’t feel the need to ask me about any girls I
might be interested in. I couldn’t tell him that I did it with his daughter.

I kissed Taylor goodbye, then found Mr.
Dean waiting for me in the kitchen. “You ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“This is pretty exciting.”

“It is,” I agreed.

The drive went quickly. We talked about everything
else, but girls. Mr. Dean saw me to the dorm and left me with Chuck, my host.

He was a nerdy guy, which was cool. I
didn’t want to party.

“Why don’t we take a tour of the campus,”
Chuck said.

“Sure.”

He lived in West Halls. “There are a few
buildings further west than we are, but just the meteorology building and the
IST building, which spans the road. It’s pretty cool to stand there and see the
traffic go under you.”

“Wherever you think I should see.”

“The Berkey Creamery. We’ll get some ice
cream, and we’ll get you a sweatshirt. Can’t go home without some blue and
white,” Chuck said.

I was lucky. Chuck was a computer science
major. He could give me the rundown on what it was like.

“Where are most of your classes?”

“They are actually in the labs. There’s a
cluster of science buildings in the middle of campus. That’s mainly where my
courses are.”

I nodded as we walked among trees. It was
a pretty place to be. Cold and gray, but it was the middle of March. I guess I
had hoped it would be warmer. That didn’t deter me from liking the school,
though.

“I got us tickets to the girls’ volleyball
game later today.”

“Okay.”

“It’s good to see the school spirit we
have here.”

“What about the classes? Are they big or
small?” I said.

Mr. Dean had given me a list of questions
to ask. This was one of them.

“The ones you take the first two years are
larger. General Education credits. Everyone needs to fulfill those. English and
such. Once you get into computer science, the classes are smaller.”

“Okay.”

The tour of the campus took more than an
hour, but we finished up with ice cream. I couldn’t turn that down. It was the
best ice cream I’d ever had. If I were to choose a college based on food, this
would be it.

I liked it here and could see being here
for four years. I didn’t know if my SAT scores were good enough, but I’d have
to see. I thought I could take them one more time.

“You have anything you’d like to see?”

“Other than college girls?” I said.

Chuck laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m not the
one to show you them. I’m a computer geek, but let me show you what we’re
working on.”

When he showed me I gasped. “A satellite?”

“For NASA.”

“Pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that,” he
said.

The volleyball game was exciting. The
energy in the place was amazing. I really could see myself f here. Hopefully, I
could get some aid.

Mr. Dean picked me up on Sunday. “How was
it?”

“Pretty awesome, Mr. Dean.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so
excited about anything.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited
about anything before. I really had a good time. I want to go away to college.”

“Good. Now, we have to look at some of the
others. Won’t be the same experience as spending a weekend there, but you’ll
get the idea.”

“Yep.”

I couldn’t wait to tell Taylor. I hoped
she could be excited for me – especially, since she was going to go away, too.

“Did Chuck take you to all of the sights?”

“Yes. I even have a Penn State sweatshirt
now.”

“That makes all the difference, then,” Mr.
Dean said. “You pretty set on computer science as your major?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay. Good field. You’ll get a job doing
that.”

“For the first time ever, I feel like I
have a future beyond high school.”

He smiled. “Good.”

“I have to thank you, Mr. Dean. You’ve
really changed my life.”

“I guess you picked the right car to
steal,” he said with a laugh.

I was still a little embarrassed by how we
met. “Have you ever told Mrs. Dean how you met me?”

“Nope. It’s our little secret. I never
told Taylor, either.”

“That’s good. They both might think less
of me.”

“You can’t worry about that, but I figure
it’s our secret. No need to talk about it now. I really feel you’ve turned
yourself around since , Dylan. I’m very proud of you.”

Whenever he said that, I felt guilty about
Taylor. The man would be so disappointed in me. It wasn’t as if I just had sex
– I really care about Taylor. I thought she cares about me, too.

Mr. Dean’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi, honey. Just wanted to check in and
see when you’ll be home,” Mrs. Dean said on the other end.

“We’ll be there in forty five minutes,
according to the navigation system.”

“Okay. Dylan? Will you need food? Or is
that a stupid question?” she said.

“I’ll need food,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll have some dinner ready.” She
hung up.

“She seemed chipper,” I observed.

Mr. Dean just laughed. Guess they’d had a
good weekend, too. Not that I really wanted to think about my adoptive parents
having sex. I tried not to shudder.

Chapter Thirty

Taylor

I was not looking forward to Dylan coming
home. Well, I was, but he was going to be so excited about his college visit.
All it meant to me was that I was going to have to give him up at some point. I
knew I was being selfish, but I was also upset that my parents had not given me
their decision about college. I had expected them to be on my side a little
more.

I had expected them to at least be excited
and that I was now looking forward to college. I’d been dragging my feet about
applying. They’d put pressure on me, and this was how I responded.

The fact that Dylan was probably going to
a different school far away didn’t affect my school decision, but it affected
how I felt now. I didn’t want him to go. I didn’t want us to be apart. As much
as I understood what my path was, I understood that his path was different.

Didn’t mean I had to like it. The only problem
was trying to be supportive. Before now, I hadn’t cared about that. Guess I was
maturing.

Helena called. “I got into Rutgers.”

That was her number one pick. She was
done. This part of her life was set.

“That’s great, Helena.”

I was truly happy for her. As much as I’d
miss her, I knew we’d stay in touch. We’d been friends for so long, I couldn’t
imagine not being friends with her. I just wouldn’t see her every day.

“Thanks, Taylor. I know this has been a
sore subject for you, but you’ll figure it out.”

How had I failed to tell her my decision?
“Actually, I’ve decided on a major. I have a few schools I want to look at.”

“That’s great, Taylor. Your parents must
be pretty happy.”

“Well, they aren’t sold on my major,” I
said. I shifted on my bed to get more comfortable.

“What’s the major?”

“Nursing.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I guess it isn’t an acceptable profession
for my mother.”

“That sucks.”

“I’m hoping my father can convince her
that I’ve thought about this. That I’m going into this knowing what I’m in for.
I don’t think she thinks I’m capable of something like this.”

“Not to be a killjoy, but what have you
done like it? She hasn’t seen you be anything but selfish.”

I laughed. Leave it to Helena to tell me
the truth. “Okay, I know this. I’ve been spoiled and selfish. I get it. Meeting
Dylan and seeing another side of life has changed me.”

“I know that, but maybe your mother hasn’t
seen that side of you. Maybe you need to prove to her that you’ve changed.”

I sighed. “Yeah, probably. Not sure how to
go about doing that, though.”

“I don’t know. Be more helpful around the
house. Think of ways to make her life easier. Cook dinner once in awhile.”

Helena had great ideas. “I’ll have to
think on that.”

“You lost your car only a few weeks ago,
so she’s thinking that you haven’t grown up.”

“I know. You’re right. Can I call you when
we’re away at college?”

“Of course. We’re best friends.”

“I feel like I rely on you more than you
rely on me,” I said.

“That’s probably true, but I’m okay with
that. If I wasn’t, we wouldn’t be friends.”

I have been selfish my whole life. “So did
you do whatever you have to do to go to Rutgers?”

“Yes. I have the dates for orientation and
stuff like that. I’ve put in for housing,” Helena said.

“That’s so exciting. I can’t wait to be doing
that.”

“You will. Maybe you need to nudge your
parents so they make a decision and then you can apply. There are deadlines.”

“I know. I think at this point, I might
have to wait until January to enroll.”

“You might.”

Darn. I’d wasted a lot of time. “My next
question is how do I be happy for Dylan? I want to be. He has such great
opportunities ahead of him. I want him to succeed, but I’m not ready to think
about him gone. Or even me gone.”

“Just smile. Always smile.”

“Okay, I think I can do that.”

“Don’t say anything negative, either.”

“That will be harder,” I said.

“You don’t want to ruin anything for him.”

“I know.” Helena was right, as usual. “I
better go and practice my smile. Dylan will be home soon. Or maybe I’ll just go
set the table without my mother asking.”

“Good idea.”

My mother was in front of the stove. She
really didn’t like cooking, so me doing it once in awhile would make her happy,
especially on nights she had class.

“Dylan and your father will be home soon.”

I dug into the silverware drawer to set
four places at the counter. My mother looked over her shoulder at me.

“I guess he had a good time?” I said.

“Sounded like it, and they are hungry.”

“They usually are.”

“You and I could go days without eating
and they need food more than three times a day,” my mother said.

I laughed. Let’s try out the new Taylor.
“Mom, would it make things easier if I cooked dinner sometimes?”

My mother stilled her stirring arm and
glanced my way. “Are you serious?”

“I am. I know you have school some nights and
you leave us something, but why not just let me figure out dinner.”

“You have no practice.”

I shrugged. “I can pull something
together.”

She stared at me as if I had two heads.
“Okay. I have class every Tuesday and Wednesday.”

“Then, I’ll cook every Tuesday and
Wednesday,” I said.

“That sounds great, Taylor. Get the men to
clean up if you can.”

“Oh, I will.”

She laughed this time. “Good luck with
that.”

“No worries, Mom. I can charm Daddy into
doing it.”

“Yes, I bet you probably can.” She
stilled. “They must be home. I heard the garage door.”

I put my smile on my face, ready to face
Dylan.

Chapter Thirty One

Dylan

Taylor hadn’t been alright since I came
back from the college visit. She seemed a little distant. On the other hand, we
had better meals when Mrs. Dean was out with Taylor cooking.

The good and the bad I supposed, but I
wanted to cheer her up. I went out and bought flowers. I snuck them into the
house and put them in her room while she was out. I couldn’t wait for her to
see them.

I knew the exact moment. I heard a quiet
squeal come from her room. I knew she’d want to be quiet so her parents
wouldn’t know about it. They never came in our rooms. We had a lot of privacy.

But we hadn’t had sex again. I was a
little nervous about doing anything when her parents were in the house. That
was be really disrespectful, and I couldn’t do that. Taylor had been hinting
and thankfully, she hadn’t crawled into bed with me again. I was a good guy,
but a naked woman in my bed would be too much for me to resist.

Especially if that naked woman was Taylor.
She was so beautiful, and she’d been even sweeter than usual. We spent a lot of
time together out of school and neither of the Deans had questioned us.

Did they not know what teenagers could get
up to? I guess we’d given them no reason to suspect anything. Hopefully, the
flowers wouldn’t ever be seen.

Taylor launched herself into my room. I
sat on the bed, looking at something on my phone. She stood in the doorway, her
smile wider than I’d seen it in a few weeks.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You seemed like you
needed to be cheered up. What’s been wrong?”

She sat on my desk chair because we’d
promised to keep a physical distance between us when we were home. That way,
her parents wouldn’t suspect anything. It had seemed to work so far.

“I guess I’m just a little worried about
college and the fact that we’ll be apart.”

“We have to go to college.”

“No argument here, and I’m happy that you
are going and I’m going and all that, but I don’t want to think about it.”

“Just live in the now, Taylor. We have no
choice.”

“I know. It’s hard. Especially since we
have to hide it all. Hide what we are doing.”

I wanted to hold her. I wanted to tell her
it was all okay. That would be against our rules, though.

“I’ve got some stuff to do, but,” she
said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’m visiting you tonight. I don’t want
to stay away.”

I hoped she was serious. I didn’t want her
to stay away, either. “Okay.”

She smiled then stood. That’s when we
heard her mother’s voice.

“What the hell?”

We looked at each other. What had
happened? Taylor was to the door first. Her mother stood in the hallway. She
held the flowers in her hand. “Explain these?”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Taylor said.

I knew it wasn’t. I shouldn’t have put a
card in with the flowers, but I wanted Taylor to know they were from me. That
had been the wrong thing to do.

I stood behind Taylor, who was frantically
trying to appease her mother.

“It says from Dylan. Why is Dylan buying
you flowers?” Her gaze rested on me. “Why are you buying my daughter flowers?
Is something going on?”

Busted. Well and truly busted. I could
usually think on my feet, but at the moment, I couldn’t come up with a
plausible lie. I wanted to keep my lips together, but the words jumped out.

“Taylor and I are seeing each other.”

Taylor gasped. Her mother gasped. I was a
little relieved that the lie was out. It had been killing me to keep it from
the Deans. I was so grateful for what they’d done for me.

The look on Mrs. Dean’s face told me that
I’d made the wrong choice. Her eyes grew wild, and then her face became calm.
Calm is never good in a situation like this. “Taylor, go to your room.”

“No, I’m in this situation. I’m going to
stay here.”

The next time Mrs. Dean said it, there was
more steel in her voice. “Taylor.”

I couldn’t blame Taylor when she obeyed
her mother. In some ways, I would be escaping. Taylor would have to live with
her mother every day. And, they’d been getting along so well.

Once again, I screwed up. Still, I met her
gaze. “I truly care about your daughter.”

“That isn’t going to help. I want you out
of this house within the hour. You are to have no contact with my daughter. You
don’t even get to say goodbye.”

“You’re kicking him out?” Taylor said from
her bedroom door. “I’m calling Daddy.”

“I think he’ll agree with me on this one,
Taylor.” She turned to her daughter. “Close your door and don’t come out until
I tell you that you can.”

Taylor shut the door, and she might as
well have shut it on my heart because it hurt so much. Mrs. Dean looked back at
me. “One hour and I don’t care how you get out of here.”

She spun on her heel and left me. My eyes
fell shut. I had done this. I had been doing so well. I had a future, and I’d
thrown it away.

I sighed. Dumb fuck. I packed my clothing.
When I came here, they fit into a backpack. Now, I had that backpack filled
with school items and two suitcases full of clothing. Did I keep my phone?

I didn’t know, so I left it on the bed
after I called Cole for a ride. I had to leave the laptop, too. It wasn’t mine.
Back to the computer lab for me and my homework.

I sighed as I passed Taylor’s door.

***

The trailer was pretty much how I’d left
it. It needed to be cleaned. Cole stood in the doorway as if he were afraid to
catch something.

“Dude, this sucks and doesn’t suck. No
parents. No nagging.”

“No food. No money. Know anyone who is
hiring?”

No future probably, either. My mail would
go to the Deans. Would they let me pick it up? Not that the college acceptances
would mean anything. I couldn’t go to college now. I didn’t need the
emancipation now that my mother was dead, but I also probably couldn’t afford
college, either.

Where would I stay during breaks?

Life sucked, and I made it this way. All because
of some tail.

No, not some tail. A girl I really cared
about.

Cole looked around. “We could have a
wicked party here.”

“No. I’m not doing that. Besides, I have
to figure out how I’m going to feed myself, let alone buy alcohol.”

Cole frowned. “Right. True.” He pulled out
his wallet and handed me some cash. “Look. Take this.”

“I can’t take your money, Cole.”

“I’m not going to let you starve,” he
protested.

I took the cash. I didn’t count it, just
shoved it into my pocket.