Raising Madison (The third book in the 'The girl in the attic trilogy')

(23) Raising Madison

Raising Madison

Chapter 23

I spent a long time with Brooklyn, assuring her that I understood and trying to convince her to stop hating herself. It was in the past and she did what she thought best at the time. It was late by the time I left but there was no way I was leaving Brooklyn at my parents, not because I didn’t trust them, but because I needed to see my little girl. Holding her in my arms and tucking her in at night makes me feel that everything might just turn out ok.

She was sleeping when I got there but woke up as I carried her to my car. Her eyes fluttered open and focused on me, warming my heart. I love my little girl and she looks more and more like her mother every day. She reminds me so much of Katie that it hurts but it also makes me incredibly happy at the same time. I smiled at her and then drove us home where I tucked her in and spent the next hour just watching her. She looked so peaceful and happy, I hoped that I could find that someday.

Falling asleep was tough, I kept on thinking about Brooklyn and her story. I felt bad for her, having to deal with all of that at such a young age. I also felt something else when I thought about her and I wasn’t completely sure what to make of it. All in all I got about two hours sleep before Madie woke me. She was crying and I had to jump out of bed and run to her. Her face lit up when she saw me and although I was tired and my head was pounding I felt happy.

I fed her in the living room and then we spent the morning watching cartoons. She laughed and jumped and I was happy.

The next week dragged by, work was ok but I wanted to be with Madie and I was worried about Brooklyn. She assured me she was ok when I called but I still wanted to see her again so on Friday I asked her if she would like to come over. She sounded hesitant but eventually agreed. Knowing I was going to see her made me feel excited, I haven’t been excited about something for a long time and although I liked the feeling it scared the crap out of me too. I knew I was starting to develop feeling for Brooklyn and even though I knew it was ok to let myself like her and maybe love her I still felt incredibly guilty.

I picked Madie up from day care and then headed home to clean a bit before Brooklyn arrived. The place wasn’t dirty but a lot of things were just lying around since I was too lazy to tidy anything up during the week. Luckily Madie was in a good mood and played happily while I packed everything away.

Brooklyn arrived just as I was done. I opened the door for her and was once again taken by her beauty. She blushed slightly when I smiled at her and then tried to hide it. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just stepped aside and invited her in.

“I figured we could order some take aways, if you like,” I said, not having felt this nervous in a long time. Before I met Katie I was a player but Katie changed me in ways I never knew possible and if I was going to have any kind of relationship with Brooklyn I wanted to do it right.

She deserves a guy that’s going to treat her with respect and appreciate her and lover her unconditionally. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be that man but my heart was pushing me on.

“Sure,” she replied, smiling at me but I could tell she was nervous too which didn’t help me much. I wondered if she felt the same way I do. I had no idea.

“Ok… uhm… what would you like?” I asked, feeling like a complete idiot for not being able to form a proper sentence.

“Milkshake!” Madie yelled, turning from the TV causing both of us to laugh.

Brooklyn’s POV

Madie is the cutest thing I have ever seen and spending time with her has made me really happy, it has also made me regret the decisions I have made, but I couldn’t change the past and . I was starting to feel like the future might be bright though, Preston didn’t think bad of me for what I did and he still wanted to be my friend, in fact, he looked a bit nervous which was causing my tummy to spin anxiously. Could he possibly like me? I wasn’t sure. He is still in love with Katie after all and there was no way I could ever live up to her.

“I’ll have one too,” I said to Preston and then held out my arms for Madie. She smiled and then ran to me.

I played with her while Preston ordered our food and then he joined us, laughing and playing with Madie and for a few minutes I felt so happy that I never wanted it to end.