Paying the Price ORIGINAL UNEDITED VERSION

Chapter 68: Leo

18 years ago

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I was going to be the best dad, that was for sure.

Sarah was now just days away from giving birth, and I was a nervous wreck. Would I ever be able to take care of a child?

A whole tiny human would be my responsibility.

A boy or a girl I would be happy. As long as my baby was happy and healthy, that's all that I cared about.

I was a bit nervous about my wife Sarah.

We had only been married for 10 months, so I was still getting used to having a wife.

She was only 16, two years younger than me, however I loved her more than anything.

The thought of her being in pain brought me pain, too.

She was very small, barely above 5 feet tall, and only weighed a little over 100 pounds pre-baby.

I knew that this pregnancy had been hard. She was in a lot of pain almost every day, and it broke me not to be able to help her.

I was ready for this baby to get here.

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A girl!

A sweet, perfect baby girl!

I was ecstatic. I was a Dad!

She was beautiful.

I promised myself that day that nothing would ever happen to her; I would protect her with my life.

Sarah was lying in bed holding our just-minute-old daughter. "Leo, we have to pick a name for our little Princess."

My little princess. My baby. My daughter.

"Jasmine. Jasmine Price."

I didn't know what called me to that name, but I knew that's what I wanted my little princess to be named.

Jasmine.

She smiled when I said her name for the first time.

I gently picked her up from Sarah and started rocking her. "You like your name, Jasmine?"

She smiled again. "I'll take that as a yes." I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

My beautiful daughter.

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Jasmine was sick and I was freaking out.

She was only a few days old, but she was screaming and crying bloody murder.

She had a high fever, stopped eating, and cried for hours on end.

She had only managed to fall asleep out of pure exhaustion.

I, of course, immediately had a doctor here to look at her.

"What's wrong with her? Is she okay? What do we need to do?" I was firing questions at the doctor.

"Your Majesty," I still hadn't gotten used to that title. "She seems to just have a common virus, She will be okay."

"She's not okay! She's sick and won't stop crying! I want my baby out of pain!" I screamed at the man.

I admit I was protective of my family, especially Jasmine. I tend to lose my temper when my wife or now baby is hurt.

Maybe I needed to work on my anger management.