DADDY'S FIRST DAY
1786 Words
EPISODE 3:
The hospital lights never turned off.
They buzzed. White. Sterile. Like they were trying to erase the last 5 years.
I sat in the plastic chair between two tiny beds. One hand in Leo’s. One hand in Lila’s.
IVs in both their arms. Monitors beeping.
Five years I raised them alone. Five years of fevers, nightmares, first days of school. I did it.
And in one night, he walked in and it all cracked open.
The door opened at 6:03AM.
Kade.
He looked wrecked. Same black tux from the gala, but the jacket was gone. White shirt wrinkled. Tie missing. Dark circles under his eyes. Hair messy like he’d been running his hands through it all night.
In his left hand: a hospital cafeteria bag. In his right: two stuffed wolves. One black, one white.
He stopped when he saw me. Like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to be here.
“I brought breakfast,” he said. His voice was rough. “And... I saw these in the gift shop. Thought they might...”
Leo’s eyes opened first. Brown. Kade’s eyes.
He blinked at the man standing there. Then at the wolf.
“The wolf guy,” Leo said.
Kade flinched. It was small, but I saw it.
“I’m Kade,” he said, kneeling by the bed so he wasn’t towering over him. “Your dad.”
Leo frowned. Processed it. Kids are smart. “Can I see the wolf?”
Kade’s whole body relaxed. He handed Leo the black wolf. Then turned to Lila.
She was awake now too, watching with big eyes. She looked like me, but with his stubborn chin.
Kade held out the white wolf. “This one’s for you, princess.”
Lila took it and hugged it to her chest immediately. “Thank you, Daddy.”
The word hit the room like a gunshot.
Kade’s throat bobbed. “You don’t have to call me that,” he said quietly. “Not if you don’t want to.”
“I want to,” Lila said. Matter of fact. Like she’d decided 5 minutes ago. “You have the same eyes as me.”
Kade looked at me. Begging. For help. For permission. For anything.
I looked away.
The doctor came in. Dr. Mensah. She’d been treating the twins since they were born.
“Ms. Carter. Good news. Fevers are down to 99. The early wolf surge was triggered by stress and... emotional proximity to a parent.”
She glanced at Kade. “Specifically, a parent with Alpha blood.”
Kade straightened. “What does that mean long term?”
“It means they’re healthy. Strong. But they’ll need both parents close while their wolves settle. Especially you, Alpha. Their bodies recognize you.”
Alpha.
Right. He wasn’t just a man. He was the Alpha.
After the doctor left, silence. The only sound was the monitors.
“So,” Kade said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know anything about kids.”
“We can tell,” I said before I could stop myself.
He almost smiled. Almost. “Fair.”
He sat down on the floor next to Leo’s bed. Not on the chair. On the floor. Like he didn’t want to be above him.
“What do you like, buddy?”
“Cars. And pancakes. Bunny shaped.”
Kade nodded like he was taking notes. “Bunny pancakes. Got it.”
Lila kicked her feet. “I like stories. And glitter.”
“Glitter,” Kade repeated. “I can do glitter.”
He looked so out of place. A 6’3 Alpha CEO sitting on a hospital floor talking about glitter.
At 10AM, discharge papers came.
“I’ll drive you,” Kade said.
“I have a car.”
“Let me do this, Ava. Please. One thing.”
The car ride was 20 minutes of hell and heaven.
The twins fell asleep in the back, both holding their wolves.
Kade drove with one hand on the wheel. The other kept drifting to the rearview mirror. Checking them.
“You did good,” he said finally. “With them. You did so good.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t compliment me. It makes this harder.”
“Harder than what?”
“Than hating you.”
He didn’t answer. Just gripped the wheel tighter.
My apartment was on the 4th floor. No elevator.
Kade didn’t ask. He just picked up Lila, asleep, and started walking.
I followed with Leo.
Inside, it was small. 2 bedrooms. Living room. Kitchen. Toys everywhere. Photos on the wall.
Kade froze in the doorway.
There was a photo of me, 8 months pregnant, sitting on this couch. Alone. Smiling but tired.
Another of the twins at age 1. Age 3. Age 5, last Christmas.
His eyes stayed on the pregnant one.
“You were alone,” he whispered.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was.”
He set Lila down on the couch gently. Then came back for Leo.
He knew where to put them. The second bedroom. Painted purple and green. Two twin beds.
He pulled the blankets up. Kissed both their foreheads.
“I’m gonna make coffee,” I said. Escape.
“I’ll help.”
“You don’t know how I like it.”
“Black. No sugar. You’ve hated sweet things since you were 18.”
I stopped. He remembered.
We stood in the tiny kitchen. Too close.
He reached for mugs. His arm brushed mine. We both jerked back.
“The bond is dead,” I said.
“I know.”
“So don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like you still feel it.”
He poured the coffee. Handed me mine.
“I do still feel it,” he said honestly. “Not the bond. The memory of it. And you.”
The next 48 hours were a blur.
Kade didn’t leave.
He slept on the couch. Didn’t ask for the guest room. Didn’t ask for me.
He woke up when Lila had a nightmare at 2AM.
He learned that Leo needs the nightlight shaped like a moon.
He learned that Lila only eats strawberries if you cut them into hearts.
He learned my schedule. My meetings. When I needed quiet.
He took calls in the hallway, whispering. “Push the board meeting. Family emergency.”
Family.
On the second night, Kade was on the floor building a Lego set with Leo.
“Daddy, why didn’t you come before?” Leo asked.
Kade’s hands stilled.
“Because I was stupid,” he said. Honest. “And scared. And I thought I was protecting you by staying away.”
“Did it work?”
“No. It hurt your mom. And it hurt me. And it definitely didn’t protect you.”
Leo considered this. “Okay. But you’re here now.”
“Yeah. I’m here now.”
Later, I found Kade in the kitchen at 3AM. Making bunny pancakes.
He looked up when I came in. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“Me neither.”
We stood there. The smell of pancakes. The quiet.
“Ava,” he said. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Selena.”
My stomach dropped.
“What about her?”
“She’s not pregnant with my kid. She told me last night. It’s the Beta’s son. She lied to my father to keep the engagement. To keep power.”
I exhaled. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath.
“So you’re not—”
“No. I’m not.” He stepped closer. “I ended it. Publicly. This morning. The pack knows.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“What do you want me to say, Kade? Thank you?”
“I want you to let me try. With you. With them.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I’ll still be their dad. From a distance. But I’m hoping you say yes.”
His phone buzzed. Unknown number. He ignored it.
Mine buzzed too. My lawyer.
_Ms. Carter, the pack is requesting custody mediation. Alpha Blackwood filed papers._
My blood went cold.
“You filed for custody?”
Kade saw my face. Pulled out his phone. Read the message his lawyer sent him.
“s**t. No. My lawyer did that without asking me. I’m calling him now.”
He stepped away, voice low and furious. “Recall that filing. Now. I will NOT go to court against the mother of my children. Do you understand me?”
He came back. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t me.”
“Looks like it was.”
“It wasn’t. Ava, look at me.”
I did. His eyes were desperate.
“I would never take them from you. I just want to be in their lives. With you.”
Before I could answer, Lila came running out. “Daddy! I had a bad dream!”
Kade was moving before I could blink. He scooped her up.
“I got you, baby. I got you. No monsters. Daddy’s here.”
He rocked her. Hummed something low. An old pack lullaby.
She fell asleep on his chest in 5 minutes.
He carried her back to bed. Came back out.
“She’s okay,” he whispered.
“I saw.”
We ended up on the balcony. Night air. City lights.
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
“Of me?”
“Of this. Of hoping. Of you leaving again.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“How do I know that?”
“Because I’m choosing to stay. Even when it’s hard. Even when you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“I know.”
He reached out. Didn’t touch me. Just hovered his hand near mine.
“Can I?” he asked.
I nodded.
His hand found mine. Warm. Familiar.
It didn’t burn like the bond used to. It was better. It was a choice.
“I’m going to mess up,” he said. “A lot. I’ve never done this.”
“Me neither,” I said. “But we can mess up together.”
Inside, Leo called out. “Daddy! Water!”
Kade smiled. It reached his eyes this time.
“On it.”
He walked inside. To his son.
And I watched him.
The Alpha who rejected me.
The man who broke me.
And now... the father my children deserved.
I still don’t know if I can forgive him.
But for the first time in 5 years, I think I might want to try.
Because this? This was Daddy’s first day.
And he didn’t run.
- Writer
