authors note; so, Wattpad seemed to have huge issues with comments yesterday. To all my readers that had left comments on the last chapters of DARK PARADISE or SOMETHING IN THE WAY and ANOTHER LOVE and I haven't responded, it's because I don't even see that there are comments there. I'm not ignoring anyone, I appreciate every comment even though I can't even see what you guys wrote [kinda makes me sad, lol]! So, I hope the problem is fixed and we writers can see and respond to comments again. 🥰

ᚔ

After Madison assured him that he could leave her alone with her father without any concerns, Happy reluctantly drove back to Jesse's house where they were staying for the next few daysᅳ and he could use the free time to talk to Izzy.

Madison was definitely right, he spent far too little time with his sister and he should and wanted to change that, after all, they had once been inseparable.

After he got off his bike, still with a bad feeling in his stomach because Madison was alone with Adam, he walked towards the house and found Izzy, Jesse and Rico playing together in the front yard. Or rather, he saw Rico playing. Jesse was busy exploring Izzy's mouth with his own.

“Absolutely not!” Happy walked up to the two of them and grabbed Izzy's upper arm before pulling her away from Jesse, who he glared at. “How long has this been going on?”

“Excuse me?” Izzy raised an eyebrow as she yanked her arm out of Happy's grasp with a huff.

“Uh”,  Jesse, who was visibly more nervous than Izzy, cleared his throat and rubbed his freshly shaved head. “I can explain.”

“You don't have to explain anything, Jesse”, the Latina groaned, rolling her eyes at Happy's next answer.

“Oh, he has a lot to explain”, the SAA grunted sternly, staring at the two of them. “It's best if you both explain why my sister is making out with a meth cook!”

“You’re so fuckin' embarrassing, Happy.” Embarrassed, Izzy placed her thumb and index finger against her forehead, using the rest of her hand to partially cover her face, which slowly turned red. “I’m thirty two, I can date whoever I want.”

“Oh yeah?” Snorting, his gaze wandered to Izzy, whose gaze was still fixed on the freshly mown lawn, which seemed quite interesting to her at the moment. “You also have Rico to think about, Izzy! You got any idea how fucking dangerous the life Jesse leads is?”

“I wouldn't necessarily call it dangerous..I meanᅳ” Jesse began, but was interrupted by a fuming Happy who couldn't hold back his overprotective side. This was about his little sister. He didn't care if she was eighteen or thirty two, almost thirty three.

“Shut up, no one asked you”, the SAA growled at the oldest Pinkman sibling. “You really wanna drag her and my nephew into this life? You don't just cook meth, you also sell it. Are you telling me you've never gotten in trouble before? That you’ve never been threatened before?”

“Happy! It’s none of your god damn business”, Izzy chimed in, her face scrunched up angrily. “You lead a dangerous life too! Does that mean I should keep Madison away from you? Maybe I should, huh?!”

“You can't compare that and you know it”, Happy fired back, stepping closer to Izzy, who looked at him stubbornly with her arms crossed. “I know how to protect my family, how do I know if he can?”

“Oh, do you? Then where were you when Madison was kidnapped, huh? You did a great job protecting her”, the brunette sarcastically clapped her hands, but immediately regretted her words after they fell from her lips and Happy’s facial features became even harder than they already were. His eyes that were as dark as the night looked into hers.

But there was that uncertainty in his eyes again, the same fear that Izzy had seen in them after Madison was kidnapped. Instead of answering, he simply took a step back and turned away from her.

Sighing, she watched him rub his head and literally stared holes into the back of his head. “I'm sorry, Happy. That wasn’t fair of me”, she sincerely apologized as her guilty conscience began to gnaw at her.

“Yo, how about we all calm down?” Jesse, who of course didn't miss the tension between the siblings, sighed quietly.

He didn't want the two siblings to fight because of him and even though Happy had no right to interfere, Izzy's words weren't entirely fair either, but Jesse didn't want to and wouldn't take sides in this case. Instead, he just wanted to sort this out calmly.

“No, she’s right.” Happy, who turned around again after taking a moment to let Izzy's words sink in, which had hit him harder than he would admit, examined Jesse closely. “It's  not my business. It's her life, her decision. However, I'm not done with this yet.”

“Yeah..sure. We’ll talk about it again.” Jesse rubbed the back of his head again and cleared his throat. He had respect for Happy, but he would also have his way when it came to Izzy.

“We will”, Happy stated matter of factly, facing Izzy one more time before he walked back to his bike to clear his head while he'd ride through town for a while.

“Happy wait!” Izzy ran towards the bike while Happy adjusted the clasp of his helmet and put a hand on his arm. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. There is no one who could take care of their family better than you.”

“Not now, Izzy”, he rasped indifferently, shaking her hand off and starting the engine, but he waited until Izzy stepped back with a sigh before he drove off.

He had to let the whole day sink in, and it was only midday. Madison was alone with her father, whom he didn't trust at all. His sister was dating a meth cook, which could put her and Rico in constant danger, and he himself once again doubted whether he could really protect his family enough.

This chaos of emotions was really starting to get on his nerves.

ᚔ

“So, when's the due date?” Adam pointed at his daughter's baby bump with a smile, wondering if she would ever give him another chance to make up for the things he did wrong.

“A few more months, if there aren't any complications”, she replied, her smile still a little reserved.

“Could there be complications?” Adam immediately asked concerned, his brow furrowed. “Is everything okay with the baby and you?”

“We're fine, dad”, she assured him to reassure him. “There shouldn’t be any complications, but it can happen to any woman.”

“Okay then, let’s hope for the best.” He let out a breath of relief, and Madison was sure it was genuine relief, not some kind of an act he was putting on for her. If it was true about the letters and he had really tried to get in touch, that meant he still did care about her.

“Do you know what it’s going to be?” His eyes widened with curiosity, but then he raised both hands. “Of course you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

“Not ready?” Madison laughed sadly, poking at the piece of cake on the plate in front of her with her fork. “Do you know how much I would have loved to have you in my life? I was always ready to give you a chance, I waited day and night for you to finally visit. And it never happened, dad. Did you actually care about Jesse and me?”

“That’s not how it was, Madison.” Adam sighed and looked at her with a conflicted look in his eyes. “You, Jesse and Jake have always been the most important things in my life. I don't know why I stuck to appearing perfect for so long. That just made me lose everything.”

“You didn't lose Diane”, Madison said angrily, who was also sad at the same time. “That was always your number one priorityᅳ to impress Diane. Why dad? She never treated you good, just as long as you did what she asked for.”

To be honest, Adam didn't have a reasonable answer to Madison's question, which only fed the hatred towards himself. “You’re right, that’s all I ever cared about. I know how much I hurt her with my affair back then. I was constantly plagued by my guilty conscience and wanted to make up for the mistake I made. But I lost two of my children.”

“You did”, Madison said with a shrug, her cold gaze fixed on Adam. “Jesse and I needed you. I needed you after what happened with Steven. I came to you when I found out that I was pregnant by him. And even though I knew you would be angry and disappointed, I hoped that you would at least give me a hug and tell me that everything's going to be fine. You let Diane call me a whore and didn't say a word while I was already upset enough about the abortion I had to get done.”

Silently, Adam lowered his gaze and folded his hands in his lap. There was no excuse for what he did to his children. Sure, there were worse parents who abused their children, but he hadn't been a good father either and it was a miracle that Madison was even sitting here with him.

Madison took a deep breath as she realized how miserable her father felt about this, and while it may have been naive or too good-natured, she bought the remorse that crossed her father's face. She believed that he regretted his mistakes.

“It’s going to be a girl.” Her soft voice now sounded less judgmental, less venom and disappointment in her tone than it had just a few moments ago. “We thought about a few names last night. Annie was our favorite, so that’s probably what she’ll be called.”

“Annie is a beautiful name”, Adam replied, looking back at his daughter, a wistful smile tugging on his lips. “I’m sure you’ll be great parents.”

“We will”, she nodded firmly. Since she herself didn't have a good childhood, she would make sure that Annie didn't lack anything, especially her daughter wouldn't lack love and affection. “The only question is whether her grandfather will be a part of her life or not.”

Adam lowered his head again and nodded in understanding, sad about  the fact that Madison and Happy probably won't let him be a part of his granddaughter's life. “I would love to be a part of her lifeᅳ and also yours and Jesse's life. But I understand if you don't want that. Or your partner.”

“Happy can’t forbid me to see you”, she stated, but Happy's opinion was important to her and she would always take his side. “But he has a right to forbid you from seeing Annie, but he won't if you're really serious about her. I'm tired of getting disappointed and I certainly don't want Annie to get hurt. If you really want to be a part, mine and Happy's life then you can. But if you hurt me or my family again there is no coming back.”

“This is your only and last chance, dad”, the brunette emphasized in all seriousness, yet her voice sounded chillingly calm. “And Diane will never see Annie, just to be clear. You can bring Jake any time you want to see your granddaughter.”

If she would give Adam a chance, then only if he would follow Happy's and her rules. If her father couldn't accept this, he no longer had the right to be a part of her life. But her inner child was literally screaming for some affection and encouragement from her father.

“That shouldn't be a problem, I won't stay with Dianeᅳ not after what she did”, he replied without having to think twice. He had made mistakes too, but he would never have done something like Diane did.

“Are you sure about this, dad?” Madison asked, her voice a lot softer as she could see the pain in Adam's eyes.

“I’ve never been so sure, darling”, he smiled weakly. “I will make up for my mistakes, I promise you.”

“As hard as it is for me to admit this; I actually believe you.” Madison stood up and took her wallet out of her bag, which she then slung over her shoulder. But Adam was quicker, having also stood up, he put a hand on hers to stop her from paying.

“I’ll pay”, he insisted and put enough money plus a tip on the table before he tried to hug Madison a few times, but didn’t quite dare, which Madison noticed.

Somewhat reluctantly, she finally put her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Don't fuck it up this time, dad. And do right by Jesse, too”, she murmured into the hug before pulling away and writing her number on a napkin. Then she left the small café and made her way back to Jesse's house.