She knew. Somehow, she knew.
“Dabbah!”
“Hey there,” I said, taking her from Natalie. She walked forward and shifted. It was quite a different process than mine, considering how much taller her horse form was. I turned my eyes back to Veronica.
Sometimes I felt that not only was I failing her as a father, but also that I was hardly a father to her at all. But the way she was looking at me now, cheeks pink and her lips stained green—no doubt from a popsicle—made me feel far more secure in what I meant to her.
“You wanna go see how Giselle is doing?” I asked, feeling a bit guilty at having left Giselle on her own for so long. Well, technically notentirelyon her own.
“Ah! Bababa guu!”
“Bababa guu,” I agreed, heading back to where our chairs had been. Giselle wasn’t there, but I pushed down my concern. I could follow her scent. It wasn’t exactly overpowering considering it was outside, but her combination of shampoo and perfume was pretty unique.
“Come on, Veronica, we’re on the hunt.”
Veronica clapped her hands. Her verystickyhands. So, I swung by the car to get a wet wipe.
Once my daughter was an appropriate level of sticky, we headed off to find Giselle.
I didn’t really have a good idea of where she would have ended up, but thankfully, it only took me a few minutes to find her in a circle of chairs around a small campfire grill. I grinned when I saw her, contentment bubbling up inside of me. She looked so completely natural in this space.
She had surprised me by not wearing a wig today, instead piling her soft, delicate hair on her head in a messy bun. I understood why she covered her hair so often. It was an aesthetic, and also a comfort, the same way a bright lip emboldened some women, or a new beard oil made some men feel all shiny and new. I preferred it if it was something she liked to do for fun rather than something she felt shehadto do, so the fact that she was out and about in all her glory was a great sign.
God, she really was stunning. She was leaning towards a woman sitting across from her, long, elegant neck tilted slightly, her pianist fingers supporting her chin as she beamed. Even in profile, I knew her eyes were twinkling mischievously like they did whenever she felt she was being particularly clever.
I stood there, drinking her in. I couldn’t believe she was still happy to date me. I was going glacially slow, but she never seemed to mind. At the beginning of our arrangement, I braced myself each day for her to tell me to man up and stop acting like a virginal teenager. But she never did. As a week turned into weeks, and weeks turned into more than a month, I began to fear that less and less.
And with less fear in me, there was room for other things to bloom.
I was relentlessly attracted to the woman—I always had been, but now the temptation toacton that attraction was growing stronger. I hadn’t kissed her nearly enough, and I wondered what it would be like to pull her into my lap, my fingers bunching in her long skirt as I gripped her hips, encouraging her to grind against me. How it would feel to wrap my hand in that fine, silken hair of hers and pulling it just right so that perfect mouth of hers opened in a gasp.
Mostly, I wondered what her face would look like if I got her to that pinnacle of pleasure. Would she scream? Cover her hand with her mouth? Bite down on her lip? Or would she be quiet, lips parted in silent ecstasy?
No heads turned toward me, which didn’t make sense with how clearly aroused I smelled, but a quick sniff of the situation told me the entire group in front of me was actually human.
Huh. I hadn’t expected that.
Shaking my head, I quickly got my libido in check. And just in time, because Veronica spotted Giselle and let out a happy shriek, chubby arms reaching out like I was chopped liver in the presence of the teacher.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame my daughter. Given the choice between me and her, I’d choose Giselle every time too.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” Giselle said, already rising to her feet. Maybe I was getting a bit confused from my ownoverpowering scent, but she smelled a bit… excited? And by excited, I meant aroused.
But no, I had to be imagining it. So, I focused on calming my body and my pheromones as I handed Veronica off to my date. And God, did it feel sorightseeing Giselle with my daughter on her hip.
Is this a sign, Millia? Are you trying to give me your blessing?
How was I supposed to know?
I didn’t. Some part of me whispered that I shouldn’t be looking for permission from someone who had died, and the fact that I was doing so, meant I still wasn’t ready.
But I wanted to be. God, did I want to be.
“You okay?” Giselle asked, her curious eyes on me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, resolving not to get locked in my head. “Wanna get something to eat?”
Giselle’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Wait, is it time for that yet?”
