Sloane stumbles into the room thirty minutes later. Her eyes widen at the mess I’ve created.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting rid of all the boxes.”
She pushes her hair out of her face. “Why?”
“This room wasn’t a nursery. It was a storage space.”
“It wasn’t too bad. All of the boxes were piled up against the one corner.”
I scowl. “Not good enough.”
“Zane, what’s going on? You didn’t have a problem with this setup yesterday.”
“Yesterday, I didn’t know the judge from the custody hearing can stop by for a visit to ascertain whether the house is good enough for my baby girl.”
I reach for the next box but she steps in my way to stop me. “You’re worried about the custody hearing?”
I thread my hands through my hair and pull on the ends. “Of course, I’m worried. Some judge I don’t know can decide I’m not good enough to be a father.”
She wraps her arms around me. “You’re good enough. You’re a great father.”
“A judge doesn’t know that. They’ll take one look at this room and think I don’t care for Adele.”
“Bullsh—” Her eyes catch on Adele playing in her bouncer and she cuts herself off. “Wrong. It’s plain to see how much you love your daughter.”
I drop my chin to my chest and enfold Sloane in my arms. “Maybe I should let Daisy have Adele. Babies should be with their mothers.”
Sloane glares up at me. “Daisy is no more a fit mom for Adele than my mom was for me.”
She’s right. The way Daisy abandoned my girl…I blow out a breath. “I know. I’m just worried.”
“You can be worried. This is a big deal, and it’s scary. But I will not allow you for one second to think Adele would be better off with Daisy.”
My lips twitch. “You won’t allow it?”
“You heard me, buster.” She pokes me. “I won’t allow it.”
I grin at her. “Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“For calming me down.”
“You never have to thank me for calming you down. You thanking me would mean I have to thank you whenever you calm me down, and let’s face it, no one has time for the amount of thanking that would be necessary.”
I bark out a laugh. Adele giggles in response.
Sloane smiles before pulling out of my arms to go to my baby girl. She picks her up from her bouncer.
“Good morning, sweetie pie. How are you this morning?” Adele gurgles. “You are going to break all the boys’ hearts.”
I growl. No boy is going to get near my baby girl. “Adele will not be dating until she’s thirty.”
“Daddy is crazy, isn’t he?” Sloane coos to Adele.
Adele claps her hands. “Ba-ba!”
