“Yes. I needed to see the kind of woman my mother was.” She went quiet for a moment as she sat in deep thought. He waited patiently for her to speak, though he desperately wanted to know what was on her pretty mind. “She never wanted me. Deep down, I always knew that, but yesterday confirmed it. I needed that confirmation. And I needed to see how vicious my husband really was.”
“No, you ain’t need to see that.” He hung his head.
“As your wife, I need to know what you’re capable of.”
Gideon thought about it. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but he still felt ashamed. He knew his rages weren’t pretty. He sighed. “New vow.”
She peered up at him in amusement, though he still saw a hint of sadness within her. “Lay it on me.”
“I vow to never hide any part of me from you again.”
She melted into him. “I accept that.”
“Glimmer?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” The words had begged to release from his mouth for a while now. He looked down at her in anticipation. When she finally looked up at him, he swore his heart skipped a beat.
“I love you too.” Yeah, his heart definitely skipped a beat. He kissed her deeply, and the only reason he pulled away was because Glimmer gave him a gentle push. “As bad as I want to take it there, I can’t. Mother nature came to visit me today, so I’m out of commission for the next five days or so.”
Gideon groaned dramatically, some of his playfulness creeping back in. “Great timing.”
She giggled. He thought he died and went to heaven. That sound would get him through any trial that life had to throw him from that moment on.
“I talked to my dad,” she said after a moment of silence.
Gideon stiffened. He was still unsure about Juke, but that was just his stubborn side. He would talk to Juke soon and feel him out for himself. He knew how Glimmer was a daddy’s girl, and he would never take that from her, as long as Juke did right by her.
“How’d that go?” He rested his cheek on her head and listened intently.
She shrugged. “He was pissed. There was crying. More him than me. Lots of apologizing. It honestly made me more sad. He feels so helpless behind bars. You guys gave him protection and comfort, but he still can’t move like he wants. It’s hard for me to watch and harder for him to deal with, I think.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” Gideon kissed her temple and rubbed her side and shoulders. Haze was working on some things pertaining to Juke, but it was slower moving than they hoped. He didn’t want to get Glimmer’s hopes up, so he didn’t say anything.
She shrugged again. “Is what it is. I just wish he would let me see him.”
“I can understand him not wanting his pride and joy to see him locked in a cage.”
“I understand it too. It still sucks.”
He felt her spirits lowering, and he didn’t want that, so he decided to change the subject. “Know what I was thinking about earlier?”
“What’s that?”
“Cooking breakfast naked.”
Glimmer giggled loudly. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Something we can’t exactly do here.”
Glimmer went quiet. It took a moment for her to respond. “I like it here.”
“I do too, but I think we need our own space, baby.”
Glimmer sighed. “I agree. This is just the first time I’ve felt like I belong to a family.”
They had that in common.
