When he reached Sophia’s bedchamber, he waited outside the door as her maid helped her into her night clothes. Once she was ready, he laid her on her featherbed then pulled her pink duvet over her small body, tucking in the edges around her just the way she liked. “Sleep well,Poppet.”
Sophia stared up at him. “Daddy, will I ever have amama?”
“You do have a mama. She simply lives with the angels.” His heart ached for his daughter, but there was nothing he could do other than love her himself. He bent to kissher.
Sophia placed her hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes. “I mean a new mama. One who lives here withus?”
He swallowed past the tightness in his throat. “Perhaps,someday.”
She smiled, releasing his face to settle against her pillow. “I should rather like for Miss Emma to be mymama.”
Aaron grinned half in amusement and half because he did not know what else to do. “Sweet dreams, little one.” He delivered the kiss he’d intended before she had waylaid him, then left the room with a heavyheart.
