The last thing I see is her frozen in place—caught between disbelief and hurt.
I park beside Ceci’s car in the garage and take the stairs up to the kitchen.
I find my two girls there. Alicia is perched on a stool with her back to me, animatedly chattering about something I can’t quite make out, while her mom pulls cutlery from a drawer. Ceci notices me first. Her lips curve into a smile, and just like that, something tight in my chest loosens.
I press a finger to my lips.
I step up behind Alicia and murmur, “So… how much did my little princess miss her daddy?”
She startles, wobbling on the stool. I steady her by the waist, and she twists around, immediately leaning into me, arms slipping around my middle. I bend to kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. When I look up again, Ceci is no longer in the kitchen.
With one arm still around Alicia’s shoulders, I take a few steps and spot Ceci setting the table.
“I need to give some of my love to Mommy now, princess,” I murmur.
Alicia giggles and steps back, giving me a playful shove before letting go.
Ceci turns just as I reach her.
“Aren’t you going to give me a hug?” I ask, already pulling her into my arms.
She hugs me back, but it’s hesitant. Guarded. Not the way she used to. I tighten my hold, unwilling to let her slip through my fingers.
“I missed you so much,” I murmur into her hair. “I hate sleeping in our bed alone.”
She exhales a weary breath, and gently pulls away.
“I need to check on the lasagna.”
I catch her arm before she can retreat. “Three days without me, and you’re not even going to kiss me?”
She rolls her eyes, but there’s a faint smile at the corner of her mouth. I take it as permission. I cup her face and kiss her, pouring everything I’ve been holding back into it… want, relief, the need to feel her close again.
But just as I try to deepen it, she pulls away and turns back toward the kitchen.
I’m left standing there, unsettled, a frown settling between my brows.
I don’t understand this distance. I don’t know when it crept in… or why it feels so intentional now.
But I do know one thing.
I won’t let her keep slipping further away from me.
I close the garage door quietly and head up the stairs.
Ceci is already asleep when I step into the bedroom. It’s the first time all week since they came back on Tuesday that I went to Maya’s apartment. I told myself I needed it. To take the edge off.
The truth is, Ceci hasn’t been the same since she returned. There’s a wall between us now, one I can feel even when she’s right beside me. And every time I try to scale it, it seems to grow taller.
Tomorrow is Saturday. I’ll only need a few hours at the office. Then I’ll be back in time to take them to the park, just like I promised. We’ll have Sunday too. A whole day together. Time as a family.
Things will go back to normal. They have to.
In the bathroom, I strip out of my clothes and toss them into the hamper without thinking. I never let Maya touch me until I’m completely undressed.
That one time on the office couch was different. Rushed. Careless. I’d pulled on the same jacket I’d been wearing earlier, barely thinking as I rushed out of the bathroom after seeing Ceci’s text, informing me she was at the hospital with Alicia.
The same jacket she noticed later. Carrying another woman’s scent.
