Pix is already out of the room, but she’s tucked Snooki in the way she likes best. Bundled tight with her favorite blanket pulled to her chin.
As soon as I lean in and kiss her head, one eye cracks open.
“Say it, Daddy.”
I lower my voice to a whisper. “Second star to the right,” I murmur, “and straight on till morning.”
Snooki sighs, a soft, contented sound that settles somewhere deep in my chest.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, Snook.”
“Can Princess Luna stay with us?”
My chest tightens. Harder than it has any right to.
“Princess Luna has her own castle,” I say gently.
She yawns, blinking sleepily. “I asked Momma to send you a princess,” she murmurs. “And she did.”
I brush the hair from her cheek, thumb lingering for just a second. “Your momma will always look after you, Snooki Pie.”
Her hand lifts, patting my cheek, clumsy with sleep. “You, too, Daddy.”
I manage a smile, tuck the blanket back around her shoulders, and stand before the moment can crack me open any further.
I click off the pink lamp and pull the door mostly shut.
When I turn, I catch movement. A shadow slipping into Connor’s room.
I follow it.
The door is cracked, but I knock anyway.
“Come in,” Pix says.
She’s perched on the edge of the bed, script in her hands. Her eyes stay glued to the page as she swipes at her cheeks.
I lean against the doorframe. “Eavesdropping can be hazardous to your mascara.”
“I don’t wear mascara,” she scoffs, snapping the pages together. “And I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Is that so?”
She nods too fast. “Yeah. I was just…” She fumbles with the script, fingers suddenly all thumbs. “Memorizing lines.”
She sniffs.
I tip my chin toward the pages in her hand. “Your script’s upside down.”
“Oh.” She turns it. Pauses. Flips it again. “Right. That would probably help.”
I push off the doorframe and cross the room, grab a tissue from the nightstand, and hold it out to her.
She hesitates before taking it. “Thank you.”
“Snooki’s just enamored with you,” I say gently. “We all are.”
