He reached over and turned off the light on the nightstand beside the bed, and I blinked into the darkness. I couldn’t sleep for a long time—I felt so happy, but fear nipped at me.
Will this end?
Will I lose Daddy?
I tried not to panic. I had the best Daddy, and I wanted to call him that—my Daddy. I was feeling more like myself, and a couple of months ago I’d started to be able to think Daddy’s name—Gian—without it making me want to curl into a ball of guilt. I had to use his name at the church and with his mother, but preferred Daddy when we were alone. I wanted to call him Daddy because it was something he deserved and not because I couldn’t handle the idea of saying anything else. It was an honor to call him Daddy. I snuggled my head against his chest.
“I love you, Daddy.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and while that might not be what I wanted, it was good enough. I smiled into the dark.
* * *
Morning sunlight spilledthrough the windows in the living room. Heat crawled up my neck and made my cheeks burn, and my stomach melted and went soft inside in a good way as Daddy secured the white collar around his neck. I reached up to straighten it for him, and he smoothed out a wrinkle on my white short-sleeved button-down. I’d started dressing nicer because Daddy’s mom had bought me clothes, since she said she “couldn’t stand to see someone so handsome look so ragged.” Daddy had been furious about it, but I’d noticed he liked watching me in the expensive clothing, so I’d been wearing them more often.
Mr. Jericho gave us a squinty-eyed pout from the couch, where he held a silver metal bucket in his arms like it was a baby, but Daddy drew my attention back to him when he undid my top button and smiled at me. His brown eyes glowed with a happiness that made me want to run down the street and go door-to-door, telling everyone all about how lucky I am.
“Are you sure you’re okay to help Jericho home?”
Nodding, I couldn’t help but stand taller with the pride that hit me. “I know how to take the bus there.”
Mr. Jericho groaned and hitched his bucket closer. I’d never been hungover, and by the way his face was pale and sweaty, I didn’t think I ever wanted to experience it. It made no sense to me that someone would drink so much.
“Why can’t you drive me, you creep? Doesn’t the church have a vehicle?” he mumbled toward Daddy.
Sighing, Daddy went over to stand behind the couch and massaged Jericho’s shoulders with a friendly dance of his fingers. “It’s Sunday, so I have the late morning service. Malachi was nice enough to do the early service. I also have a couple getting married in the church, and they need to have the husband baptized first. I’m giving him the short version of the classes, and she’s being supportive and sitting in to brush up on her info, so he doesn’t have to do it alone. I rescheduled on them twice, and a third time might be too much, even for a man of God.” He leaned around and grinned.
Mr. Jericho chuckled, then held his stomach and panted. “Guess you gotta keep those donations rolling in,” he said, and I didn’t like his tone, but Daddy only laughed. Normally he would’ve had something cutting to say back, but today he seemed to be in a really great mood. Daddy pulled out his phone to check the time, and Mr. Jericho grabbed his wrist so he could see it, too. He groaned.
“Actually, I should go to work, not home.” Mr. Jericho raised his arm and sniffed. “Do I stink too bad? I have deodorant in my desk.”
Smiling, I settled down beside him and gave him a hug, just because I felt good and he looked so bad, and he huffed and hugged me back. Daddy rested his hand on the top of my head, and for a moment, I worried I’d done the wrong thing, but when I glanced up at him, he tickled his fingers along my cheek and winked. “I can go with you, but... shouldn’t you call off? You’re not well.”
Mr. Jericho’s blond brows furrowed, and I leaned back a bit. “Are you telling me what to do?”
I rubbed my hands along my black shorts and shrugged. “Sorta?”
He patted my shoulder and forced a smile that appeared to cause him pain. “You’re doing a good job at digging out from under those submissive tendencies. This is huge for you, a breakthrough.”
Daddy slipped his hands along my jaw from behind, tilted my head back, and planted a warm kiss on my mouth that had my toes curling against the floor.
The sound of a bucket clattering nearby didn’t make me stop; I would’ve stayed still for Daddy until the world ended.
“What the hell is going on?”
Daddy straightened, and I glanced at Mr. Jericho, feeling shy. I smiled at him, and he frowned at Daddy.
“I thought you’d be ecstatic,” Daddy said, annoyance heavy in his tone.
“And I thought if you decided to do something like this, you might step down to a different role at the church. You don’t have to abandon your commitment to God and doing good in the community if you stop being a priest.”
Daddy sighed and ruffled my hair before he walked toward the door. “It’s complicated. You know the life of a Sabbatini—even if we want to do something different, often we can’t.” Something scary crossed his face that had me sinking back against the couch.
“Or won’t,” Mr. Jericho said darkly.
I grabbed his hand, and he glanced at me in surprise. “You know what I’ve learned? You’re not responsible for what other people do. You’re responsible for what—”
“You do,” he said with a wry grin, looking a little healthier. “Yeah, I know. It’s still a bad feeling when someone you... want good things for won’t move on. Refuses to change for the better.”
