“Penelope.” The same excitement he heard in Aaron’s voice stirred inside Mal, rising up inside of him as overjoyed laughter. The excitement of the last few months had distracted him from the fact that outside his small sphere of existence, life was still going on. “You must be so proud. I bet she’s beautiful.”
“She’s more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.” The pride in Aaron’s voice shone through, championing his excitement. “I can’t stay on the phone long—I have a ton of other calls to make—but thank you for always being here for us. Gage and I appreciate it so much.”
“You’re welcome,” Mal said. “Make sure you rest up. Text me when you’re home safe, okay?”
“Will do.”
After their goodbyes were said, the call ended. Mal elected not to share his news. Not yet.
First, he’d wait to see if he woke up. Dreams this good didn’t last forever—but a life this good just might.
42
Vincent
“So.” Nikki balanced on the balls of her feet, her hands folded neatly behind her back. She occupied the doorway to the kitchen, trapping both Vincent, who was cooking, and Mal, who was seated at the island counter, inside. She directed her question at Mal, tone expectant. “Are you going to give me a baby sister?”
“Nikki,” Vincent scolded. He removed the pot of boiling pasta he’d been tending to from the heat and came to clear her away from the doorway. “That’s not something you ask someone. If Mal wants to share that news with you, he will. You have to be polite and wait.”
“But you said that Mal might be having a baby,” Nikki complained. She screwed up her face, evidently unpleased with how she was being treated. “I want to know if I’m going to be a big sister. Ireally wannabe a big sister. It’s not rude. It’s a baby.”
Vincent resisted the urge to plant his face in his palm. “Nikki, please. Can we talk about this later? We’re about to have dinner.”
“I don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” Nikki mumbled. She scuffed her foot on the floor. “If someone asked me if I was having a baby, I wouldn’t be mad at them. It’s not rude.”
“We’ll talk later, okay?” Vincent glanced from her to Mal, seeking signs of distress on Mal’s face. He’d made a mistake telling Nikki what he had, and he would accept if Mal had hard feelings about it. But by the look on Mal’s face, he wasn’t upset at all. Affection rounded the corners of his eyes and turned the edges of his lips upward.
“I don’t want to overstep your parental authority,” Mal said, tone light. It seemed Nikki’s brash line of questioning hadn’t scared him off. “But I’d be happy to answer Nikki’s question if you’ll allow it. If not, I understand. Not everyone would be happy to be asked a question like that—but I don’t mind.”
Vincent expected a scathing, “See?” or, “Itoldyou,” from Nikki, but she kept her silence. Her head was ducked, and she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. Was it guilt? Vincent hadn’t seen her look quite like that before.
“I’m sorry, Mal,” Nikki murmured, tears thinly hidden behind her words. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to be mean to you.”
While Nikki ducked her gaze and kept her eyes locked on her toes, Vincent looked at Mal. Like Nikki so often did in unfamiliar situations, Mal looked to Vincent for guidance, unsure how to navigate what was happening. Before he let Nikki off the hook, he waited for Vincent’s permission. The respect Mal had for him as a father stunned Vincent to temporary silence. They traded power freely, dominance swapped back and forth depending on need or necessity, but Vincent was still rattled by how seamlessly Mal opened his heart and adjusted to circumstance. With Melissa, Vincent had never been given a chance to spread his wings. With Mal, he flew. Their roles were fluid. Changing.
Free.
The shackles that had once held down Vincent’s soul unlocked. In Mal, he found autonomy.
“I think Nikki understands that she made a mistake,” Vincent said steadily. He spoke to Mal, knowing that Nikki hinged on his words. “Why don’t you go ahead and answer?”
Nikki lifted her chin and stole a look at Vincent, her head barely turned in his direction, as if she thought she could watch him without him noticing. Brown hair slid down her shoulders, framing her face. Embarrassment burned in her cheeks and watered in her eyes. The look shattered Vincent’s defenses, and he stepped to her side and held out his hand. Nikki reached for it and squeezed, then sidled shyly up to him and pushed against his leg.
If only she could be so broken up about doing wrong when Malwasn’tinvolved. Vincent resisted a sigh.
Once Nikki had settled, Mal spoke. “Iamgoing to have a baby.”
Nikki pulled back from Vincent’s leg, grinning widely. Another one of her teeth had fallen out recently, and her broken smile was adorable.
“I’m havingtwobabies, actually.”
“Two!” Nikki squeaked. “Twins!”
“But as to whether those babies are going to make you a big sister…” Mal glanced at Vincent, and as their eyes met, weightless gravity lifted the room. It sank through Vincent, infiltrating his every inch, lifting his insides with the same kind of incredible free fall as cresting, then descending, a steep slope while behind the wheel. Raw, rippling excitement. Vincent shivered. “It’s a complicated situation, and I don’t think that I can give you a straight answer until I have a few more conversations with your dad… but no matter what we decide, I’d like you to be an honorary big sister to the babies. Would you like that?”
“An honorary big sister?” Nikki’s eyes were wide, and her tone was just as open, rounded with the kind of gleeful abandon that only young children could convey. She squeezed Vincent’s hand, then broke from his side and ran for Mal, coming just short of his chair. “I get to be an honorary big sister? Really? No matter what?”
“No matter what,” Mal vowed. He tucked Nikki’s hair behind her ears, his attention devoted solely to her. The love in his eyes was gentle and full—she wasn’t his child by blood, but in Mal’s expression, Vincent saw his commitment to her. What Mal said, he meant.
