“What the fuck is going on in here?”
CHAPTER 15
ETHAN
Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greets my eyes when I step into our bathroom. My wife is on her knees, cooing over my sobbing, naked ex-girlfriend.
Twisting around, Sloane gasps, the brightest smile I’ve ever seen stretching across her face. “You’re home!”
I’m so shocked, I can only stand rooted to the spot when my wife rushes over to throw her arms around me. “We weren’t expecting you for a couple more days yet. Did you get everything handled at the Ellory house?”
“I did what I could, and then I told Johnny I had a family emergency and had to come home. Sloane… why is Mia crying?” My brain is too overwhelmed, too confused to focus on the overall picture in front of me, so it latches onto the one thing I can possibly fix.
“Poor baby had an accident in her sleep. But that’s okay, isn’t it, Daddy? We understand accidents happen.”
Something about this seems wrong, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what. The one thing Icanpinpoint, however, is that my babygirl is sobbing her heart out in the bathtub. “Of course we understand. It’s okay, angel, nobody is mad at you.”
Mia hiccups, wiping at her streaming eyes with the backs of her hands as she blinks up at me. “But I w-wet the bed,” she whispers, sounding so distraught I can’t help but go to her.
Crossing the room, I kneel beside the tub and run my hand over her curls. “You just had an accident, baby. We’ll get you cleaned up and into some fresh clothes and Sloane will?—”
“Mommy,” Sloane interjects as she kneels beside me. “She calls me Mommy, not Sloane.”
Right. How could I have forgotten that minor, life-changing detail? “Mommywill change the sheets and it will be like this never happened.”
Sniffling pitifully, Mia nods. “O-okay, Daddy.”
Daddy.God. Hearing that word from my Little girl is everything I thought I’d never have again. I’d managed to convince myself it had just been some kind of drunk hallucination after our phone call a couple nights ago, but no. It’s really happening.
And I have no idea what the fuck to do about it.
“Here.” Sloane presses a washcloth into my hand and nods toward a bottle of body wash. “Why don’t you get our babygirl cleaned up while I strip the bed? It will give you two a chance to… reconnect.”
Turning my head, I meet my wife’s dark eyes. And in them, I see none of the cunning, none of the scheming mischief I’d expected. Only an eagerness that reaches down into my very soul and takes hold.
Could it be possible that she does actuallywantme to take on my role as Mia’s Daddy again?
Clinging to that desperate hope, I take the washcloth from her hand. “Okay… Mommy.”
Her smile, which is already brighter than I ever remember seeing it in our ten years of marriage, cranks up to blinding. “I’ll be back with some clothes for our babygirl in a bit.”
Washcloth in hand, I turn back to my sniffling babygirl. “Come on, angel. Let Daddy get you cleaned up.”
“You promise you’re not mad?” she asks as I pour body wash onto the cloth.
“No, baby. Nobody’s mad at you, I promise.” I’m confused as fuck, but certainly not mad.
Taking her arm, I begin to wash her. And with every swipe of the cloth over her glistening skin, I sink back into the role I was always meant to play.
“Have you been a good girl for Mommy while Daddy was away?” I ask, moving to the opposite arm.
“Uh-huh. Well, mostly.” Pink tints her cheeks. “Well… I tried really hard but she did have to spank me lots. She even switched me in the woods!”
“Really?” The Sloane I know would never take such risks. But clearly there is a whole different side to my wife I’ve never gotten to see. “And what did you do to earn a switching?”
“I didn’t listen when she told me to wait so she could let me outta the car.”
“Ah.” Chuckling softly, I run the washcloth over her back. “Well, that was very naughty, wasn’t it, angel? You know it’s the grownup’s job to help you in and out of the car.”
