That was obviously what she needed to hear. She ran to him, crying hard, and he closed his eyes against his own tears because he didn’t want to upset her any more than she was.
The storm, as wild as it was, ended, finally, and the weeping eased. Bekka wiped her nose with her hand, her tears leaking into his shirt and wetting it. “I don’t want anybody mad at me, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“Honey, nobody’s mad at you. Breathe. Cam, are you mad at Rebekka?”
Cam shook his head. “Oh, honey, no. I’m sorry you’re upset with me. And I want… when I know what to do about it, I will.”
She sniffled and rolled her eyes. “I just want everything to be okay again. I miss my mom. It feels like everybody’s happier now, and nobody misses her anymore.”
He huffed out a hard breath. “Every day, baby girl. She was my best friend.”
“I thought that was Uncle Mark.”
“I never married Uncle Mark, and I never had babies with Uncle Mark. He and I are a different kind of friends. There isn’t a single day on earth that I don’t wish she was here to see you grow up, to help with stuff that I don’t know anything about, and I have to learn.”
“You’re pretty good at that learning about girl stuff,” she admitted.
He grinned. “You think so?”
“Yeah, you learned to crochet for me.”
Mitch nodded. “I’m going to try and learn everything you need me to learn.”
“Okay.” She gave him a wink. “When I start my period, though, Cam should have to go buy me stuff.”
“It’s a deal.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
He kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo — it used to always be strawberry-scented. Now it was whatever all her friends used. “I love you, kiddo. That’s what matters. That’s the big part. Everything else is—” He winked at her. “What did your momma used to say? Do you remember?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes. “Everything else is window dressing.”
“There you go.” He patted her back, holding on until she finally pushed away.
“I have to go get ready for Girl Scouts.” Her eyes were wide and just a little bit panicky.
“Okay, baby girl, you hurry up, and I’ll have your dues ready.”
As soon as she was out of earshot, Cam turned even wider, more panicky eyes on him. “Did I do that? This is my fault? Is there anything I can do? What can I do? I need to make it up to her somehow.”
Mitch took a deep breath because adult Cam he could deal with way easier than hysterical almost-twelve-year-old Bekka. “You didn’t do it. I never thought about how she might feel because Sarah and Rachel were doing so well, and she never said anything. Well, I know she’s acted out a few times, but…” Mitch shrugged. “I was just so sunk in my own misery.”
“I don’t want to get in the way of you and your kids.” Cam looked like he might just puke.
“Hey, as of the first thing this morning, you said they were our kids. Don’t give up on me now.”
Cam took a deep breath and winced when his collarbone obviously shifted. “Okay, no, you’re right. I’m sorry. That freaked me out a lot.”
Mitch grinned, going to the fridge to grab Cam a Sprite, because he still looked green around the gills. He didn’t need any more coffee, he thought, but Mitch might have another cup. “According to Allison, and also your sisters and mother, we have a lot of that to look forward to, actually. Meltdowns like that, I mean.”
Cam’s eye ticked a little bit. “Really?”
“Yep, we’re gonna have teenage girls with raging hormones and all that good stuff. Not that teenage boys are any less wild, but there will be tears.”
“Well, I don’t like it.” Cam grinned though, finally. “I guess I’ll get used to it, huh? This is my first one. Like you said, the girls have all acted out a few times since I’ve been here, but this is my first real meltdown.”
“There’s no one else I’d rather do it with.” He reached over to run a thumb over Cam’s cheekbone.
