I scoop Lottie up, easing her sleeping weight into my arms. She barely stirs as I carry her to the guest room. She’s already in fresh pyjamas, teeth brushed, face washed. The only reason she’s not in bed yet is because she refused a book and begged for another movie instead.
Probably bad parenting, letting her fall asleep like that. But hey, she ain’t ours.
We get to be the cool aunt and uncle. The ones who hand her back.
If shewereours?—
The thought snags. Hard.
Me. A dad. Taylor. A kid. A family.
I brace for the panic. The knee-jerk refusal.
But it doesn’t come.
That’s when I know I’m not just in deep; I’m ready. Ready for her, for a child, for a future I never dared hope for.
And maybe it’s time I told her the truth. Told her how I’ve felt all along.
But it feels too much, too soon. And I fear it’ll send her running.
I’ve had years to come to terms with how I feel. Years to understand it. She’s had months at best. And she hasn’t exactly told me how she feels, just that it feels like more. Which means she’s still wrestling with it herself.
And then there’s the bigger truth: that I said yes to her baby plan feeling the way I do. Making it about sex when it was about so much more.
And fuck knows how she’ll take it.
It could end everything. Not just us, but the plan too.
And I can’t risk that. Iwon’trisk that.
I tuck Lottie in, kiss her forehead like the doting uncle I am, and head back down the hall. I’m already stripping my clothes as I go.
By the time I reach the bathroom, I’m as naked as she is beneath the spray. Water streams down her back, her dark hair slicked to her skin, her scent in the steam that fills the room…
My God, she’s beautiful. And she’s mine – for real this time.
‘You just going to stand there?’ she teases over her shoulder.
And I grin and step in, all thought giving way to sensation as I slide my hands along her damp skin and draw her back against my chest. She melts into me, soft where I’m hard, warm where I’m burning.
‘God, I missed you,’ I breathe into the curve of her neck.
‘I’ve only been gone a few minutes.’
I nip her skin and she gasps. ‘You know what I mean,’ I growl. ‘Two weeks was too long.’
Twenty-five years has been an eternity…
Her breath hitches as I cup her breast, my other hand smoothing lower – she tenses. ‘Watch out, I’m?—’
‘On, I know,’ I say over her. ‘And I thought I made it clear – I don’t care.’
She shudders as my fingers slip between her slick-hot folds, her head falling back against my chest with a whimper.
‘Sounds like you don’t care either.’
Her head shakes. Her body trembles.
