Amber has a little jacket on with her backpack and stuffy. “What’s going on?” My voice is gruff with worry and sleep, but Shelly isn’t taking my shit.
Giving me a no-nonsense look, she folds her arms over her swollen little belly. She’s really starting to show now. “She’s fine, Gabe.”
“No, I not!” Amber says in that pouty little voice I can’t ever say no to and seems to melt my brain.
“What’s wrong?” I kneel down to look into her eyes, seeing they’re wet and red.
Her little arms go around my neck, and I pick her up to hold onto her. “Daddy?” her little voice says into my ear, and I notice she’s pulling back a little and looking behind me. “Who’s that?”
“Oh shit.” I hear Dakota’s voice just as I turn around to see him standing there, looking adorably sleepy. He has on a pair of boxer briefs—thank fuck—but his hair is a mess, all haphazard, probably from my fingers stroking through the strands as we fell asleep.
“Potty mouth!” Amber says and squeezes my neck tight.
“Oh my God,” Dakota gasps softly and puts a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. “I can’t believe this is my first impression on your daughter. I should go.”
He starts to leave, and I’ve never felt panic like I do right now in my life, and that’s saying a lot because—well, I’m a father of a little girl. I put Amber down quickly, kissing her cheek. “I’ll explain in a minute.” I rush over to Dakota and grab his hand gently. “Don’t go.”
His eyes meet mine, and I can see how horrified he is. “I’m so sorry. I heard noises, and I didn’t think...”
“Dakota,” I say firmly and then trap his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. And I’m fully aware we have an audience right now—a very confused ex-wife and daughter—so I don’t kiss him like I want to. But God, do I want to. “Go back to bed.”
“What?” He looks at me horrified. “N—no. I should go.”
I don’t release his face from my hands. “No.” I say it again, keeping my voice sure because I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. “I want you to stay. Go back to bed. I’ll be in there soon.”
His lips part slowly and then close. And then part again, but I look him straight in the eyes and tell him with my gaze not to argue. I can’t lose him. I can’t. And I won’t. “Are you sure?” he asks so quietly, it nearly shatters my heart.
No one has ever cherished him. I’m starting to realize that. No one ever put him as a priority in their lives. He thought I’d toss him away after one tiny little thing like this? We’re going to have to fix that.
But first, I need to figure out why Shelly and Amber are here.
I can’t help myself and lean in, pressing the softest, quick kiss against his lips before releasing him. “I’m sure. I’ll be in soon.”
He nods his head slowly, looking over my shoulder at Amber and Shell one last time, his cheeks fully red before he heads back to my room. I wait for the soft click of the bedroom door before I walk back over to Shelly and my daughter. Both are staring at me with curious expressions.
“Who is that?” Amber asks.
“We’ll talk about that later.” I motion for them both to come inside, and they do. I close the door and then focus on Amber. “What happened tonight?”
“There was a spider, Daddy! It was huge and scary! In my room!”
“You aren’t afraid of spiders,” I say because I’ve seen grown men scream on the job many times when they come in to contact with a spider or snake, but my daughter is likely to adopt them.
“I was asleep! They aren’t supposed to be in my room!”
Okay. Logical, I guess. “Okay, so you woke Mommy and Randy?”
“Yes,” she says, little hands on her hips. “But then, Randy killed it!”
Oh boy. Here we go. I look up at Shelly, who shakes her head and rolls her eyes, but there’s amusement too because we both find our daughter pretty cute. Even when she’s being dramatic.
“What did you want him to do?” I ask her.
“Not kill it!” she screeches and then rubs her little eyes with her hand, and I laugh, shaking my head. “We don’t kill spiders, Daddy. We trap them, and we take them outside.”
I laugh. “I guess we haven’t told Randy that rule yet.”
She pouts, and I chuckle. “Okay, so you want to spend the night here?”
