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She let out a huff. “Daddy, it’s not good to always win. You want to build some character by losing sometimes.”

He started walking toward the bunker. “That sounds like bullshit to me.”

“Daddy, you can’t say the word ‘bullshit.’”

He picked up her sneakers along the way. “Sure can. Just said it.” He carried her toward their apartment.

“Daddy, I’m going to get mud everywhere.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I don’t want to make a mess.”

“It can be cleaned up.”

“But that’s just rude when you’re a guest.”

He sat her on the bathroom counter, then placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, leaning in. “You are not a guest.”

“I know. I didn’t mean it that way exactly. I just mean, well, I don’t know what I meant. I just don’t want to be in the way of anyone, or for them to regret letting me stay here, I guess.”

“Are you mine?”

“Yes, of course I am. Are you mine?”

“Yeah. That means wherever I am is where you are. My home, which is here, is your home.” He pointed at her. “You are not a guest. You are not temporary. You are never in anyone’s way. You are wanted. You are loved. You are needed.”

Tears dripped down her face at his words.

You are wanted. You are loved. You are needed.

They were the words that she’d been wanting to hear all her life. Sure, when she was a kid, her parents wanted her, they loved her, but she was certain that she was just a nuisance to her grandmother. Always in the way, always causing issues, even when she tried not to. She’d tiptoed around that house most of the time that she’d lived there, trying not to be in the way.

Then, with Charlie, she’d always felt like an interloper, like she never fit in. That he wasn’t meant to be hers.

But this man was hers, and this life was hers. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don’t ever have to thank me for loving you,” he replied.

They sat like that for a long moment before he pulled back, and she grimaced as she saw his clothes were now covered in mud as well.

“Now, let’s get you in the shower, and then we can deal with that spanking, you’re owed, Little girl.”

“I really don’t think I need a spanking, Daddy, I was only trying to stop my shoes from getting dirty.”

“By running away from me?” he asked.

“Hmm, well, it was, um, kind of an accident.”

“There was nothing accidental about running from me.”

“You know, I’m really surprised you found me, Daddy.” She thought a distraction might be her best plan.

“What do you mean?” He turned on the shower, then started stripping off her clothes.

“Because I’m so stealth-like in the forest, I could hardly believe it. I think Zander should give me a job. I can just sneak around all quiet. I barely made any noise.”