He laughs harder, putting an arm around her, smiling. “Me, too. It’s good to be alive.”
Terah bounces up and down while saying in a sing-song voice, “And getting married!”
Shaking my head at her, I utter, “Calm down, dorkette. We haven’t told anyone yet.”
Suddenly, a tall, handsome man appears at the front door. He has light brown hair, laughing brown eyes, and an easy smile. Taking one look at Nox, he walks forward, taking him into a firm hug. Nox hugs him back, and they talk close for a while.
This must be Jonathon.
Releasing Nox, he comes forward, smiling with open arms. Feeling shy, I walk forward and allow him to hug me tight.
He kisses my head and my heart aches. Such a sweet gesture and I don’t even know him.
Jon pulls back a little and says, “Goddamn, those are some genes. Guess your dad’s lucky he didn’t have any more baby girls. He’d have to beat ‘em off with a stick.” Pausing, he adds in complete seriousness, “Or commit murder.”
Blushing, I giggle stupidly loud, and both he and Nox chuckle.
Terah slaps his arm playfully. “Leave her alone, Jon. You’re embarrassing her.”
She takes me by the arm and leads me down the hall. I know what she’s doing. She’s trying to put it out in the open that she supports me, whatever the decision. And I’m grateful.
Approaching the kitchen, I hear Mom chatting away to herself. When I peek inside, she squeals, “Oh, my baby!”
Laughing softly, I wrap her up in a hug and hold her tightly. She sighs, “It’s so quiet here without you, honey.”
Squeezing her, I say, “I thought you liked the quiet.”
Squeezing back, she utters, “There’s quiet. And then there’s quiet. And I don’t like quiet.”
Releasing her, she looks past me to Nox. Using his cane for support, he comes forward, and Mom’s face turns devastated. Not a second later, she takes him into a motherly embrace and mutters over and over again. “Thank you so much.”
He did save my life, after all.
Nox holds her. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat, ma’am.”
Pulling back, she smacks his chest, “Don’t you ma’am me. You’ll call me Mom.” Staring at her in shock, she turns to me and adds with a wink, “Nice ring.”
I mentally smack my forehead.
I forgot to take off my ring. Some surprise.
Mom tuts, “We need drinks! And I think the occasion calls for something bubbly.”
She moves across the pristine kitchen with such ease it looks as though she’s gliding. Opening the refrigerator, she pulls out two bottles of Dom Perignon and hands them to Jon to pop the corks.
He pours and hands us our glasses, but something doesn’t feel right.
“Where’s Dad?”
Mom’s happy face droops. “In his office.”
Silence.
We stare at each other for a moment before I blurt out, “I should go get him.”
Moms smile reappears, gentler this time. “That would be nice, sweetie.”
Nox squeezes my neck and asks Mom, “Do you think I could sit down somewhere? I get tired pretty quickly these days.”
Her face falls, “Oh, honey! I’m so sorry. Of course we can sit. Let’s go outside. It’s such a nice day.”
Linking her arm with his free one, she leads them to the backyard, and Nox turns to wink at me. Shaking my head, I smile and bite my lip to stop my laughter. The goof is giving me time by distracting my mom.
I love that man.
Watching them all exit through the double doors, I take a moment to prepare myself for this encounter. I love my dad. I do. But I wish he’d done things differently.
It’s too late to do anything about that now, but it still bugs me.
Quietly making my way down the hall, I stop by my dad’s office and listen in.
Nothing. Not a sound.
Peeking in, I see my dad at his desk, going through a photo album. I assume he wants privacy, so I turn to leave, when I hear, “Nothing scarier than almost losing a child.”
Stopping in my tracks, I listen as he goes on, “Losing a child, as in your wee one passing away, I think ye could come to terms with. It’s so final. I’m not saying it would be easy, just that it’s permanent. But almost losing a child…” He clears his throat. “…It’s a very hard thing to witness. Ye do the best ye can to hold it together for yer family. Somehow, it always comes back to that day. The thought of ye being out of me sight for even a minute was enough to make me loopy.”
Turning, my eyes met my father’s as he continued, “Because if ye were out of me sight, I couldn’t protect ye, love. It’s a father’s duty. And I only did what any father would do. I could handle ye thinking I wasn’t fair. As long as ye were safe, I could deal with yer attitude, Lily.”