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Twisting around, Graham turns to look at our Little one, and his smile softens in a way I’ve never seen. “She’s perfect, Mama.”
“She is.” I lower my voice to be extra sure we aren’t overheard. “But I think she’s even more in need of a Mommy and a Daddy than we realized. I finally got her to admit she got drunk last night and someone stole her suitcase. Pretty sure that’s why she was late and so… unkempt this morning.”
A frown tugs at my husband's lips. “That seems very out of character from what Maxwell has told us about her.”
“It is, but Max really only knows her at work. I don’t think he really keeps very close tabs on her outside of that. She could be the consummate professional here and a complete mess otherwise.”
“That… would make a lot of sense, actually.” He glances back over his shoulder. “Well, now she has us. As soon as we get to the island, we’ll go pack up her apartment and move her in with us so she doesn’t have to deal with so much stress all on her own.”
Knowing we’re on the same wavelength settles my nerves, and I reach for him, threading my fingers with his. “I love you, Daddy.”
His entire face seems to light up at that. “I love you too, Mommy.”
I give his hand a squeeze before we let go and return our attention to the controls. “All right. Let’s go home so we can finally be a family.”
Graham
Our Little girl is perfectly behaved the rest of the flight, which seems to lend credence to Celeste’s theory that she puts much—if not all—of her energy into her job. Which has clearly served her well, but I hate knowing she was struggling so much otherwise all these years.
No matter. Mommy and Daddy are going to make sure she never has to worry about anything ever again.
It isn’t until we’re all ready to deplane that we run into another speed bump.
Standing beside the door, looking as professional as possible with her stained shirt and wrinkled skirt, Kerry gives us a very polite if distant smile. “It was lovely to meet you both. I assume I’ll be seeing you around the island?”
Beside me, Celeste stops cold, and I can practically feel the fury and confusion pumping off her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, I give her a reassuring squeeze, silently letting her know I’ll take care of this.
“You will be seeing plenty of us, seeing as how we’ll all be living together.”
The polite smile falters as she looks between me and my wife. “Living with you? No. Absolutely not.”
My blood heats in my veins at the thought of punishing our Little one. It was necessary for Celeste to take over the bulk of her care during our flight, but now that I don’t have to worry about keeping several thousand tons of metal in the air, I am looking forward to stepping fully into my role as Kerry’s Daddy.
“Absolutely yes. You are far too Little to live on your own.”
Eyes narrowing, she jerks her chin up, the very picture of defiance. “I’ve been living on my own just fine for years, thank you very much.”
“And now you’ll live with us,” Celeste says, her tone sharp as a knife and leaving no room for argument.
But it’s clear from Kerry’s mutinous expression she has every intention of arguing. “I never agreed to any of this. You can’t just declare that I’m your Little girl and come in and take over my whole life!”
This isn’t really a discussion I want to be having in what is, technically, our workplace. Stepping forward, I bend and scoop Kerry up over my shoulder.
“Hey! Put me down!”
Small fists pummel at my back, but two hard swats to her upturned bottom settle her right down. “You should be grateful that you’re only over my shoulder and not my knee right now, little girl.”
“But this isn’t fair!”
“I’m sure it doesn’t feel very fair.” Celeste’s voice has lowered, become softer, more soothing. “But Mommy and Daddy just want what’s best for you, angel.”
Slumping over my shoulder, our Little girl lets out a low whine. “I don’t wanna move. I like my apartment.”
Nodding at the driver holding the back door of our car open, I lower her into the vehicle. “Kerry, if you’re going to keep arguing you will spend the entire drive to our house over Daddy’s knee. Is that what you want?”
Brows furrowing, she slides down in her seat. “No.”
“Then I suggest you lose this attitude right now, little girl.”
