AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For a moment, her eyes opened, but when she saw me there, they slowly closed again.
Her breathing evened out. Her eyes stayed closed.
Moving slower than I thought possible, I straightened and wiped a hand over my exhausted face. My bones felt ready to collapse, the weariness seeping through every inch of my body.
I was this tired after two days.
Two bloody days.
Zoe had done this alone the entire time—and it made me feel like absolute, utter shit.
It wasn’t like the realization of it made me any more comfortable with the idea of parenting. But I couldn’t ignore the reality of it either.
The next day, when I heard Zoe’s car pulling into the driveway, I breathed out slowly. Part relief, part anticipation, and part fucking stress because now it was real.
“Zoe!” Mira cried, racing for the door.
Her hair was a mess, the kitchen was a bleedin’ disaster, toys were scattered throughout the house, and I didn’t care.
Zoe walked in right as Mira reached the door, and the way her face transformed when she saw the little girl ...
I’d see that smile in my sleep, no fucking doubt about it.
I’d see it stamped behind my eyes when I closed them.
I’d feel it carved into my chest.
That smile was love, and the thought of anyone being on the receiving end of that smile was too much to consider.
“I missed you so much,” Zoe cried, peppering kisses all over Mira’s face. She swept the little girl up into her arms, both of them laughing.
Mira held her so tightly, and I realized that much of her meltdown the night before had probably been about Zoe being gone. The person who had kept her anchored since the accident was suddenly absent.
Whether Mira knew it or not, people in her life leaving would likely always trigger something cataclysmic in her head.
Zoe locked eyes with me, her smile gentling. “How did it go?”
I sighed. “Go ahead and say it.”
The edges of her smile lifted. “Say what?” she teased.
“Just fucking say it, Valentine.”
“Oh, that I was right and it brought me an unholy amount of joy to see you read that binder?”
“Yeah, that.”
She laughed, dropping another kiss on Mira’s head. Then her attention shifted to the kitchen, her eyes widening at the mess there. “Oh my.”
“Don’t you dare judge me,” I told her, my finger jabbed into the air.
Zoe set Mira down, and she ran off to play with her toys. “I’d never,” she said gravely.
I rolled my eyes. “No bullshit,” I started. “Yeah?”
Zoe nodded. “No bullshit. Howdidit go?”
I told her about Mira standing by Chris and Amie’s bedroom door, how hard it had been to get her to sleep, and Zoe’s eyes welled with tears.
