Page 92 of Fake it With Me

“It’s time for you to get ready for bed,” Darek said to Daisie when we walked into the house.

“But I’m not tired!”

“You’re always not tired at bedtime.”

Daisie sighed dramatically. “Can Liza help with my bedtime?”

“Of course she can.” Darek looked at me. “If you want to?”

“I’d love to.”

Inside, we went through the bedtime routine. Teeth brushing, pajamas, the reading of two books instead of the usual one because today was special. Daisie insisted I read one and Darek read the other. I sat on one side of her bed while he sat on the other, both of us taking turns with the storytelling.

She was asleep within minutes, her breathing evening out, her hand still clutching the stuffed whale I’d given her what felt like a lifetime ago but was really less than a month.

Darek and I stood in her doorway for a moment, watching her sleep.

We went downstairs and out onto the back patio. The sun had fully set now, stars beginning to appear in the darkening sky. Darek pulled me close. We stood there looking out at the ocean.

“This morning, I was terrified I was going to lose her,” he said. “And now everything is different. Everything is better. Because of you.”

I spotted an unopened bottle of champagne still sitting in one of the ice buckets, the ice mostly melted but the bottle still cold. “We should finish what we started,” I said, nodding toward it.

Darek grinned and retrieved it, working the cork free. It popped with a satisfying sound. He poured the golden liquid into two flutes.

“To whale science,” he said, echoing Aaron’s earlier toast.

“To impulsive outbursts in courtrooms,” I countered.

“To us.”

We clinked glasses before taking a sip. The champagne was crisp and dry, bubbles dancing on my tongue. We settled into the patio furniture, the cushions still warm from the afternoon sun. The sound of rolling waves soothed my soul.

“I can’t believe this day,” I said, leaning back and looking up at the stars beginning to emerge. “This morning I was so nervous I thought I might throw up. And now we’re sitting here drinking champagne and Daisie is safe in her bed upstairs.”

“It worked out.”

I looked over at him. I could see the tension was finally gone. “You can breathe again,” I observed.

“I can breathe again,” he agreed. He took a long sip of champagne. “I don’t think I’ve properly breathed since Sasha filed for custody. Every moment felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“And now?”

“Now I feel like I can actually think about the future instead of just surviving the present.”

We sat in the quiet, sipping champagne and listening to the ocean. The evening had cooled, but it wasn’t cold.

“When I saw the way the judge looked at me—like I was some neglectful piece of shit who didn’t deserve to be a father—I thought it was over. I thought I lost.”

“But you didn’t.”

He downed the rest of his glass and got to his feet. He reached out for my hand, which I willingly gave. He pulled me in for a kiss.

“Let’s go to bed,” he murmured against my lips. “I need to properly thank you.”

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DAREK