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She stuck out her tongue and stared me down.
“All right, all right. Don’t look at me like that. You don’t have to solve my problems.”
“But I want you to like me.”
I blinked. “You don’t have to solve things for me to like you.”
“I want to.” She said it quietly and looked down.
It felt like I was listening to my own thoughts. I knew that Agnes and Beatrice looked like me, but I saw a lot of Alice in them, and somehow, Jade too.
This was something she’d gotten from me.
I had a terrible habit of solving others’ problems for them. I didn’t say it out loud. Sometimes I didn’t even think about it, at the risk of getting caught, but I was always moving in the shadows, fixing things even if they had nothing to do with me.
And it was always something I did for those who I’d felt like I’d wronged.
The town was the biggest example of it.
“Agnes, I’ll handle this. And I’ll like you whether you help me with it or not.”
She blinked. “You like me?”
I hated that she sounded so shocked.
“I do. I like that you’re smart, and that you keep me on my toes.”
“Don’t you get annoyed?”
“I do, but then I get over it. And I know you feel safe to act out with me. That means you trust me.”
She nodded and leaned in. I had no idea what she was planning.
But then she hugged me.
It was becoming natural at this point, and I had no idea how I’d managed this.
Maybe I was one of the luckiest men in the world.
“I kind of like you too, Dad.” The words were soft. “Beatrice needs time.”
“She can take all the time she needs.”
A yawn broke out of her. She tried to hide it, but she was tired.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“Will you read me a story?” she asked.
“Which one?”
“The one Mommy read.”
I tried not to let my shock show. I’d tried to read that one the first night when I’d brought them home.
They’d screamed for the whole thing.
“Of course.”
