Page 29 of Leland

“I think I am going to have my hands full with you, huh, sugar?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

***

Waking up from the best sleep of your life while holding the hand of a Little one had to be one of the best feelings in the world.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, beautiful. How long have you been awake?”

“Um, two episodes of Law and Order,” she said, holding her phone out for me to see.

“You should have woken me up, sugar.”

“Daddy, you were so tired. I wanted you to get some sleep. You were snoring so loud.”

“I do not snore, sassy pants.”

“I still don’t have any pants on, Daddy.”

“You make me so damn happy, Rouge.”

“You make me happy too, Leland. The last few days have felt like a fairytale. I never thought I would really have a happy-ever-after, but with you, I feel like I do.”

“Rouge, if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s you.”

“I’m not naive. I don’t believe everything will be all sunshine and roses. I have a lot of trauma and things to work through, but I know now I have the support system to do it. It feels so freeing to know I have a future and don’t have to live in the cycle of defeat.”

Her words brought tears to my eyes. “Sugar, did you not feel like you had a future before? After all you went through, it was your anger that you thought kept you from having the life you deserve.”

“Daddy, don’t be sad.”

“It just breaks my heart you were carrying all that weight and we didn’t know. And you didn’t know. You didn’t know just how loved you were.”

“Well, now I do know, Daddy, and that’s all that matters, right?”

I kissed her mouth gently, so pleased when she opened her lips for me. Running my tongue against hers, I enjoyed the moment. She was right. That’s all that mattered now.

Chapter Ten

Rouge

“Daddy?”

“Yes, sugar?”

“I’m really scared.”

Leland set his menu down and lifted me into his lap. “I know, baby, and I wish I could make it so that you’re weren’t scared, but sometimes growing as a person means doing the scary things.”

I rested my head on his chest and he rubbed my back.

I stayed that way even when Emily and Onyx walked into the small restaurant and sat at the table with us.

“Hi. Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for inviting us, Little one,” Onyx said.

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