Page 103 of Sweet Thing

We headed into the bowels of the ER, past curtained cubbies with people moaning and monitors beeping. They must have placed Mabel at the end because this walk seemed to be taking forever. She was in the last cubicle, half-sitting, red-faced, a baby-sized drip attached to her arm. A nurse stood at the end of the bed with a clipboard.

I could’ve sworn my baby’s eyes lit up at seeing me.

“Mabel, sweetheart.” I leaned over her and kissed her on the top of her head.

“Mr. Nyquist, Mrs. Nyquist. Mabel’s doing fine. Just a touch of stomach flu, nothing she can’t handle.”

“Why is she hooked up like this?”

“Just keeping her hydrated. It’s easier than hoping she’d hold it down. Once the bug is out of her system, she can go back to ingesting fluids the usual way.”

“Can I sit with her?”

“Of course.” She nodded at the seats, then left to attend to another patient.

I took one and looked up at Adeline. She was wearing one of those Theo’s Tarts jackets that all the Kershaw women sported for the games. “Will you stay?”

“Are you sure you want me here?” She looked teary-eyed. “I was so scared for her.”

Pulling on her hand, I brought her down to the seat beside me. “Of course I do. No one I’d want here more.”

“She looks better than before. Not so flushed and hot.”

I clasped Adeline’s hand to mine. “You took good care of her.”

“Thankfully Mom was there. She knew exactly what to do. If I’d been on my own?—”

“You would’ve known too. You have all the right instincts. If it had been me or happened when I was asleep or occupied, I don’t know if it would have turned out so well.”

“Lars.” She cupped my jaw and brought my face close. “You would have handled it like a pro because you’re her dad. And this dad knows how to look after his daughter.”

“Sometimes I don’t know. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t be doing this at all.”

She held my chin tightly. “So your dad was a dick. He hurt you. You thought you could hold that inside, but you don’t have to.” She placed a hand on my chest, above my heart.

I didn’t push her away or deny what she said. I listened, as if every word she spoke had the potential to heal. Give me the answers I sought.

“The scars he left don’t make you a failure. They mean you overcame obstacles that no one should have had to face. They’ve given you a perspective, a way of seeing things like no one else can.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to be a good dad. Or a person.”

“Doesn’t automatically disqualify you, either.”

I searched her face, looking for evidence she was blowing smoke up my ass. She was so damn sincere it scared me.

“You’re the best person I know, Adeline.”

And I love you. So fucking much.

Her eyes welled and I kissed her, taking some of her sweetness for myself. It mixed with my sharpness, my doubts, creating a brand-new flavor that was only us. Surely Theo could see what I did. Could recognize how amazing we were together.

The curtain behind us swished, and with it came a sound like a tiny gasp. I looked over my shoulder at the swaying fabric.

“I think someone just came in.”

She blinked. “A nurse?”

“Not sure.”

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