Page 52 of Absinthe Dreams
"Yeah, Uncle Eli," Chloe says, coming to my defense with her chin in the air and a stubborn glint in her eyes. "Maybe it wasn't him that needed to get his head out of his butt in the first place. Maybe it was me."
Pops grins at her, pulling her in for a hug. "Sorry, sweetheart. I'm just teasing. We've been waiting a long goddamn time to finally get to call you our daughter. You two kept us waiting long enough."
She glances up at him, blinking like she's surprised. "You knew?"
"Everyone knew, baby girl," Uncle Colton answers for him. "We've known since you were kids. We've just been waiting for the two of you to figure it out."
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, her expression rueful. "Maybe we already knew," she says, glancing away from her dad. "Maybe we were just…afraid you wouldn't approve?"
"Jesus," Colton growls, nudging Pops out of the way to pull her into a fierce hug. "You don't ever break your own heart again to spare mine, you hear me, Clo?" His gaze drifts to me. "You either, son. You love each other and let us worry about the rest."
Jesus.
My throat is so fucking tight I can't make a sound. All I can do is nod in response. But hearing him say it? Knowing he isn't pissed that I'm stealing his baby girl? Goddamn, that feels good. It's like the last bit of weight on my shoulders just…dissolves.
"Dad," Chloe cries softly, burying her face in his throat.
He hugs her tight, whispering something in her ear that makes her choke and then giggle. And that sound tells me everything I need to know. Maybe we did everything backwards, but we still ended up precisely where we were meant to be.
Together.
"Are you coming backhome?" Aunt Cadence asks Chloe halfway through dinner.
"Um…" Chloe darts a quick look in my direction.
"She's coming home with me," I say firmly. We talked about it last night, about what the future looks like for us, where it is, and what we want. And, not gonna lie, I want her in my bed, in the house I built for her. Every brick, every board, every piece of furniture was chosen for her. It's beyond time she's in it with me.
Chloe shoots a nervous look at her parents, like she's worried what they're going to say about her moving in with me right away, but Aunt Cadence just nods like she expected as much. Colton doesn't look thrilled about the prospect of his baby girl moving four hours away, but he doesn't shut it down, either.
"Eli and I will help you pack up her apartment tomorrow," Colton says.
"You don't have to do that," Chloe objects. "We can handle it."
"Doesn't mean you have to, Clo." He chews a bite of steak and then swallows. "One day, you're going to learn that you don't have to do everything on your own, baby girl."
"I know that," she protests softly.
"She's learning," I say when Colton gives her a 'don't bullshit me' look.
He glances at me, his expression level, and then nods. "Good. The most important thing you'll ever do as her husband is keep her grounded while still leaving her room to fly. She's going to want to run full speed ahead and do everything herself. You have to learn to let her, and you have to learn when to be her soft place to land. She wasn't born for her feet to stay on the ground."
"Dad," she whispers from my side, adoration all over her face.
"I mean it, Clo. You were meant to fly. But you're stubborn and independent, and you think you can conquer the world on your own. You need someone like Trystan looking out for you. He understands how precious you are. Don't fight him too much on it."
"Oh, she's going to fight," I mutter, taking a sip of beer. "She'll probably threaten to murder me every damn day for the next sixty years, too."
She blanches at me, but everyone else laughs because they know I'm right. Chloe hates being told what to do. She hates being slowed down. She wants everything her way and gets mad as hell when it isn't. But that's all right. It's part of what I love so fucking much about her.
She's full of life and fire and fight, and it's the most beautiful goddamn thing in the world. It always has been.
"Maybe I'll fight just because you said that," she grumbles.
I chuckle, leaning over to brush my lips across her temple. "Fight all you want, princess. So long as you're wearing my ring, I don't give a fuck."
She grins at me like I'm the only thing she sees, and I feel like the king of the fucking world.
The table settles into silence as everyone goes back to eating, but it doesn't last long. When I drain my beer and stand to getanother, Aunt Cadence and Ma are trying to talk Chloe into a big wedding. Pops and Uncle Colton are talking about fishing.
