Page 165 of Songbird: Black Kite
“We’re okay,” she whispered once we finally broke apart. “She’s gone now, and we’re all okay.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know how she got in, but I’ll be changing all the locks before the sun goes down.” I’d probably have Charlie post some security on the premises, too.
I cringed at the thought of the lecture I knew was coming my way from Charlie regarding locking the damn doors, but at least this time, I agreed with him.
My girls needed to be safe.
“Where’s Cooper?” I asked, looking around, keeping Wren tight to me the whole time.
“Here,” came her voice, and I smiled as her feet stampeded down the stairs. She bounced into the kitchen, a bright smile on her face. “That was epic.”
“Coop,” Wren admonished, stepping away from me to go to our girl. I let her go, but moved with her, wanting—needing—to be as close to them both as possible while not seeming like a psycho. “Victoria was hurting. We need to understand that the things people say when they’re hurting should be taken with a grain of salt.”
Fuck, she was such a wonderful mother. I was the luckiest man alive, no fuckin’ doubt.
“Yeah,” Cooper started slowly, her lips twisting to the side. “But she was also really horrible, and sometimes it’s nice to see karma in action.”
I barked out a laugh, covering it with a cough when Wren shot me a look.
“I don’t know about karma, kid, but it was nice to finally cut ties.” I thought about that, about the fact that I was now, for the first time since I was seventeen, completely free from everything Castor.
It was a good fuckin’ feeling.
“Oh, no. There was definitely karma.” Cooper laughed, holding up her phone where a video seemed to be playing, hearts flooding the screen as people reacted to it. Looking closer, I could see that it was a video of my kitchen.
Thiskitchen.
“Cooper,” Wren said, her voice wary. “What did you do?”
“I, uh,” she hedged, not nearly as confident now that it sounded like Wren was mad. I was still clueless as to what I was seeing, so I was reserving judgment. “I may have just livestreamed the whole I-hid-your-child-from-you-because-I-was-protecting-you thing.” When Wren’s mouth dropped open, Cooper scrambled to add, “I thought it was important that people knew the truth, Mom. And the only way they’d ever believe us over her was if she outted herself.”
Turning to me, Cooper went on, her eyes pleading. “I didn’t do anything but show the world what really happened.” Licking her lips, she shrugged. “Everyone was so quick to say mean things about my mom, and she never did anything wrong. Why should that lady get away with being the bad guy?”
She wasn’t wrong, and if I was being honest, I thought the move was pretty badass. The press was already airing our dirty laundry for everyone to see; we could at least make sure they got the right information this time.
“Cooper, how many people have seen that video?” Wren asked, and I thought that was a really good question.
“So far? About six hundred.”
“Oh,” Wren said, relaxing. “That’s not too bad.”
“Six hundred thousand, I mean,” Cooper added. “And counting.”
“Holy shit!” I said, looking closer at the screen. “Are all those hearts for us?”
“Yeah,” Cooper said, excited again. “And you should see the comments. They are all so happy for us. Saying that what she did was awful, and that they are so glad the truth has come out. It’s really amazing, Dad.”
We all froze, the word hanging between us, suspended in time as we all tested the waters, seeing how it felt.
Looking down at Cooper, seeing the hesitation and hope on her face, I decided I liked it.
A lot.
“It is amazing, kid,” I said, wrapping my arm around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She smelled like Wren, but less like sunshine and more like the ocean breeze.
It was perfect.
“I’m proud of you, Cooper,” I said, reaching for Wren with my other hand. “I’m damn proud of you both.”
