Page 112 of Changing Tides

She closes her eyes for a brief moment and I hold my breath as I wait for her to speak.

“Okay,” she whispers.

The word is a balm, and I bring my other hand to her face and pull her to me. I swallow her cries as I cover her mouth with mine.

All of the confusion and anger melt as I kiss away her fear.

“Well, well, well, this is an interesting development.”

I lift my eyes as Avie breaks away and looks over her shoulder.

Amiya is standing in the doorway, watching us above her lowered sunglasses with a wicked grin on her face.

“Warning: your daughter is on her way inside, and you two have some explaining to do,” she says as she walks to the island and drops the beach bag she’s carrying. “The little bugger is smarter than she lets on, and she’s been quizzing me on what went down at the wharf. She saw you screaming at her mother.”

“What did you tell her?” Avie asks.

“I told her that her mommy and daddy were going to explain it all to her. That’s you two, by the way,” she quips.

Avie’s eyes come to me. “Are you ready for this?” she asks.

“Yeah, let’s go talk to our little girl.”

We find Leia out front. She’s in the tire swing Gramps and I hung. Her fists are wrapped around the ropes, and she’s spinning in the wind.

“Hi, kiddo,” I say as I reach up and still the swing.

“Bastian, you’re here!” she cries before leaping down from the tire and wrapping her arms around my legs. “I thought you were mad at us.”

My heart squeezes at her words. I’m such a dick for making her worry.

I go to a knee and look her in the eye. “I’m sorry I made you think I was upset. I was never mad at you.”

“Are you mad at Mommy?” she asks.

“I was.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story. Maybe we should put on our fairy wings and talk about it like adults while we have a tea party,” I suggest.

She considers me for a moment, and then she looks up at Avie. “You too?”

Avie smiles. “Yeah, me too.”

We each take her by the hand and lead her to the garden. And there, over a cup of imaginary tea, the two of us gently explain how we met all those years ago on a breathtaking beach in Hawaii. How she was made from our instant love and how we lost each other and couldn’t find one another again until divine intervention brought them to my island.

She’s confused, and it doesn’t make sense to her, but in the end, she grasps that I am going to be her daddy now, that I love her very much, and that we are going to be a family.

And that’s enough for her.

It’s enough for me too.

My girls.

Avie

Ileave Sebastian and Leia among the flowers. He has her by the waist and is holding her above his head as he runs around, helping her “fly.”

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