Page 70 of Isabela

“I’m going to ask Isa to storyboard with me. My characters are talking now, but I have some people to kill. Maybe fictionally killing people with me will help a bit,” she tells me.

I huff out a laugh as I open the back door. It really is a beautiful day.

“I think you may be right,” I tell her.

“Hey, slowpokes,” Isabela calls out from her hammock. I have a larger swing I may have to set up for the three of us to hang out on. “It’s too pretty to stay inside.”

“Hey yourself, beautiful,” Aria says with a grin. “Is there any room in there for me to help plot out a murder scene?”

“Always! I think Gael may feel left out though,” my little brat teases. Isa winks at me from the hammock, and I stride over to her.

Leaning, I kiss her lips, enjoying her little sigh as she slips her fingers into my wild hair. I’m going to need a shower to tame it, and maybe a haircut soon.

“I’m setting up some backyard furniture now, that I’ve been saving for a pretty day,” I murmur against her lips. “This way, we can enjoy the day together. One of them has a canopy, since you’re both far too fair for all of this sun without sunblock.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she says, eyes widening.

“Was that okay?” I ask her carefully. Isa surprises me at every turn as she nods.

“I don’t know why, but yeah, I’m good,” Isa tells me.

“We’ll work through it together, beautiful,” I promise her. I want to find a way to praise her, but curb my tongue.

Moving away, I glance over my shoulder as I watch Aria attempt to get into the hammock, squealing when she almost dumps both of them on the ground. Snickering, I watch as she rights them and they get to work.

“You didn’t even try to help,” Aria calls out to me.

“Someone told me to let people learn from their mistakes,” I yell over my shoulder, laughing.

These are the moments I live for. Theodore is right, we’ll figure it out, I just need to be patient.

ARIA

Isabela is napping on my shoulder as I write, and I enjoy the canopy Gael erected over our heads. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was really sunny out and he was worried. At least this way, we can enjoy the backyard together. My husband spent the afternoon putting together furniture, bringing out snacks, and taking calls.

I know his need to fix things is riding him hard, but Isa is dealing in the best way possible. She barely twitches in her sleep, and I keep waiting for her to be thrown into a nightmare that never comes.

An hour later as the sun begins to set, she opens her eyes, yawning. “Hello there, Sleeping Beauty,” I say, smiling.

“I like that one,” she whispers sleepily.

“Good,” I tell her, kissing her forehead. My heart cramps as I fight the urge to praise her. I wish I could kill the mayor again for tainting this for us. “Hungry?”

“Getting there,” she admits. The grunts and half sentences are adorable. “I think I want a shower, more CBD lotion because my headache is coming back, but only after coffee, and then food. That lotion is amazing, but I hate being dependent on anything.”

Isa crawls carefully out of the hammock, and I giggle as the lack of her weight makes me swing wildly once she’s free of it. She scrunches her nose as she catches me.

“Something tells me you like roller coasters, too,” Isa says.

“Love them,” I tell her with a grin. “Are you pro or against?”

“I’ve never been on one,” she says with a laugh. “My parents were planning a trip for my graduation, but it obviously didn’t happen. We’ve been to lots of other places, an amusement park just didn’t make the cut.”

“Gael hates them,” I whisper as if it’s a secret. “We should totally go to one soon. He can watch us, while he threatens to spank us.”

“I’m oddly intrigued by this,” she tells me. “You really push him into spanking you. Why?”

“I have really bad anxiety.” I’ve never really explained this before and I relax into the hammock and its pillows. “Gael helps to ground me. The sting of the spankings or his way of controlling something, so that all I can think about is what’s happening, keeps me in check.”

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