Page 41 of Sniper

She nods, placing her head on my shoulder, and I smile, holding her tight.

My mind is still going haywire, even though I’m trying to stay in the moment with my daughter.

Rory never mentions Autumn's biological father….

Is he a brother who did her wrong?

Did he cheat on her, and she believed every brother was the same?

Did he refuse paternity?

“Okay, cake is ready,” Aurora says loudly, snapping me out of my head. I turn to see my wife walking in with a large penguin-shaped cake.

Autumn giggles as we sing her “Happy Birthday,” before letting her blow out her number three candle.

I grin, place her on the couch, and ask, “Do you want a bit of cake, princess?”

She nods enthusiastically, and I kiss her forehead. I put the TV on for her before going to the kitchen, where Aurora is now cutting the cake. I wrap my left arm around her waist and rasp, “Amazing work on the cake, Firecracker.”

She smiles as I grab Autumn’s plate, kiss my wife's head, and walk back to the living room. Autumn grins as I pass her the cake, and sit next to her, before Aurora joins us, plopping her ass on my lap. I grab her legs, bringing them up so she’s closer to me as she places the cake-laden fork to my lips. The sweetness takes over my tastebuds, the vanilla sponge soft. I moan, “That is delicious, Rory. Maybe you should swap careers….”

She giggles and admits, “I used to make my dad a cake every year for his birthday. I'm pretty sure that’s where my talents end with baking. Animals are more my calling.”

I nod, accepting another forkful of cake, my eyes going to Autumn to see her trying to feed her penguin stuffie some cake.

I grin, look back at Aurora, and admit, “You never talk about your dad….”

She smiles sadly. “We were close, but when I was seventeen, he kind of let me down.” She bites her bottom lip as she gives me another forkful of cake. She’s deliberating whether to tell me about her family, but I keep my mouth shut, hoping she doesn’t shy away.

It takes a few minutes before she speaks again.

“My dad is in the Navy, and after mom died, he promised not to go on deployments. With his rank, he no longer had to take on jobs when they called, and he kept his promise until I hit seventeen. He took a job he didn’t have to take on, which would take him from home for over a year. It was a time I really needed him, and he left….” She furrows her brows and admits, “I don’t think I’ve ever forgiven him for that, and I haven’t spoken to him since. I miss him some days.”

The pain that overtakes my girl’s features…fuck, its gut wrenching.

Swallowing hard, I take the fork from her hand, grab some cake, and place it on her lips. She smiles wide at me, opens her mouth, and allows me to feed her.

I want to continue the conversation to get her to speak to me, but I know my girl, and what she’s just admitted was hard for her.

I can’t push her past her limits.

Baby steps….

She moans. “You're right, this is good cake.”

I chuckle as Autumn states, “Yeah, Momma, good cake.”

We both look at her and laugh, seeing the black icing all over her mouth and shirt, her stuffie covered in cake crumbs and icing, and yet she’s never looked more fucking perfect.

I may have married Aurora on a lie, but it’s something I’ll never regret, because it means I have her, and I have our girl, and whatever hell Rory’s been through, I’ll help her overcome it while killing her demons.

A few hours later, I walk into the living room and grin. I see my wife tidying up, her head turning toward me as she puts Autumn's stuffies in the toy box under the window.

“How come she always wants you to give her a bath, and then read her story?” she asks. She’s trying to act pissed, but the small smile on her face is giving her away. She continues, “I’m starting to feel like chopped liver here.”

I chuckle and walk over to her, taking her into my arms, hers going around my neck. I whisper as I gently caress her lips, “Because she’s a daddy’s girl,” making her smile turn into a grin.

“She is, isn’t she?” she remarks, and I nod, kissing her lips hard, my hands going to her ass, lifting her.

---