Page 13 of Worth the Vow

“Daddy?”

I turn to see Aspen staring at me from her bedroom doorway. “Hi, peanut.”

“Did Kate leave?”

“Just to her room, but you might want to give her some time before you go and speak with her.”

“Did you make her mad again, Daddy?” Aspen asks innocently.

“Yes.” No sense in lying about it. Aspen sees through my bullshit most of the time anyway.

“Fuck.”

“Aspen Grace, we’ve talked about this unsavory use of profanity,” I tell her, sighing as I rub the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes closed in frustration.

“If you get to say it, why can’t I?” she asks.

“Because it is inappropriate. I shouldn’t say it either.”

“Uncle Luca says it all the time,” she comments.

“That is true.”

“Well I said it because I wanted Kate to braid my hair. And you suck at it.”

I can’t help the wry chuckle that bursts from my lips as I look down at my youngest daughter. Sienna and Carter are a mixture of genetics. Carter has my sharp nose, but Savannah’s coloring. Sienna has Savannah’s eyes, but my hair. But Aspen is all me. Curls surround her cherubic face, and chocolate brown eyes that appear molten when she’s excited about something. Aspen always wears a mischievous grin, like she knows something I don’t, and it’s rare that she’s intimidated by anything. The sass and spunk she spews daily, though, I don’t know where the hell that came from. Certainly not me.

“Do you think you can do space jams?” Aspen asks innocently, peering up at me through thick lashes that all the Santo kids and grandkids have.

“Space buns.”

“That’s what I said.”

“No, you said — it doesn’t matter. Yes, I’m sure I can do space buns. Downstairs, please,” I say, motioning for her to head downstairs. Carter’s door opens, and he bounces out. Carter is always bouncing. Honestly he never sits still. I believe he siphons the energy straight from my soul.

“Dad, did you know Mercury can get up to eight hundred degrees during the day?” he asks gleefully. Carter is currently on a space kick. He goes through phases where he needs to learn everything there is to know about a topic. We went through an NHL phase, courtesy of my brother Luca, as well as a war phase, thanks to my brothers Alex and Leo, who are both in the military. Carter actually wanted to learn more about pregnancy and childbirth, and I put my foot down. No seven-year-old needs to learn about that. He’s recently begun showing an infatuation with fire alarms and smoke detectors, which shouldn’t be normal for a kid.

No one knows yet, not even my parents, and definitely not Kate, but I’ve begun taking Carter to therapy after asking for some testing from our pediatrician. His constant bouncing and energy, the odd interest phases, and some insane meltdowns have led me to believe Carter is possibly autistic, and due to his outgoing nature, it’s been missed up until this point. Frankly, the fact that I’ve missed it as his father is a punch to the gut. I should have recognized it sooner. Should have asked more questions at his yearly well-child appointments. But I let everything slide. Denial is an amazing thing when you’re too busy to focus on the small things.

“I didn’t know that, buddy,” I murmur before knocking on Sienna’s door. “Sienna! Downstairs for breakfast, now, please!”

The door swings open as my oldest child sighs dramatically. “God, Dad. I heard you just fine. Jeez.”

I take a deep, cleansing breath as I whisper up a prayer for patience while we slowly walk downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Good morning to three of my favorite Santos!” Kate says cheerfully as she skips into the kitchen. Subtlety isn’t Kate’s strong-suit.

“Don’t you mean four?” Sienna giggles.

Kate’s eyes catch mine. “Nope.”

Nice. “I need to head into the office a little early this morning. Are you good?”

“Me?” Kate asks innocently, but I see the almost imperceptible narrowing of her eyes as she glares at me.

“Yes, you. The one currently glaring at me.”

“Oh, wow, you are glaring at Daddy!” Sienna says in an awestruck voice. “No one ever glares at him. Everyone is scared of him. ‘Xcept you.”

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