Page 152 of Tortured Tones

“Can I play your drum...please?” She pointed to the snare I’d brought with us.

“Before that.” I struggled to find my voice. “What did you call me?”

She smiled, giggled, and fell sideways. “Daddy, don’t be silly.”

I hugged her against my chest and held her tight. Warmth flooded and filled my chest. Oh. My. God.

Ava gave me a strange what’s-the-matter look. “What?”

I closed my eyes, buried my face into the small of Charlotte’s neck, and breathed the smell of my daughter into every cell in my body. “She called me Daddy for the first time.”

Sutton’s hand flew across her chest. “Oh . . . that’s so adorable.”

Flint hooked his arm around Sutton’s shoulders. “You can call me daddy any time you like, baby.”

“Ew! That’s not one of my role-playing fantasies.”

I groaned, then laughed. “Too much information.”

“Never and you fucking know it.” Flint’s ice-blue eyes glinted in the firelight.

“Hey. No swearing around the kids.” I covered Charlotte’s ears. “But I have no issue with you banging Sutton whenever and wherever you like.”

“Good thing I’m happy to do that.” Flint smothered Sutton with a big kiss on the cheek.

She blushed and giggled. “Later, baby. I wanna hear you play.”

“I’m down for that.” I lifted Charlotte off my lap and grabbed my drum and sticks.

After a few tunes, we had the casserole that Ava had made for dinner, and once we’d finished cleaning up, everyone re-gathered on the sofa. The guys strummed on their guitars. The girls drank wine. I cuddled Charlotte against my chest. Josh had fallen asleep next to Ava.

With a blinking, almost asleep Charlotte resting her head against my shoulder, I took Ava’s hand. I stood and drew Ava over toward the fire. Snaking my arm around her back, I pulled her into me and Charlotte, and kissed her cheek. I had my two girls. Close.

Flint played a soft tune on his guitar. Lewis and Slip strummed along. The girls swayed in time with the music.

I circled my hand over Ava’s back. “You know how I’m in this little band.”

“Um, yeah.” Ava moved in sync with me and the melody.

“Well, I wrote a song.” I kissed her hand and cradled it against my chest, next to Charlotte. “But I can’t sing well.” I wrinkled my nose. “So is it okay if Flint sings it?”

“Is it about me?” she whispered.

“It’s about everything. Everything that led me to you. That okay?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded to Flint, then brushed my lips against Ava’s. Holding her and Charlotte in my embrace, with a slow sway in my step, I lingered by the warm fire. Flint sang, low and soft.

I never believed in fate or destiny,

But the world had something planned for me.

There’ve been days when I’ve said too much,

There’ve been nights where I didn’t say enough.

I wasn’t the friend that I wished I was,

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