Page 37 of The Forever Game

We’ve got one month to go, and I’m tempted to start counting sleeps the way Kai always does.

Nova sniffs and rubs her nose against my shirt. I need to get her into bed soon. There’s that perfect time window, and if you hit it just right, she’ll sleep through until the morning, but if we leave it too late, she gets this second wind, but it’s a grumpy, heinous one. More like a tornado that sweeps through the house, wreaking havoc.

“I need to get your sister to bed,” I murmur to Kai.

“Not sweepy,” she whines, rubbing her eyes.

I know better than to argue with her, so I simply kiss her head and go to stand.

“Not sweepy, Dada!” She fists my shirt. “Storwee! Storwee!”

“It’s okay, Nova.” Kai stands, rubbing her leg. “I’ll read it to you in the morning, okay?” He goes on his tiptoes, giving her pudgy cheek a kiss before tickling her under the chin. She giggles, forgetting all her complaints. I give Kai a grateful wink.

Seriously. He’s the best big brother in the world. Nova will do things for him that she’ll never do for us.

I dance her into the kitchen, making her giggle some more as we waltz over the tiles.

“Bedtime?” Tammy grins, drying her hands and reaching up to give Nova a kiss. “Night, baby girl. I love you.”

“Wuv you,” Nova murmurs in her sweet little voice.

I kiss the top of her head and walk her down to her room. She’s turning into a limp noodle, unable to fight her sleepy eyes. She keeps rubbing them and starts to grizzle against my shirt.

“Sleepy time,” I whisper and start to hum the nighttime song Tammy always sings to her. My voice isn’t half as good as Mommy’s, but Nova can feel the vibration in my chest as she snuggles into me.

We reach her bed, and she gives “staying up” one more shot, but she can barely finish her sentence, the words fading away when her head hits the pillow.

“Love you, sweetheart,” I whisper against her cheek, giving her a kiss and smiling down at her as she gives me a sleepy grin.

“Pancakes?” she mumbles.

“You want pancakes for breakfast?”

She nods, her blinks getting slower.

“Okay. You close your eyes and dream about pancakes, and we’ll make some in the morning.”

“’Kay, Dada.”

“Love you,” I whisper again, sure I will never get over how amazing the wordDadasounds coming out of her mouth.

I nearly cried the first time she said it. Yep, turns out I am the world’s biggest softy when it comes to my daughter. Tammy can’t help teasing me about it, but Nova’s made me cry more than anyone. They’re always happy, sentimental tears, but watching my own flesh and blood grow up is the most rewarding thing in my life. Kai feels like my own flesh and blood now, too, and I love that kid as much as I love his sister.

I’m a family man. Who would have guessed it? I had no idea how fulfilling it would be.

Now to make it all official.

I grin, padding back through to the living room. Kai’s kept reading the book without me, and Tammy is on the phone, pacing and looking worried.

My protective instincts jump into high alert, and I move toward her with a questioning frown.

She shakes her head, closing her eyes with a sad sigh. “Yeah… no, I understand. Thanks for letting us know.”

Hanging up, she passes my phone back to me, and I raise my eyebrows. “Who was that?” I glance at the screen.

“That was our reception venue.”

I wince at the expression on her face. It matches her deflated tone perfectly.

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