Page 55 of Fate

“I’ll take her and put a onesie onher.”

“Thanks. I want to lie down with her,” I say, needing to be near her right now. The instinct to hold and protect is fierce. Nearly uncontrollable.

Misty nods and leaves the bathroom. I put on a pair of pajama pants without a shirt. Cora likes to rest on my bare chest. I pull back my covers and get in. Misty brings Cora in with a sippy cup of pink-colored liquid.

“What’s in thecup?”

“Pedialyte. She needs fluids.” She sets Cora on my chest, and I wrap my arms around her and take the cup from Misty.

I nod. “Okay, I’ll make sure she gets it. Can you give us some time alone?”

Her lips tighten and her shoulders seem to rise before falling with what I can only assume is defeat. “Yeah. I’ll be in the other room resting. I didn’t get any sleep last night.” She turns around briskly, and I feel like such ashit.

“Hey, Misty,” I callout.

She stops at the threshold to my door. “What?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here. We’re going to have to talk about Kathleen and how she fits into all of this.” I gesture to the bed and my girl grabbing for her cup, now awake and thirsty as the dickens.

She huffs. “Her name is Kathleen, huh? Honestly, Carson, the simple answer… She doesn’t fitin.”

That’s the last thing she says before shutting my door and leaving me alone withCora.

I sigh and get Cora situated so she can lean against me and drink her juice. Her fever seems to have gone down, but she’s not perfectly cool just yet. Once her juice is half gone, her blue eyes start to droop and she only sucks from her cup every few seconds until she doesn’t atall.

Making sure not to disturb her, I gently pull the cup out of her mouth and set it on the nightstand. Then I prop my little girl over my chest the same way I had Kathleen just this morning. Two totally different scenarios, both equally precious.

I rub a hand down her hair and back. “How am I going to tell Kathleen about you? Huh, Cora? I know she’ll just love you to pieces, but getting over the shock of you is going to be a battle. One I’m not ready to handle. You see, I want her to be so far gone for me that she can’t push me away again. Us. So she can’t push usaway.”

Cora’s eyelids move back and forth as she enters a deep sleep. Her hand is splayed out over my chest, her head on my heart. Just where I wanther.

With my little one wrapped in my arms, I close my eyes and dream of beach dates with Cora and Kathleen, dinners on the patio, waffles and peaches, and the most beautiful life. Together.

Until I’m rudely awakened two hours later by the doorbell ringing.

It dawns on me in my sleep-deprived brain that there are only a handful of people who have the PIN code to the gate out front. Mostly all members of the family. It could be Chloe, Cooper, or worse, my father. None of them have met Misty or Cora, but I did tell my dad what happened, especially since he’s going to hire Misty to be his personal assistant. He promised to give me time to connect with Cora and settle in before he intruded. That leaves my siblings. Or… No. Fucking no. She wouldn’t come here. Wouldshe?

A sliver of fear trickles up my spine and wraps around my chest. It’s exactly what she’d do to try to get to the bottom of why I left so abruptly. Not once but twice. Fuck!

Please God, don’t let it be Kathleen.

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