Page 36 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

I stroke her soft head before I lean over to smile at Livvy. “Nothing to be worried about, my little love. My littleloves. Neither of you ever have to deal with her again.”

Emily straightens her shoulders and pulls her face back into a smile. I kiss her forehead so she knows I appreciate her effort. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Miranda since her last visit. Emily’s worked hard on overcoming the insecurities that allowed Miranda to bait and wound her. I’m very proud of my little wonder’s efforts. I hope that Miranda showing up in New York won’t set her back. But I meant what I said. There’s nothing I can do to keep Miranda from coming to New York. But neither Emily nor Olivia ever have to deal with her again.

Miranda’s my problem. And if she makes herself a problem, I’ll deal with her my way.

We say our goodbyes and I spend much too long figuring out how to strap the car seat securely into Manny’s limo, despite studying the damn schematics for what felt like hours before we sent the car seat off with Max and Myles. Emmy hands me Oliviaand I hold my daughter in my arms for the first time. It should feel smooth and natural, right?

Instead, I’m nearly paralyzed with fear that I’m not supporting her head enough. She begins fussing, probably because I’m holding her wrong, so I tuck her into her car seat quickly and then spend five minutes trying to figure out the straps.

Emily takes pity on me. She straightens the blankets around Olivia and pops in a pacifier, then clips her in the seat with three easy movements. Grunting my chagrin, I climb in beside my baby doll and cuddle her into my side while I fasten her seat belt.

“This all comes totally naturally to you, doesn’t it, little girl?”

“No, Daddy. I’ve taken Gracie’s son lots of places in his car seat. I bought a similar model for Livvy so I’d know how to use it. I spent about an hour trying to get the seat out of the car the first time.”

I chuckle. “That makes me feel better.”

She curls her small hand around mine and squeezes. “No reason to feel bad, Daddy. You’ll pick it up and I’m here to help with everything.”

“I know you are, sweetheart. I appreciate it.”

“Can I ask ... what are you going to do about Miranda?”

“I’m going to give her no reason to stay. She’s blocked from our phones. She’s not allowed at the house. She has no right to see Livvy. If she wants to spend the holidays in New York, that’s up to her but she’s not interacting with us.”

“If she hangs around the house, what do I do?”

“Report her to the police for stalking. I know a certain detective who will be happy to take your call.”

Emmy tips her head onto my shoulder. “Okay, Daddy, I get it. Zero contact.”

“Zero contact,” I confirm. “She has no right to your time, Emmy.”

“I just feel a little bad for her.”

My sweet girl and her endless empathy.

“You can feel sorry for how she’s fucked up her life without allowing her any access to your physical, mental, or emotional space, my baby.”

“Right. You’re right, Daddy.”

“I know I am. I trust you to follow my rules and respect the boundaries I’ve set up. If you do, Miranda will have no place in our lives. But if she does anything to harass you, Emmy, I want to know about it straight away. Daddy will deal with it.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“I want you free to focus on your daddy and your writing and your kitty and bonding with Livvy. You would have been free to focus on those things if I’d done a better job creating a safe space for you. I’ve told you I’m sorry for letting her into your safe space before and I’ll say it again. I’m sorry, baby doll. I’m not making the same mistake a second time. She doesn’t have any contact with you.”

She nods and cuddles in. “ILY, Daddy.”

“ILY too, sweetheart.”

twelve

EMILY

Baby’sfirst night in a new place. It could be filled with screaming.

Instead, Livvy falls asleep in the car, sleeps the entire ride home, wakes up when we take her out of the car just long enough for a feed and for Brenna and Mac to coo over her, then falls asleep in Logan’s arms. He manages to settle her in her crib without waking her, which shows he has parenting-superpowers already. Whenever I tried to put Gracie’s son into his crib after he’d fallen asleep, he’d wake howling.

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