Page 73 of When We Burn

“I’m just fine, sweetheart.” I kiss her hair and then brush her strands back, exposing her neck, and press a kiss there, too, breathing her in. “Go back to sleep.”

She wiggles against me and sighs. “Okay.”

God, this feels so fucking good. It feels right, having them together like this, tucked up against me where I can keep them safe.

I loved having Dani on the ranch with us today. Even with her meltdown, it was the best day that I’ve had in a long while. But I’m mad at myself for not anticipating that it might have been too much for Birdie.

After a few months of my daughter acting like a normal, healthy kid, it’s easy to forget that there could be days like this, and I need to be more watchful. But I’m glad that Dani was here to help Birdie.

I gently kiss her neck once more, enjoying the way her soft skin feels against my lips, and then I lie back on the pillow and surrender to sleep.

Two days later, Birdie wakes up with the sniffles.

“Shit.” School is a cesspool of germs, especially early on in the year like this, but I have the meeting regarding the Sidney Sterling benefit concert today, and I can’t miss that. So, I do what any single dad would do in this situation.

I load my kid up with medication.

She doesn’t have a fever, and once the children’s cold medicine kicks in, she seems to be pretty normal, sitting at the island, eating her breakfast.

“How do you feel, peanut?”

“Better,” she says. “My nose isn’t running anymore. I don’t want to miss school. We’re doing D words today, and I’m taking in my stuffed dog, Ralph.”

“I know. You can go to school, but if you start to feel worse, you need to tell Miss Dani, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you like her, baby?”

“Miss Dani?” She pops a blueberry into her mouth. “Yeah, she’s a good teacher.”

“Do you like her when we’re at home? When she spends time with us?”

Birdie nods and reaches for another blueberry. They’re her favorite right now. “She’s really nice, and she helped me when I was sick, and doesn’t talk to me like I’m a baby.”

I smile and take a sip of my coffee. “I like her, too. In fact, I’d like for Dani to spend a lot more time with us. What do you think about that?”

“Like, she can come over for dinner and stuff?”

“Sure, she can do that. What if sometimes she wants to stay the night like she did the other night when you got sick?”

She nods. “Yeah. She’ll sleep in your bed?”

“Yes, baby, she’d sleep in my bed.”

“Can we all sleep in your bed?”

I laugh at that. Birdie used to love to sleep in my bed with me, and she still does when she’s sick like the other night, but I do not want to get back into that habit.

“You know that you’re supposed to sleep in your room, in your big girl bed. But if you’re ever sick or scared, you can always come to me. You know that.”

“Okay. Does this mean that she’s your girlfriend? Are you going to kiss and stuff?”

Surprised, I blink at my daughter. “How do you know about that?”

“Daddy.” She rolls her eyes at me, and I suddenly flash forward to when she’s a teenager. “I’m not a baby. Grown-ups kiss and stuff.”

“I will probably kiss and cuddle with her. And you might see that sometimes.” I swallow hard, suddenly uncomfortable with this conversation. “But that’s because we care about each other.”

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