Page 75 of Finding Home

“Who dat?”

“That’s my grandma and grandpa. And that’s Auntie Miranda there. And my mother.”

Raine looks up at her daddy. “Where my mommy and Aubbey and Grammy and Pop-Pop?”

Caleb’s face bursts into shades of crimson. All of a sudden, he looks tongue-tied and nauseated. “That’s a great question, Rainey. They should be here, because they’re our family, too. You’re absolutely right about that.” He flashes me an apologetic look while talking to Raine. “For now, we’ll put their photos inyourroom, though, so you can start a family photos shelf of your own. Would you like that?”

“Yass!” While Raine squeals and dances around excitedly about the idea, Caleb looks at me, sweating bullets. Clearly, he thought the addition of Raine to his shelf wouldbe a praiseworthy surprise. But now, it’s turned into a fuckup.

“That photo of her is really sweet,” I whisper. “Don’t stress, Caleb. She’s your daughter,. She belongs there.”

He smashes his lips together, looking pained. And you know what? I feel pained, too. Logically, I know I shouldn’t. I don’t belong on that shelf, and neither do Claudia or my parents. But I can’t deny my heart feels excluded in this moment. If I needed a reminder that I’ve been getting swept away by my feelings for Caleb, this is probably it. Clearly, I need to cool my jets and keep my heart guarded, just in case the custody hearing doesn’t go, as planned.

Caleb clears his throat. “I figured with the social worker coming on Thursday?—"

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I insist. “It was the right call. We don’t want the social worker digging too deep into what’s been going on between you and me.” I force a smile. “Is there a bedroom for Raine?”

Caleb looks deeply uncomfortable, but he forces a smile, the same as me, and says, “Of course. I saved the best for last.” He scoops up his daughter and holds her like a football as he marches out of his bedroom, while I tear myself away from the shelf of photos and follow him.

“Wowee!” Raine chirps, as Caleb enters her room. I can’t blame the kid. I’m feeling prettywowee’dmyself. The room is Girlie Heaven. A pink-and-purple Shangri-La that’s been decorated to perfection and stuffed to its rafters with every manner of toys, dolls, and stuffed animals.

In a corner, there’s a colorful, plastic kitchen, bursting with accessories. In another, there’s a dress-up station filled with all manner of glittering costumes and props. There’s a dollhouse, complete with furniture and people; a Barbie area, too, chock full of everything our plastic heroineneeds to live her best life. There’s a fluffy, pillow-covered bed, and purple bubble letters above it, spelling out Raine’s name on a pink wall.

My eyes train on a framed photo below Raine’s name, and I step forward to get a better look. When I get closer, I realize it’s a shot of Caleb and Raine—the photo I snapped at my parents’ house while father and daughter colored together for the first time.

My heart hammering, I motion to the framed shot. “When and how did you do this?”

Caleb bites back a shy smile. “My friend Amy did that for me last week.” He looks around proudly. “She did this whole room for me.”

“She did a great job. Isn’t your room amazing, Rainey?”

“Mayzinggg!” Raine holds up her arms and shimmies. “Dis forme?”

“All for you,” Caleb confirms. “See those letters there? That spells Raine.”

“Dat me!”

“It sure is. And you see that photo there? Who’s that?”

Raine centers her attention and gasps. “Raine and Dadda!”

“That’s right, love,” Caleb chokes out. “The Fool and the Raine. You and me.”

Caleb and I never interact romantically in front of Raine. But this one time, I can’t keep my hands off him. As Raine runs around the room, checking everything out, I hurl myself at him and burrow my face into his massive chest. “You did so good,” I choke out. “You’re such a sweet daddy.”

Exhaling with relief, he kisses the top of my head. “I’m sorry about the photo shelf in my bedroom. With the social worker coming, I freaked out about?—"

“No, you did the right thing. Please, stop feeling bad about that. Revel in your triumph here, instead.” I wrench myself away from his warm chest and motion to the room around us. “The effort you’ve put in to make Raine feel at home is really impressive and special.”

“But I want you to feel at home, too, Aubrey,” he says, his green eyes pleading with me.

I don’t know what to say, so I simply press my lips together. This place is gorgeous, but it’s going to take a long while for me to feel at home here, if ever. That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try. But I can’t even think aboutstartingto try, until I know the results of the damned custody hearing.

“Is anyone else hungry?” I ask enthusiastically, feeling eager to change the subject.

“I sure am,” Caleb replies. “Rainey?”

She doesn’t reply. She’s already deep in play mode at her little kitchen, whipping up an imaginary, culinary delight.

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