Page 83 of Inevitable
I cleared my throat before I spoke. “Before we say anything else, I want you to know that I would have been there for you and your mom if I’d known about you, Wren.”
She cocked her head in an adorable way that made me want to hug her all over again. “I know about all that,” she said dismissively. “I don’t care. You didn’t know, and it wasn’t your fault. You know now and you’re here. Mom said you’re intellectually gifted like me. I want to know about your life. What things are like for you in California. I want to know about what it was like to be a SEAL commander. I guess I just want to know everything.”
And just like that…Wren blew off everything I’d missed out on in the past and focused on the present.
Hell, maybe that was easier to do when you were a kid.
Honestly, that action was so much like her mother that it shouldn’t have surprised me.
“I’m not going to promise that I’ll be a perfect father in the future. I’ve never had a child, so I have zero practice at being a parent,” I warned her. “But I’ll always be there if you need me.”
She shrugged. “Being there is enough. I probably won’t be an ideal daughter, either. I’ve never had a dad. But I’d like to. Maybe you can help me feel more normal even though I’m gifted.”
I had to swallow the enormous lump in my throat before I spoke. “I probably never thought of my intelligence as a gift. Idon’t remember a time when I didn’t think differently than other people my age.”
“I think some people think I’m odd,” Wren said without an ounce of rancor about that fact.
“You’re not odd,” I said defensively. “You’re smart. You’ll appreciate that a lot more as you get older. If people can’t appreciate that your mind just works a little differently, that’s their issue. There’s not a single thing wrong with you, Wren.”
She smiled at me and my heart melted. “I know. Mom always makes sure that I know that I’m just unique. I used to think that was bad because I didn’t fit in, but I don’t feel that way so much anymore. I met some other kids in San Diego last summer that are gifted, so I know I’m not the only kid in the world who doesn’t always fit in.”
“Did you see them this summer?” Emma asked.
Wren nodded enthusiastically. “They’re all in a specific program at school for gifted kids, so they all hang out together. I like being with them. I feel like we’re all part of the same tribe.”
“We don’t have those programs at our local school,” Emma told me regretfully. “I wish we did.”
“I like my friends here,” Wren said. “We just don’t think the same way. Some of them are starting to get obsessed with boys. I’d usually rather talk about solving some of the major social issues we have in the world right now.”
I grinned because she said that like the very thought of boys was absolutely disgusting to her.
Hell, shewasat that age when some girls had enormous crushes on the opposite sex.
Personally, I was damn glad she wasn’t showing that much interest in the opposite sex yet.
In my eyes, Wren wasstilla child.
I wasn’t sure it was preferable for a kid to be thinking about poverty, racism, and food insecurity, but it was probably better than being obsessed with boys.
“I bought you a few things,” I told Wren.
“A few things?” Emma said drily. “You bought her a ridiculous amount of gifts.”
“Twenty-six,” I confirmed.
Wren looked at me for a moment before she said, “Thirteen and thirteen. One for each Christmas and birthday that we weren’t together.”
“Exactly,” I confirmed.
Okay, it was a little unnerving that my kid understood my logic so well, but shewasmy daughter, and her brain obviously worked similarly to mine.
“It makes sense,” Wren told me. “But you didn’t have to do that. You didn’t know about me then.”
“I wanted to,” I said simply.
“What are they?” she asked with the excitement of a kid in her voice.
Wren was pretty unique.
