Page 76 of No Greater Love
He was quiet for a long moment, staring down at our joined hands. "What if I'm not good enough? What if I never was? What if she realizes she'd be better off with Sarah?"
The broken way he said it made my heart ache. This man who'd raised an incredible daughter, who'd built a life from nothing, who'd taught me what real love looked like… and hestillcouldn’t see his own worth.
"You're good enough," I said, gripping his hands tighter. "You're more than good enough. And if you don't want to believe it for yourself, then believe me when I tell you. You're so good that I fell in love with you, Nate. With both of you. With the family you built and the man you are."
His eyes widened, and for a moment the fear was replaced by something else—wonder, maybe, or disbelief.
"You telling me that..." he said slowly, "this should be one of the happiest days of my life."
The words hung between us, beautiful and tragic. Here we were, finally saying what we'd been feeling for months, and it was happening in the shadow of the worst possible threat.
"It will be again," I promised. "We're going to fight this. Together."
"How? She has lawyers. Real lawyers. And I... I don't know anything about custody law. I've never had to think about it."
I could see him starting to spiral again, that military bearing kicking in as he tried to figure out how to handle this crisis alone. But he wasn't alone anymore.
"Hey," I said, squeezing his hands to get his attention. "Look at me. I'm here. This is us now, not just you. You don't have to be strong enough for the world all by yourself anymore."
Something shifted in his expression—relief, maybe, or the beginning of hope.
"We don't tell Paige anything yet," I continued. "Not until we understand what we're dealing with. But Nate, you need to know—I'm not going anywhere. Whatever this takes, however we need to fight it, I'm in. All the way."
He nodded, and I could see some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Not all of it—this was still a nightmare—but enough that he could breathe again.
"I love you too," he said quietly. "In case that wasn't clear."
I smiled despite everything. "It was getting pretty clear, yes."
From the living room came the sound of the poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison, along with Paige's delighted laughter. Our normal life, continuing just a few feet away, while we sat in the kitchen planning how to protect it.
"So what do we do?" he asked.
"First, we read every word of these papers. Then we figure out what Sarah actually wants and what she's legally entitled to. Then we make a plan."
"Together?"
"Together," I confirmed. "That's what families do."
The word settled between us, solid and reassuring. Whatever was coming, we'd face it as a family. All three of us.
Even if one of us didn't know the battle had started yet.
twenty-six
nate
Four days.Four days since that envelope destroyed our perfect homecoming, and I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was standing on quicksand. Every time Paige giggled, every time she talked about our next beach trip, every normal moment felt like something I was about to lose.
I'd read the custody petition so many times I could recite it from memory.Petitioner seeks joint custody based on changed circumstances and the best interests of the minor child.Legal language that somehow made eleven years of 2 AM feedings, homework battles, and bedtime stories disappear into irrelevance.
"Dad, you're doing the thing again," Paige said from across the breakfast table.
"What thing?"
"The staring-at-nothing thing. You've been doing it all week." She pushed her cereal around the bowl. "Is it about work?"
"Just thinking about grown-up stuff, kiddo. Nothing for you to worry about."
