Page 57 of No Greater Love
"What movie?" I asked.
"'The Princess Bride.' Mrs. Davidson said it was a classic and I needed to see it immediately or I was deprived."
Tasha laughed, the first genuinely relaxed sound I'd heard from her all evening. "Mrs. Davidson is absolutely right. That's practically required viewing."
We settled on the couch, Paige between us, her head gradually migrating to rest against Tasha's shoulder as the movie progressed. Tasha's arm came around her automatically, and I watched something in her expression soften.
By the time Westley was storming the castle, Paige was fast asleep, her breathing deep and even. Tasha looked down at her with such tenderness it made my chest tight.
"I should put her to bed," I whispered.
Tasha nodded, carefully extricating herself so I could scoop Paige up. My daughter was getting too big for me to carry easily, but I managed to get her to her room and tucked into bed without waking her.
When I came back to the living room, I found Tasha curled into the corner of the couch, knees drawn up, staring at nothing. The facade had finally cracked.
"Hey," I said softly, settling beside her. "You want to talk about it?"
She shook her head, then seemed to change her mind. "Tell me a story about you and Paige," she said quietly. "Something good. Something... normal."
"Okay, hmmm." I said, shifting so she could lean against me if she wanted to. "Let me tell you about nursing school."
She nestled into my side, her head finding the hollow of my shoulder.
"Paige was barely six months old when I started," I began. "Single dad, living on GI Bill money and whatever I could make working weekends at a clinic. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to handle both."
"But you did."
"Barely. The first semester, I had to bring her to class twice because my babysitter fell through. I was sure they'd kick me out of the program." I smoothed Tasha's hair absently. "The first time, she was maybe eight months old, and I had this English class with a strict attendance policy. One absence dropped your grade a full letter."
"With a baby!?"
"Right? It was aimed at frat boys who wanted to sleep off hangovers, not single parents dealing with sick babysitters. But they wouldn't make exceptions." I felt the old frustration rise up. "So I brought her in her carrier, all swaddled up, praying she'd sleep through the lecture. And she did—didn't make a peep for ninety minutes."
"Good girl," Tasha murmured against my chest.
"The professor barely noticed. But afterward, this smug graduate assistant held me back and told me I wasn't 'taking the class seriously' and that I 'shouldn't be here' if I couldn't arrange proper childcare. Then he marked me absent anyway."
"What a dick."
I laughed softly. "I almost failed that class. Had to do extra credit just to scrape by with a C." I paused, remembering. "But you know what? My nursing professors were completely different. When they found out about Paige, they went out of their way to help. Professor Martinez used to bounce her on her knee while I took exams. Dr. Kim kept a Pack 'n Play in her office."
"They understood."
"They understood that sometimes life doesn't wait for convenient timing. That being a parent doesn't make you less capable—it makes you more determined." I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I wouldn't have made it through without them."
"Tell me another one."
I studied Tasha's face in the dim light from the TV. Whatever she'd seen today, she obviously needed to remember that good things existed.
"Another one?" I asked. "Another one. Ahhh... hmmm... oh, I know! Let me tell you about Paige's singing phase. When she was about four, maybe five, she went through this phase where she had to sing constantly. Not normal kids' songs, mind you. Educational songs. Scientific songs." I chuckled at the memory. "Tell me if this surprises you, because this one is burned into my memory forever."
I cleared my throat and began to sing in a soft, but deliberately overdramatic, sing-song voice:
"When there's water vapor in the air,
it condenses, forming clouds!
Saturation, condensation,
