I laughed. “We just found out two days ago, so we haven’t talked about it yet. If it’s a girl, I’d like to name her Daniela after Rafe’s mother,” I said, smiling lightly. The name felt right, settling over me like the whisper of a caress. A tingle that I felt down to my toes, as if she was watching out for him. I had to hope she approved of me if she was.
“And a boy?” my grandmother asked.
“Something to do with the stars,” I said, glancing toward the hallway where Rafe was with my father. “If I can find something we agree on anyway.”
“Why the stars?” Odina asked, her stare incredulous as she tried to shake me.
“When we were in Ibiza, Rafe told me the story of how he and his mother used to lie out and try to count the stars. He knew it was pointless and a waste of his time in his father’s eyes, but those are some of his most vivid memories with her.” I left off the part where he’d counted my freckles, the knowledge of it feeling too personal.
I’d have throttled Odina when she tried to make a joke of it or mocked how sickeningly sweet it was.
“Who would have thought him capable of sharing such a sweet memory,” my mother said, chewing the corner of her mouth.
“He’s a man like any other, Mom. He’s complicated and there are lots of different versions of him that you’ll only ever get to know if you give him time and accept him.” I swallowed back the surge of love that consumed me in the wake of my words, even as the marks on my neck that were visible for the first time twinged with phantom pain. My grandmother’s eyes landed on them for what felt like the hundredth time that night, but she didn’t say anything about them.
Just as she’d kept quiet about the tattoo and the brand, she chose not to judge me for what I let Rafe do to my body. Her questions would come, but her relationship with me was trusting enough that she would give me the benefit of the doubt and ask when the watchful eyes of my mom and sister weren’t on us and studying our every move.
“I’m going to go check on them,” I said, standing and making my way toward the hallway. I knew as soon as I rounded the corner that Rafe had left the office door open, probably to reassure the rest of my family that he wasn’t stealing my father’s soul while he had him to himself.
“She’s my baby girl,” my father said, his voice catching on the emotion of the words. “I just want to protect her. You’re about to become a father, so I truly hope you can understand that.”
“Of course I do. I would never hurt Isa. I know some of what you’ve heard of me and our relationship has given you pause, but I love your daughter,” Rafe admitted, and there was a pause as he let those words sink in.
“Just please don’t hurt her. I’ve seen the tattoo and the burn, your name on her neck. The signs are all there and plain to see. I am begging you not to hurt my girl any more than you already have.” My heart ached with the strangled sob in my father’s throat, with the emotion I felt knowing that I would do the same for my daughter.
I’d go one step farther and kill anyone who threatened her, but how could my father expect to kill Rafael Ibarra?
“The marks you’ve seen on your daughter are a part of our relationship. I assure you, I wear her marks on my skin. One for every time I’ve marked her,” Rafe returned. I swallowed back my tears, moving back to the main space and rejoining the three women of my family. Leaving the men to have their discussion in privacy once I was satisfied that Rafe was handling my father with about as much tact as I could expect of him.
He handled my father with care, and my heart swelled to hear it despite the ominous words he’d spoken about not caring if they liked him.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance we could find a way for them to be a part of our lives.