Page 11 of For The Days We Can't Forget

But as was becoming the norm, she wasn’t acting like herself. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead as she kept closing and opening her left hand.

Ignoring Ben’s lingering anger, I looked ahead at the road. I couldn’t wait to get home. After seeing some of those photos—I didn’t dare to look at the other ones yet—all I craved was holding my baby in my arms.

And if a certain young woman was with us, even better.

After dropping Mia at her place, Ben drove me home. I was about to leave the car when he muttered, “I don’t know what to do about her.”

“I don’t know if we could do anything besides being by her side.”

“I feel powerless. I want to fix things, but I don’t know how. I...I’ve made so many bad decisions, and they affected our family.”

“You’re not to blame for what happened, Ben. It was a fatality, and it was bound to change us all, but that’s not on your shoulders.”

“That’s the thing. It is. It is on my shoulders because it could’ve been different. It shouldn’t have come to that. It’s killing me.” He seemed distraught, more so than I’d ever remembered seeing him. He looked at me, borderline desperate, like he wanted to say something.

“Is there anything you want to tell me? Talk to me, man.”

Ben closed his eyes and shook his head. “Let’s regroup tomorrow. Since we had a rough night, let’s meet a little later at the company and go over what we found.”

Noticing I wouldn’t get anything out of him, I just nodded and said goodnight.

I walked into my place and was soaked in by the smell of home. It didn’t have a specific scent. It smelled like comfort. Peace. Sofia. Lisa.

After Mia told me about Andrea’s unfaithfulness, and I decided to leave her cheating ass, I found that place. It was smaller than my previous house, and I loved that. The other one was thebuildingI lived in so Andrea could show off the money she drained from me.

My new place was where Sofia could leave her toys scattered, where I could cook for her, where we improvised tents with blankets in the living room, where I drank a beer watchingFrozenfor the umpteenth time. My new place had no memories of Andrea, and it looked good with Lisa inside. It washome.

The house was silent, which made sense. Given the hour, my two girls were probably asleep.Thetwo girls. Notmytwo girls. I had only one. It was getting harder to keep that concept in my mind.

I found them both asleep on Sofia’s bed when I got to her door. Even though my mom was away and the extra room was empty, an inflatable mattress was on the floor, but Lisa was curled around my baby like she wanted to protect Sofia from evil. Fee was tucked into Lisa’s chest, her small hands curled under her chin, as Lisa had one arm around my girl’s small frame and the other supporting her own head.

I stepped out to take a quick shower, then went back to my girls. I carefully disentangled Lisa and picked her up in my arms. If I pressed her tighter against my chest, no one would know. Her head fell on my shoulder, and her breath warmed my neck. I strode silently to my bedroom and placed her on my bed, where she’d feel more comfortable. The sight of her there felt right.

I covered her with a blanket and went back to my baby’s room. I kissed Fee’s head and lay down on the mattress by her bed, which was too small for me. But I wasn’t looking for comfort. I just wanted my woman to have a good night’s sleep and my baby to be safe by my side.

To hell with it. There was no harm in calling them both mine if it was only in my head.

CHAPTER SIX

I didn’t remember my bed was so comfy. Or that big. I also couldn’t recollect a moment when it smelled like Danny. I couldn’t be blamed for moaning.

I blinked my laziness away but felt more confused than before. The space looked a lot like his room. It was like a real-life half-fantasy.Halfbecause in my full fantasy, he’d be with me in bed, and I wouldn’t have woken up alone.

It took me more time than it should for me to realize I was in fact in his bedroom. I had no recollection of how I got there. As much as I wanted to, there was no way I’d gone there to sleep, knowing he could arrive at any moment. Right?

Cringing inwhat-if-embarrassment, I pulled the blanket off and slid out of bed. I didn’t know if he was home, so I was still on duty. I hoped Fee hadn’t woken up and seen me in herPapi’s bed. That was a conversation I wasn’t ready for.

I couldn’t even deeply consider my attraction to him. The reasons were obvious, though.

Wonderful father, incredibly good looking, loyal, and protective, with just a splash of awkwardness that always endeared me. He was the respectful choir boy who tempted me into sin.

I followed the distant chatting in the kitchen and stopped in my tracks when I spotted Fee and Danny making breakfast. He was surprisingly tidy for a single father. I could only assume it was a remnant of his SEAL days.

There were cracked eggshells and some flour on the counter, but somehow, he was able to limit the mess to on top of it. And on Fee’s pretty face.

As he sang Maui’s theme song, bouncing his arms and pecs just like the trickster, Fee giggled and cheered him on. Her melodic laugh was inviting, and I couldn’t contain my own for longer.

Finally noticing me, Danny interrupted his performance, a light shade of pink coloring his cheeks under his five o’clock shadow. Sofia wasn’t as embarrassed.

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