His daughter smiled as if he had shown her the most magnificent thing in the world. Then she turned and showed her sleeve to her mother. “Mummy, Daddy left his rocket!”
AJ laughed as she grasped her arm, taking in the moon and the shooting star. “See, Daddy will always find a way to you.”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you get Einstein, and we’ll have some breakfast downstairs before you get ready for school?” AJ released their daughter’s arm.
Miller scrambled off the bed, and on her way out of their bedroom, she said, “I’ll go get Einstein.”
When the door closed behind their daughter, AJ dragged her knees across the mattress and set her hands on his jaw. Her beautiful smile reminded him of just how lucky he was that it was directed at him and no one else. That she had made him her husband and chose to continue to love him.
“I love you,” AJ whispered as her thumb brushed the corner of his mouth.
“I love you, too.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a chaste kiss.
AJ pulled back and shook her head. “Not just because you’re my husband and you support my dreams.” Her smile softened as did that gleam in her eyes. “Because you find ways to become an even better father every day. You’re her entire world, you know that, right?”
And that there, that validation that he was a good father, had his eyes stinging with unshed tears. Evan didn’t have the best father growing up. His father had been neglectful but had spent the past six years trying to make up for it. However, Evan had one role model, AJ’s father, who had treated him as if he were his own. Evan didn’t think he’d ever make a good father, but Miller had taught him everything he knew. Whatever she needed, he gave it to her.
“She’s very much my entire world,” Evan insisted as he wrapped his fingers around his wife’s wrists. “And so are you, AJ. I wouldn’t be the father I am, the father I try to be, without you. You’re everything. God, are you everything to me.”
Evan hadn’t meant to make his wife cry this morning, but her tears were filled with gratitude. Then she whispered, “Eight protons.”
“Eight neutrons,” he finished before AJ kissed him.
He thought back to that first kiss by her window for her birthday. That kiss with a spark he had ignored when they were teenagers. He shouldn’t have. Evan should have bottled up that spark, kept it, and treasured it. They could have avoided so much pain, but that pain had forced him to truly see her. That pain and distance forced him to grow up and see he had always loved AJ.
AJ was the love of his life.
“Daddy!” Miller cried out, causing AJ to break their kiss. The concern was sharp in her eyes, and Evan pulled away and got out of bed.
“I’ll check on her,” he said before he bent over and kissed her and headed for the door. Once he opened it, he went down the hall to his daughter’s room to find the small Christmas tree that was on Miller’s dresser on the floor. Baubles and tinsel littered the floor, but that’s not what had him rushing inside. It was his crying daughter standing by the tree.
“Daddy, I broke my Christmas tree, and I can’t find Einstein anywhere,” Miller sobbed.
Evan got on one knee and cupped his daughter’s face, wiping her tears away. “It’s okay.” Her sniffles, though heartbreaking, were adorable. She was as gentle as her mother. “Are you hurt, my love?”
Miller shook her head. “No. I knocked it over trying to find Einstein. I can’t find him, Daddy? Where is he?”
Einstein was a soft plush Miller has had since she was a baby. AJ’s uncle—one of her father’s best friends—had given it to her when he first met her. It was her most beloved toy. Evan scanned her bedroom, unable to see him. Now that he thought about it, she didn’t have it when he tucked her in bed last night or when they returned home from her grandparents’ place after watching a Disney movie. She’d been so exhausted that her eyelids quickly fell as they watched the stars on her ceiling. “I’m not sure, but we’ll find him. I’ll look for him while you’re at school.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Miller was resigned as she looked down at the floor. “But the baubles are broken. Mummy will be mad. She got me that special one with the stars.”
“Mummy will be happy that you’re not hurt.” He brushed her last tears away and stood, holding out his hand for his daughter to take. “Why don’t we have some breakfast and get ready for the day?”
Miller looked over her shoulder, her lip trembling with guilt that she had broken so many of the ornaments in her frantic search for her toy. “B-but …”
“My love,” he said, getting her attention. “It’s okay. We’ll go to the store after I pick you up from school and get new baubles.”
“They won’t be like the ones Mummy got.”
Evan shook his head and squeezed her hand. “No, but we’ll pick a special one and surprise Mummy with it when she comes home from Harvard. Does that sound like a good plan?”
Excitement shimmered in Miller’s eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”
Happy to have pleased his daughter, Evan walked her out of the room, hoping he had taken her mind off her missing toy and broken Christmas tree for the rest of the morning.
Chapter Two
Evan
“And you looked all over?” Evan’s brother, Kyle, asked as he placed a set of clear red baubles in the basket. After Evan had dropped Miller off at school, he went home and searched all over the house before he got ready for work. He had even checked in his office, but he still couldn’t find Einstein. Kyle had walked into Evan’s office at Fenway Park asking where he could buy Miller a lifetime supply of Einstein plush toys. AJ had already said that Miller would be able to tell the difference, and it was pointless to try. So Kyle settled with helping to shop for Miller’s new Christmas tree decorations at Prudential Center.
When they had picked up Miller from school, and she saw her uncle, she had the biggest smile on her face. Of course, Kyle was hounded by many of the moms and dads in the pick-up line. Evan had rolled his eyes as his brother charmed the parents and even gave out baseball advice. And as always, Miller ran up to her uncle and then told him all about her day as Kyle sat in the back seat with her while Evan drove to the mall.
“I practically tore her room apart. I have no idea where she lost him. She was sad the entire drive to school. Thankfully, seeing you brought that smile back.”
Kyle grinned as he glanced over at his niece looking at all the decorations. “I am her favorite uncle.”
Evan chuckled. “Well, considering AJ’s brother is six … you win by default because this week they hate each other.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded as they followed Miller farther down the aisle to the blue decorations. The theme for Miller’s new tree was a starry galaxy. She had even picked a picture she liked best on Kyle’s phone. “Yup. Seb thinks she has cooties. He doesn’t want to catch them.”
“Your brother-in-law is the worst.”
“Again, Seb is six. And stop that. You love the kid.” Evan reminded as Miller approached them with glittery blue star ornaments. “Do you like these the best?”