“Gloria?” Tristan asks as soon as the door closes again.
“Stop talking,” I mutter. “The nurse just told you again that you’re supposed to be resting your voice. It’s never going to get better if you don’t shut up.”
“Das not a nice word either.” Stella wiggles closer to her mom, who winces when the little girl bumps against her ribs. I move to lift Stella way, but Tristan just shakes her head.
“You’re right, Stella. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Tristan makes an impatient noise, drawing my attention. I smile at the disgruntled look on her face. If I don’t start filling her in on what happened soon, she’s liable to hurt me. “She hired Harvey to try to force you back to DC.” I choose my words carefully since Stella is right there. Gloria may be a grade A bitch, who tried to use scare tactics to get what she wanted, but she’s still Stella’s grandmother.
“Gone?”
“Yes, she’s all taken care of. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Okay.”
“Your place is still a crime scene, but the family is getting everything you need for you and Stella set up at my house. You’ll come home with me.” I wait for her to protest, but she doesn’t. She just gives me a weak smile and closes her eyes again. I’ll take that as consent. I just won’t tell her that once they move in with me, they won’t be moving out again, if I have anything to say about it.
For the next little while, if Stella and Tristan aren’t with me, they’ll be with someone from my family. I know that Harvey and Gloria are both locked up, but the thought of letting either one of them out of my sight makes me want to punch something. I have a feeling it’s going to be that way for the next several weeks. I’m pretty sure they’re both going to get sick of me. Very quickly.
“Owen.”
I look up at the croaked word. Tristan is watching me intently. Waiting. “I love you too, Tristan Maddox.” I lean over and press my lips against hers.
“I wuv you too, Daddy.”
Tristan’s eyes fly to mine, widening almost comically. I just smile, before leaning over to brush a kiss across the top of Stella’s head. “I love you too, My Stella.”
“Yay!” She squeezes Tristan who yelps in pain. Laughing, I pick the little girl up in my arms and settle us back in the chair. “Why don’t we sit over here while your Mama gets some rest, okay?”
“K.” Stella snuggles into my lap again, pressing her head against my chest as she focuses back on the TV. Over the top of her head I meet Tristan’s tired gaze. “Sleep, mo chuisle,” I whisper softly. “We’ll both be here when you wake up. We’re not going anywhere.”
The End
Epilogue
Owen
Leaning over a still sniffling Stella, I click her seat belt into place. I tug on the belt itself, as I always do, just to be sure it’s secure. When I’m done, I brush my hands across her cheeks, wiping at the remaining tears. Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind crying just a little bit. Who knew taking an almost four-year-old to the dentist would be so traumatizing for us both?
Tristan did. She tried to tell me when I offered to take the little girl to the dentist that taking Stella to get her teeth cleaned, and for the x-rays she was due for, wasn’t for the faint of heart. I just hadn’t listened to her.
I brush a kiss over the top of Stella’s head before closing the car door and rounding the car to climb into the driver’s seat. I turn the car on, the faint sounds of the Frozen soundtrack filling the car. I know every word by heart, as does Stella who almost instantly starts belting them out. She’s completely off-key, but it makes me smile to hear her. I’ll take off-key singing to traumatized screaming any day of the week. I don’t think she screamed that loud last Christmas when she fell and broke her arm.
I fish my phone out of my back pocket and shoot a quick text to Tristan to let her know that we survived the evil dentist, and that there were no cavities to report. I also let her know that I’ve never wanted a bottle of aspirin and a beer so bad in my life. Once I’m done, I drop my phone into the cup holder; she’s at work so I know the chances that she can reply right away are slim.
Now that the dentist appointment is over, I can get on to the rest of my plans for the afternoon. Stella will enjoy this part a lot more. I drive us through town, singing along with Ana under my breath until we reach the ice cream parlor. I probably should have come up with a different plan. Ice cream after the dentist doesn’t seem like such a good idea now that I’m sitting in the parking lot. I’m getting ready to throw the car in reverse when Stella stops singing.
“Ice cream?” she questions with all the reverence in the world. Ice cream is serious business to Stella. “Are we getting ice cream, My Owen?” She claps happily at the thought. She’s bounces between calling me Daddy or My Owen, or My Owen Daddy. I never know which is going to come out of her mouth, but each one melts my heart just a little more.
“We are. I have something very important I want to talk to you about.”
“Important?”
“Very important,” I confirm before turning the car off and climbing out.
Fifteen minutes later we sit down on one of the outside patio tables, each with our very own ice cream cone. Stella is purely a vanilla kind of girl today, and after the first lick, her mouth is ringed with the white treat. I take a few licks of my own, listening to Stella chatter about her visit to the dentist. She’s remembering it completely different than I am. Her version is all sunshine and roses. She obviously forgot that I had to practically hold her down while she sobbed and cried and begged me to take her home.
She moves on to telling me a story about her new best friend Ariel then switches to talking about her upcoming birthday party, and I’m pretty sure there is a story about what the Easter Bunny brought her a couple of weeks ago, but sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Her stories give me plenty of time to eat my ice cream, and plenty of time for hers to start melting down her hand.
“So, Stella,” I say when her latest story has finally wound down. “I want to ask you something very important.” I slip my hand into my pocket and fiddle with the small jewelry box that’s there.
“Okay.” She takes another large lick of ice cream, spreading more of it along her chin.
“I love you and your Mommy very much. You know that, right, Stella?”
“Yes,” she says decisively. “I lub you to. And I lub ice cream.”
I give her a quick grin. “I love ice cream too. But what I really wanted to talk about was how very much I love you and your mom. Sometimes when you love people that much, you want to show them how much you love them.”
I pull the jewelry box out of my pocket and lay it on the table. “One of the ways to do that is to ask the person you love to marry you.”
“You want to marry me?” Her face crinkles in confusion. “I’m marrying Jack.”
I frown. “Who’s Jack?” This is the first time I’ve ever heard this kid’s name and I already don’t like him.
“He’s my boyfriend.”