“Because your Dad lives here?”
“Uncle Taggart visits us sometimes. He’s nice.”
“Are you glad to have a new baby cousin?”
“Yes!” she gushed. “Artemis is adorable. Mom says she’s going to teach me to crochet beanies for her. I wish I had a goddess name.”
“Sadie’s a great name. Isn’t it a nickname for Sarah?”
“Yeah. But everyone’s called Sarah these days. There are three Sarahs in my history class.” She bit her lip. “Is your real name Sebastian?”
“It is. You can call me Bast, if you like.”
“Okay, Bast.” She smiled shyly.
“Hey, loser.” Molly came over holding a glass of wine. “The wine is very tasty this afternoon. Too bad you’re cut off.”
“Don't rub it in.” I needed a drink or a pain pill soon. Everything had started to hurt again. “Did you meet Sadie yet?”
“Of course.” Molly smiled. “Sadie told me all about her friends and how much they like Beyond the Night. I’m supposed to be sure to make you autograph something for her.”
“I have the pilot script at home. If Dad can find it, I’ll have him send it here and autograph that for you. Would you like it?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes. Oh, yes, please. You’d sign it to me? Sadie Wilder?”
“Sure.” She'd kept her Dad’s last name. Perhaps Serena’s new husband wasn’t interested in adopting them. Or Serena wasn’t on board. Maybe I was overthinking things again.
“My friends will just die,” said Sadie. “Could we take a selfie? Nobody believed me when I told them you were here.”
“Sure. Where?” Sadie picked under the arbor.
Molly offered to take the pictures. “Got it. Let’s get a couple more to be safe.”
Sadie and I posed. One silly picture, one super serious, and one relaxed and casual.
“Thanks. Oh my God. Everyone’s going to shit kittens when they see this.”
“You’re welcome, Sadie. My pleasure.”
“Sadie,” Serena called. “Come here so I can get some pictures of you with Aunt Ari, Uncle Tag, and Artemis.”
I hoped she’d get a picture with Stone too.
“Just a second.” Sadie turned to me with a kind of desperation. “I’ll be back, okay? Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“I’ll be here.”
She was clearly torn, but her mother called her again and she ran off.
“Another Wilder conquest has apparently been made.”
“Wine.” I moaned. “Why can’t I have wine.”
“Because you're on pain pills,” Stone spoke from behind me. Morrigan walked at his side. “Speaking of which…” He pulled the bottle out of his pocket and gave me one.
“Thank you.” I gratefully popped the pill and took a swig of water.
“Your lips are so chapped they’re cracking.” He eyed my mouth. “Do they hurt?”
I nodded. “It’s awfully dry here. I'm not used to it.”
“Here, I have something.” Stone dug in his jacket pocket and brought out a container of what looked like lip gloss. He got a dab on his finger and came at me with it.
“What’s that?” I tilted my head back.
“Pure shea butter. It’s all natural.” He caught my neck with one hand and dabbed the stuff on my chapped lips the other. After he finished, I rubbed my lips together. His smile weakened my knees. “Good?”
“Nice.” I smiled back helplessly. “Thank you.”
“You want some soup?” he asked. “Or how about a salad.”
“I have nibbles.” I held up the plate Molly gave me to show him.
“That’s not enough,” he scoffed. “Let’s get you a real meal.”
He took my good hand and towed me to the buffet table. Molly and Morrigan came with.
If, as I suspected, people were watching us and wondering what sort of Modern Family type shenanigans were happening in their midst, Stone took absolutely no notice of it. He got a bowl of barley vegetable soup and spooned some broccoli salad onto a plate.
“How about over here.” He sat at one of the tables and patted the seat next to him. I sat. When I opened my mouth to talk, he filled it with soup. “You were going to say something like, 'hey, did you notice all those people staring at us?'“
I nodded. Swallowed. “I—”
“And I’m preempting you because this whole day has been completely surreal and it's not over yet.”
“I—” That time he shoveled a bite of salad into my mouth.
“The only thing that feels natural and familiar to me at this moment is making sure you have what you need. Please don’t fight me. Whether you know it or not, taking care of you grounds me.”
“I won’t fight you. But there are definitely people watching us.”
“Imagine what they’ll say when I no longer have your broken arms as an excuse and I’m still feeding you like this because…I like feeding you.”
I swallowed hard. “Really?”
“Yes, goddamnit. I served my country. I've got a right to feed you if I want to.” He closed his eyes. “I must be losing my mind. Serena’s probably wondering if she can trust me with the kids. Ariel and Tag are going to tease me about this for the rest of my life. They're also probably congratulating themselves on their evil plan to force me and Serena and the kids together.”
“I think it’s sweet,” I said after looking in our hosts’ direction. “And Tag and Ariel don’t seem to be paying us any mind.”
“Oh my God.” Sadie widened her eyes. “How come he’s feeding you?”
“I broke my arms?” That came out as a question, but—
“Can I help? Let me do it.” Excitement made her bounce toward us. “I want to feed Bast too.”
“Um,” I hesitated. Because that wouldn’t be weird at all. “I—”
“Sure. Here.” Stone handed Sadie the spoon and shot a smirk at me. “See if you can get him to eat more soup while I look for bread. Ridley bakes the world's best bread.”
“Open wide,” Sadie said.
After witnessing her tantrum that morning, I did what she told me to do.
“I need a picture of this.” Molly's face lit with mischief.
“Will you send it to me?” Sadie asked.
I gave Molly my best death glare. I needed to eat, but this was excruciating. Odd, how being fed was so different when it was Stone doing the feeding.
“What’s it like seeing your dad again, Sadie?” Molly asked after getting a few different shots of us.
“Mom said I had to come.” Her mouth firmed. “But I don’t have to like it.”
“So it’s hard?” Molly pressed. “I bet it’s weird after going so long without seeing each other.”
“Not for me. It’s nothing to me. My brothers are all like, Dad’s got a dog, yay. Whatever.” Sadie apparently wanted them to be angry too. “They’re so stupid.”
Serena came over. “I hate to interrupt your meal, Sebastian, but it’s time the kids and I got going. Say goodbye, Sadie.”