Page 84 of Fierce-Jax

Normally he slept like the dead with her because she wore him out, but last night that didn’t happen.

Dillion cooked the three of them dinner.

They watched a movie that he’d seen before with Eli, then played a game, and Gianna was sleeping by seven thirty.

He and Dillion were in bed by ten, the door locked, the two of them being much quieter this time than they’d been on Tuesday during their stolen lunch hour. Then she’d unlocked the door and kept it open a crack.

There’d been no mention that he was staying the night and Gianna hadn’t asked, but Dillion had told him she’d be honest with her daughter if it came up.

“It did,” he said, flipping the pancakes over.

While Dillion was quietly breathing next to him all night, he lay there staring at the ceiling.

Everything he wanted in life was falling into place and it just felt as if it was all too neat.

It’s like he was waiting for something to happen or go wrong, but nothing was.

She moved over and put her arms around his waist from behind. A move that he secretly loved. “You didn’t sleep well,” she said. “I can see it and you were tossing and turning. How come?”

Not much got by her.

“I think I was worried Gianna might wake up and come looking for you and I’d be there.”

“It would have been fine if she had,” she said. “She is young enough to not understand.”

He snorted. “She asked if I was going to be her father the first day we met. What do you think she’d say if she caught us in bed together?”

“Caught?” she asked, frowning.

“You know what I mean,” he said. “You don’t like secrets and neither do I, but I’m not sure how to handle this.”

“I know my daughter,” she said. “Trust me on this.”

“I do trust you,” he said. “But I don’t want her upset either.”

Or hating him thinking he was going to steal her mother away.

“She won’t be,” she said. “She was so excited you were coming over last night. I’m lucky I got her in bed as early as I had. I expected it to be later.”

He laughed. “We tired her out playing hide and seek.”

He had to admit it was fun letting her run all over the house and hide while they tried to find her. There weren’t too many places he could fit and was caught fairly quickly when it was his turn.

“She’s a good kid,” she said.

“The best,” he said.

Dillion smiled shyly. “She is. She doesn’t know what she’s missing in her life and I’ve made sure she doesn’t.”

“She has your father,” he said. “And there are a lot of kids who don’t have both a mother and father. They could have two mothers, two fathers, or just one of either of them. Nothing is normal anymore.”

“Exactly,” she said. “You know that and see those things in the services your agency offers. To me, I just want Gianna to be loved, safe, and happy. She’s all those things.”

“You do a great job at it,” he said.

So good that there were times he was worried she’d say she could do it on her own and not need him, which was why he never overstepped when it came to her daughter.

“I do,” she said. “It’s not easy. I’m not afraid to admit that it takes a village and accept help when I need it even if it means having to listen to my father criticize me. He means well, but we don’t always see things the same.”