Page 84 of My Heart's Doctor

I looked at her and smiled, but Aurora wiped the smile off our faces in one fell swoop.

“And you are my mommy,” she said with a frowning face.

Devon turned pale, and I fixed my gaze on her.

“That’s not true, princess,” she said affectionately. “We already talked about this and I explained that I’m not your mommy, I’m just a friend who loves you very much.”

Hearing her gave me peace of mind, but it also confirmed that Aurora had already said this to her. I looked at her and nodded.

“But I want you to be my mommy.”

“Devon can’t be your mommy because you have a mommy. She’s not with us because she died, but she will always be your mother.”

“But I loveDivon,” she insisted.

“I love you very much, but I’m not and won’t be your mommy, although that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and play together.”

At that moment, Delia came in with another one of my employees to bring the dinner plates, which interrupted the conversation, though I could see that Devon was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and I didn’t like that. During dinner, we talked about everything they had done during the days I was in New York, which eased the tension. After dinner, I prepared to take Aurora to her bedroom, though I was sure she would ask Devon to come too, and I wasn’t wrong.

“It’s better if you go with your dad. Good night, princess,” she said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Daddy, I wantDivonto come.”

“Devon, would you come with us?” I asked.

“Actually, I need to go,” she replied, and again I noticed she was nervous, but I wasn’t going to let her leave because I needed to talk to her.

“It’s just a few minutes, she usually falls asleep quickly,” I said, and I wasn’t lying, my daughter had never had trouble sleeping.

“It’s just that...”

“Come on,Divon,” said Aurora, taking her by the hand and tugging at her.

When we reached Aurora’s bedroom, Devon helped her put on her nightgown. Then Aurora climbed into bed with the book she wanted us to read to her. Devon ended up sitting on the bed and I sat in the armchair next to it. By the third page, she was already asleep. I placed the book on the nightstand and stood up as Devon watched me attentively. I stretched out my handfor her to take it, which she did, though hesitantly. We left the bedroom, I closed the door and pulled her toward mine.

“Where are we going?”

“To my bedroom,” I said, and continued walking, but I only took a couple of steps because she suddenly stopped and stared at me with a furrowed brow.

“We can’t go there,” she stated.

“We can and we will. I need to talk to you and I want privacy.”

“It’s not right for me to enter your bedroom.”

“Why not?”

“Your staff is here and...”

“‘Dulce,’ I don’t explain my life to anyone. Let’s go,” I said, and pulled at her hand again, but she stopped once more, and I got tired of it and took her in my arms and continued walking.

“Put me down, William,” she demanded, but in a low voice.

“No; I already told you I need to talk to you.”

“We can talk in the living room.”

“Stop protesting because we’re already here and we won’t be leaving for a good while.”