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These were the days he’d dreamed about—to just reach over and run his fingers through her silky dark hair, or kiss her, or hold her hand. Yeah, he loved the sex, but it was the little touches throughout the day that kept him going. It was the lingering glances they shared. The secret kisses when no one was looking. It was the hidden smiles and inside jokes. The little things she did for him, like setting his cut out for him so it’d be ready when he got out of the shower. Or rubbing his shoulders and neck every night when he came to the room.
It was everything about her.
“I made rings,” Skye said as she pulled them out. “I gave Daddy KoKo’s ring a long time ago, but I snuck into his room and found it.” She snickered, covering her mouth with her hands.
“Skye,” Bash said firmly, lifting his brow at her. She glanced passively at him, not buying his tough-guy act at all. Yeah, he didn’t blame her. She got away with murder and it was usually him who helped her. “You can’t go snooping your dad’s room, kid.”
“I wasn’t snooping,” she said, pushing her brows together, sounding insulted. “I was looking for this.” She lifted a construction paper ring; it was white paper that’d been cut and a little yellow paper diamond was glued on top. Then she pulled out a plain black paper ring and put them both in Ad’s hand. “They’ll like it, right?”
“I’m sure they will,” Ad said as she smiled back at her, then at the rings. As Skye dug around in her bag, Ad looked at him with tears lining her eyes. She didn’t usually cry, but being pregnant had made her more emotional. She cried at everything, but he didn’t mind. He was always there to wipe her tears away. He grabbed her hand and gave her a gentle smile.
They went on like that for a while, but when Skye started yawning and rubbing her eyes with her fists, Bash picked her up and took her to her bedroom, tucking her in for the night. He’d have to tell her not to come up so late anymore. As he was leaving, she grabbed his hand.
“Do you think Daddy and KoKo will get married? Think they’ll go through with it?” She asked, her voice slurred from being so tired. “Will they be mad at me?” He sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. He rested his hands on either side of her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Nah, kid, they won’t be mad at you,” he said as he smoothed her silky hair form her face, pushing it gently behind her ear. “They’ll love it.” At least, he hoped they would. “Get some sleep, little devil.”
“Do you know what’s up with Skye?” Axel asked as he sat down beside Bash at the bar. Bash glanced at him, hoping his cousin wouldn’t see the guilt on his face.
“No clue,” he shrugged and took a sip of his alcohol-free beer. He was sober but still missed the taste of beer and liked to sit at the bar to think. It helped him figure shit out. “Why?”
“She’s just been acting weird all week,” Ax sighed, pushing his brows together. “Koda and I talked about it, but we don’t know what’s wrong. And when we wanted to talk to her about it, she said she was fine. But she hasn’t asked Koda to do her hair and she hasn’t bugged me about those chocolates you hid in the kitchen. She hasn’t even asked to watch Cars. She hasn’t said anything to you?” Bash shook his head, his lips tipped down in a tight frown as he shrugged.
“Nope,” was all he could say, not looking at Axel. “She’s acting normal to me, man.”
“She’s been avoiding us both like the fucking plague,” he sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “I’ll talk to her again.”
“Or just wait for her to come to you,” Bash offered. “She’s almost eight, she needs to learn to work shit out on her own.” Ax paused as he stared at him, a confused look on his face.
“Did you hear what you just said?” He asked, not sounding upset, just like he was genuinely curious. Bash looked at him blankly. “She’s eight. Eight, Bash. She’s not an adult, or even a teen yet, man. I can’t just leave her to work shit out on her own.”
“Why not? We had shit figured out when we were younger than her,” Bash said.
“I can’t tell if you’re being dense on purpose, or if you really are a fucking dumb ass,” Axel mused, tilting his head to the side. Bash barked a laugh, throwing his head back. “She’s just a kid, man. You’ll understand once yours is here. She has big emotions and lots of thoughts she doesn’t understand. She needs help navigating them. I don’t want her fucked up like we are.”
“You sound like Ad,” Bash groaned.
“I gave her the books I read after Skye was born,” Axel shrugged. “Told her about the parenting blogs I follow, too.” Bash blinked at him, swallowing down another laugh.
“You researched how to parent?”
“Yeah?” He looked at him like he was crazy. “Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t know what the fuck to do.” Bash scrubbed his hand over his face, smiling.
“Right,” he nodded. “She’s been on me to read those books. But, the kid’s not gonna need parenting for like a year.”
“Learn all you can before problems come up,” Axel said conversationally. “If you already have an idea on how to handle a situation—Like if they throw a tantrum, it’s good to know how you’re going to react. At least, how you want to react. Otherwise, in the moment, you could do or say something you’ll regret, you know? I try not to talk to Skye when I’m pissed at her, and, in turn, it’s taught her to not say things out of anger, too.” Bash studied his cousin for a long moment, his eyes narrowed.
“When the fuck did you become an adult?”
“The second I held my kid,” Axel said, smiling. “Just wait, you’ll see. Nothing has ever been so fucking important. That day, I knew what true love was. I knew what it truly felt like to be willing to die for another person. If anything ever happened to her—Or to us, our relationship—I don’t know what the fuck I’d do, man.” Bash took a long pull of his fake beer before he nodded.
“She’s a good kid,” he finally said. “She’s lucky to have you. You’re a good dad.” Axel cleared his throat roughly before clapping Bash on the shoulder.
“You will be, too.”
8
AXEL
