AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There had been no resisting Skye. She’d made me crazy.
“You don’t have to decide your whole future today,” Noah said. “You just found out that you have a child. Get to know her. It’s going to be a big adjustment.”
My sisters both nodded their agreement.
“I still can’t believe that Maya is my niece,” Jade said happily. “But it makes so much sense now. She looks so much like you, Aiden. I’m not sure why I never suspected it before. And the timing matches up.”
“I’m getting a paternity test,” I shared.
“As you should,” Noah agreed.
“For some reason, I feel it in my gut that Skye is telling the truth.” There was really no reason for her to lie about it. She sure as hell didn’t act like she was itching to get the two of us back together.
In fact, she’d been pretty damn adamant about not getting married again.
“She’d never lie about it,” Jade said firmly.
“Is she really moving here tomorrow morning? That’s fast,” Brooke said. “How are they going to get everything together to move?”
I grinned at her. “That’s one of the perks of having so much money that I don’t have to think about the details. The moving crews are already arranged.”
“Which room are you giving Maya?” Jade asked.
I hadn’t thought about the sleeping arrangements. “I’m not sure. I don’t really have a room decorated for an eight-year-old. Damn! I guess I should have thought about that.” We’d had a girly room in the house for my sisters when they were kids, and it had never entered my head to do the same for my daughter.
This father thing was going to take some getting used to. Brooke and Jade hadn’t been that young in a long time.
“I know what she likes,” Jade said as she stood. “I think it’s time to go shopping. The mall will still be open.”
My ass got out of the recliner instantly. The last thing I wanted was for Maya to not feel like she was at home here.
“I’m coming, too,” Brooke said as she hopped up.
“I want to meet my niece, but I can do without the shopping expedition,” Noah said as he rose to his feet. “But I’d like it if you could get her something from me. I’ll give you the money.”
Brooke made a face at Noah. “I’ll get her something from you. I don’t need the money to do that for you.”
Noah nodded. “I’ll owe you.”
We all looked at my eldest brother.
I knew exactly what my sisters were thinking.
What Noah had given all of us was something we’d never be able to pay back. He’d kept us together as a family, and sacrificed his own life in the process. He’d been a mother, a father, and an older brother all at the same time. And he’d fought to retain custody of us all because he was the only legal adult among us when my mother had died.
But he’d never, ever complained about giving up his life for his family.
In reality, we owed Noah, and always would.
“I have some stuff I need to do in the office,” Noah explained as he headed for the door.
“It’s Saturday night,” Brooke called out after him.
The door closed solidly without a reply from my eldest brother.
“He works too much,” Jade said with a sigh.
“He always has,” Brooke agreed. “What good is having all that money when he never seems to spend any of it? He needs a vacation. Maybe we should give him one for Christmas or his birthday.”
Somehow, I couldn’t see Noah relaxing with a cocktail on a beach somewhere, but I didn’t want to burst my sisters’ bubble. “I’d pitch in for that.”
My twin sisters both smiled at me. “Right now, we need to take care of what you need for tomorrow,” Brooke said.
I put an arm around each of them. “Lead the way.”
They both chattered as they headed for the door.
It was moments like this that made me grateful for the fact that I had a really large family.
I had to work hard to push the thought that Skye had never had anyone out of my mind.
She’d been little more than a girl trying desperately to hang on to her child.
Our child.
That line of thought haunted me for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER 7
SKYE
“I’m so happy that you’re my dad,” Maya told Aiden with an enormous smile as we tucked her into the bed in her new room.
I’d hung back a little as Aiden sat on the edge of the bed. I knew he needed his time with his daughter, and I’d already had over eight years with her. I wanted him to get Maya’s undivided attention.
Our move-in day had gone surprisingly well. Aiden had hired people to take care of everything, and all I’d needed to do was put our personal things away.
My daughter had been thrilled when she saw her new room, and it had touched me that Aiden had obviously gotten someone to make a personal space that made my daughter squeal with delight. Not to mention the fact that there were presents from almost all of Aiden’s family scattered around the room. Maya might be gifted, and sounded older than her years, but she was still eight years old and adored the Disney princesses.
The room had been painted an antique white, and it was adorned with every Disney-princess item of décor that probably existed, from the rug on the floor to the bedside lamps.
Aiden had presented her with a princess necklace right before we’d brought her upstairs for bed. I was fairly certain it was white gold and not an inexpensive silver-plated one. And I was convinced that the heart with the crown above it was encrusted with real diamonds.
He’d told her it was a gift for his very own princess, which had made me want to cry.
He wasn’t the least bit shy about letting Maya know that he cared, and that willingness to hold himself wide open to her had touched me.
Not that I ever allowed myself to weep. I hadn’t for a long time. But his willingness to be vulnerable to his daughter almost immediately had drawn my emotions way too close to the surface.
“Are we going to stay here for a long time?” my daughter asked Aiden hesitantly.
“Forever, Princess,” he answered emphatically. “You’ll be lucky if I let you get married someday.”
Maya let go of a delighted giggle that made my heart ache.
At that moment, I couldn’t really regret the fact that I’d moved into Aiden’s home, even though I hadn’t really wanted to be a resident here. Maya was obviously happy, and she deserved the security of being in a gorgeous house that made her feel secure. But I was pretty sure it wasn’t the nice home that meant everything to her. It was the fact that she had a father who adored her.
“Do you want me to read you a book?” Maya asked her father.
His laughter boomed in the large bedroom. “I thought I was supposed to read you a book.”
I smiled. My daughter had been reading me a book every night since she was five. Because she was such an advanced reader, she preferred it that way, and she and I had always stopped to discuss the stories as we went along.
“I like to read,” she answered simply.
“What are you reading?”
“I’m on the second Harry Potter book.” Maya jumped up before Aiden could stop her, skipped to her bookshelf, and took the large softcover back to the bed with both hands.
