I take a deep breath as I step off the last stair and join Aurora in the kitchen, flicking on the kettle as I pass her to get a mug.
“Westley,” I admit, with my back still turned.
I’m waiting for a reaction that doesn’t come, and with each quiet second that passes, I feel dangerously close to fainting. I turn on my heels, bracing for… the goofiest smile on my daughter’s face?
“I knew it.” She drops her spoon in the bowl and sets it on the counter. “You like him.”
“What? What do you mean you knew it?”
She picks up my hands, shaking them in hers with excitement. “You guys are totally crushing on each other. It’s soooo obvious. Callie and I already picked your ship name over theweekend. Westyn.”
“A ship name?” I shake my head. “Wait… Wait. You and Callie talked about West and me while we were gone?”
Aurora scoffs as if it’s the most obvious thing. “Duh, Mum.”
She steps back, lifting her butt onto the kitchen bench, and picks up her breakfast bowl. “She could tell when she saw you guys together the day she moved in that there was attraction. I didn’t really know what she meant, but I told her how you guys kept looking at each other when West came over to bake with us.” She chews on her cereal, thinking to herself, while I filter through the catalogue of memories I’ve collected since meeting the man in question.
“That was a really fun night,” Aurora says softly. “I’d never seen you like that with a guy, and it had me wondering…”
I dump a teaspoon of coffee and Milo into a mug, then pour in some hot water. “About what, babe?” I ask.
Aurora stares into her bowl. “Do you not date because of me? Or… is it something my dad did?”
I cross the kitchen, leaning on the bench beside her, clutching the hot mug in my hands. “I was never looking for love or a fairytale. All I wanted to be was your mum, and I wanted to do it right. I chose not to have relationships because I already had the greatest love of my life.”
When my daughter’s eyes turn shiny, I feel my own start to tingle, and an onslaught of guilt rips through me for all the things I’ve held from her.
“I really like West,” she says softly.
“Yeah?”
She nods. “It’s never really bothered me not having a dad around, but… Ever’s dad is really nice. Seeing them together kinda makes me wonder. Do you think—” Aurora chews on her lip, so I put my mug down and take the bowl from her, setting it aside so I can hold her hands. “Do you think he likes spending time with us? Both of us?”
“I am very confident that he does. He came over last night and asked me to be his girlfriend.”
A grin takes over my daughter’s face. “And you said yes?”
“I said yes.” I nod.
There’s something in her eyes that I haven’t seen before, and I seriously hope I’ve made the right decision in letting someone in like this. Cos if it all ends, I don’t think it’ll just be my heart that breaks.
Aurora kisses my cheek before she jumps off the bench and dumps her bowl in the sink, then starts to leave the kitchen.
“Ahem,” I call out, stopping her in her tracks, as I pick up my mocha again. “Dishwasher.”
She spins around, running back to the sink to rinse her dishes and pop them in the dishwasher, before rushing off.
“Aurora?” Her dark brown hair, still messy from sleep, whips over her shoulder as she turns to me.
“About your dad… Do you… need… ugh.” I stumble over the words, flustered with just the thought of getting this question out.
“If he wanted to be in my life, he would be,” she says fiercely.
“What if he didn’t know where to find you?” Shame and guilt simmer in my veins.
“You wouldn’t have done that unless you thought it was best.”
My hands squeeze the hot mug. “I don’t know what I did to deserve such a kind and smart kid.” I smile through the gentle tears that build.
