“And I’m done,” Brennan states, tossing his cookie onto his plate.
I take a moment to sneak a glance at Cormac, who is sitting silently beside me at the head of the table.
His eyes flick to mine, and the corner of his mouth twitches with a rare smile.
I desperately want to reach for his hand beneath the table, but I know it will only lead to more questions that I don’t feel like answering. So, instead, I keep my hands to myself and listen to the endless bickering.
“Right, time for bed,” Cormac says after Scout reaches for his third cookie.
Scout purses his lips as he immediately glances at me.
I fight a smile. “You’ve had enough cookies, so don’t think about trying to play me against your dad.”
But when Scout only looks anxiously between myself and Cormac, my stomach drops.
“Is everything okay?”
His eyes lower a bit before coming to mine again. “Can you put me to bed tonight?”
“Uh…” I hesitate.
I haven’t done Scout’s bedtime routine on my own since before we came to stay with Riley and Kieran, and especially not since he was taken by Adrian Smirnov.
I don’t want to overstep, but Scout is the one who is asking, so who am I to say no?
I glance at Cormac, trying to ignore how everyone at the table has gone quiet.
But to my surprise, Cormac offers me a subtle dip of his chin that gives me the green light, and my face breaks out into a smile.
I push my chair back from the table. “I would love to.”
As I pass Cormac, I gently brush his shoulder in a silent acknowledgment.
Even after our trip away, I know there are still a lot of hurdles we have to overcome, but him letting me have some bonding time with Scout, just the two of us, means a lot to me.
Upstairs, Scout runs ahead to his room to start brushing his teeth.
While he’s occupied, I turn on the nightlight and arrange his stuffed animals along the bottom of the bed.
When he climbs between the sheets, I pull the comforter up to his chin and perch on the edge of the mattress.
“Fiona?” Scout yawns.
“Yeah?”
“I hope you’re with my daddy forever,” he whispers as his eyes start to droop.
That was the last thing I was expecting him to say, and it takes me so much by surprise that I blink back tears.
Kids always say what they’re feeling, so the fact that I know Scout’s words are genuine makes them that much more special.
Maybe Cormac and I should take a leaf out of Scout’s book…
“I’ll try my best, Scout,” I whisper, brushing his hair back from his face.
Chapter Twenty
CORMAC
