Page 70 of Ruin

Jesus. Grief clamps down on my heart, and the pain in Zeus’s eyes nearly rips me wide open.

He takes her other hand, engulfing it with his. “It’s difficult to explain, Gigi.” His voice is raw with anguish. “But I want you to know that I didn’t want to not know you. I didn’t know…that you…were…” He’s faltering, and I don’t know if I should step in and help or not. “Gigi, if I had known about you, then I promise that I would have known you forever, just like your mom has.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he echoes.

She smiles at him, pulling her hand from mine, and pats his hand that’s holding hers. “S’okay, Zweus.”

Well…hell.

I guess, sometimes, it’s just that easy with kids.

“Do I has to call you Daddy now instead of Zweus?”

He clears his throat. “Not if you don’t want to. It is up to you—what you choose to call me.”

She stares at his face for a long moment, head tilted, pondering it. “I fink I’ll call you Daddy. All my fwiends at school have a daddy, and I always wanted one. So, now, I can tell evewyone that I has a daddy, too.”

Emotions crash into me like a punch to the stomach, watering my eyes and clogging my throat. I fight back my feelings and paste on a smile as Gigi turns to me.

“Can I’s have a snack now?” she asks.

I briefly close my eyes, loving my girl so much in this moment. “Sure you can. Go get changed out of your ballet clothes, and I’ll have your snack ready for you when you come down.”

“Okay, Mommy.” She hops off the sofa and then pauses in the open doorway. “Can I’s have potato chips?”

“Yes.”

“And chocowate?”

I’d give her the moon right now if she asked. Still, I find myself grinning. “Okay, Gigi girl. But that’s all.”

I swear, kids can smell weakness in their parents and know exactly when to ask for what they want.

“You da best, Mommy!” she sings. “And you, too, Zweus—I mean, Daddy.” She slaps her hand to her forehead, being silly, and then she’s gone, thundering up the stairs.

“Jesus H. Christ,” Zeus breathes, his hands going to his face, covering it and then pushing up into his hair.

“Yeah,” I exhale. “That went…better than I expected.”

“She’s amazing,” he says, sounding awestruck.

“She is.”

“And, when she called me Daddy…God, Cam…” His eyes lift to mine, and they’re glittering. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“I know,” I say.

I touch his hand with mine on instinct.

And, just like that, the air charges and sparks with memories of heated touches and long kisses.

I stand abruptly, running a hand over my hair, smoothing it down. “I should go make our girl’s snack because she’ll be down in a minute.”

And I walk out of the room to the feel of Zeus’s eyes on my back.

It’s been a few weeks now since we told Gigi that Zeus was her father, and she’s adapted to the news without a hitch. She’s transitioned to him being her dad so well; it worries me that she hasn’t acted out more.