Page 138 of Fae Farewells

“And then what will Amelia think of our daughter?”

I blew out a heavy breath, leaning forward in my chair as I lowered my voice. “I love Amelia, Nate. But I’ve had nearly two centuries with her. I didn’t get to help raise my daughter, to teach her how to wield a sword or ride a bike. There was no watching her grow for me.”

“I know.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I love Amelia, but I don’t care what she’ll think of our daughter. I’ll always be her mate.”

He leaned forward in his chair. “What are you saying?”

“I want to be a father to our daughter more. I want to tell her my secrets, take her to dinner, share notes with her on the phone—”

“You want to text her?”

“I want to interact with her, learn about the things I missed. Is that so difficult to understand?”

“No,” he replied, his voice tired. “But what will you do?”

I shrugged, holding my shoulders up as I frowned. “You’re asking a hypothetical question based on their first meeting right before a battle? Sloane is more of an angel than she thinks. How easy was it when you tried to talk sense into me before we stepped onto a battlefield?”

He glanced away, gazing at the midnight sky. “I see your point. But Sloane is—”

“She’s not complicated or difficult,” I interrupted. “Charlie and Sam fed me that same bullshit excuse of a line. She’s had her world turned upside down in the last month. All things considered, I think she’s taking it exceptionally well. I can’t say I would be nearly as graceful after finding out my parents had lied to me until I found the truth out for myself.”

“We did what we had to do to protect her,” he harshly whispered.

“I’m not judging you, but you are judging yourself. Nothing was going to make that first meeting even slightly agreeable for Sloane. She knew it, you knew it, and so did we. Gods, Nate. I asked her to kill me an hour after meeting her.”

“Heard you took an ass kicking too,” he teased.

I chuckled. “She’s a heavy hitter, but I’d like a second round.”

“I owe her an apology.”

“For what?”

“For not trusting her as much as I should have, not trying to understand her point of view. But more than that, when she asked me why I didn’t wait for her, I said we’d waited long enough. She told me Sam and Charlie had worried for me, and I could have been here when they found you. And I replied, to watch you kill him?”

I covered my mouth, rubbing along my jaw. “You said that to her?”

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “That’s why I have to apologize. I have to do it before she moves on, because if she does… Well, she’ll forgive, but she won’t forget. I’m not ready to be cut out of her life because I couldn’t understand the decision she had to make.”

“She loves you, that I know,” I told him. “Whether or not she forgets you hurt her feelings is something I can’t speak on.”

“She’ll love you, too.”

“Maybe,” I responded. “With time. Having a child is something I never dreamed of, but I’d like to do right by her.”

“Right and wrong is a skewed concept with Sloane. Taking her to dinner will make her suspicious; she’ll think you want something from her… But fight with her? She’ll think more of you. Battle at her side? She’ll become attached before you know it.”

I chuckled. “Are you sure there’s any of you in that child?”

He scoffed. “Have you witnessed her attitude?”

“Nate?” Amelia yelled through the house. “Rig?”

We glanced at each other, sensing the unease in her voice. When we left her earlier, she was in the dining room. And it sounded like she hadn’t moved from the table where she was scrying for Alric.

“Guys,” Sam thundered, causing us to jump to our feet.