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When the timer of the oven buzzes, Jenna opens the door, pulling one pizza to her, inspecting it. Oh God, it smells delicious. I hope Jenna is happy with the level of crunchiness, or I might have to resort to underhanded tactics to convince her to let me have a slice right now.
“They’re perfect,” she announces, taking out the two pizzas and shoving in two more, setting the timer again. We each carry one inside.
Predictably, they’re gone within minutes, and everyone is still hungry.
Daniel arrives when the second batch is ready. He’s drop-dead sexy. I mean, he generally has an air of rebellion about him, even when he wears a suit, but with the cotton shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and belt with a large skull in the center, he’s downright delicious. I’m about to shower him with compliments when a distraction arrives in the form of Will, Sebastian’s son, and Elena, Pippa’s daughter.
“Uncle Daniel, Will says there are no fairies, that I’m stupid.”
Will nods and grins.
“Will, you’re not allowed to call your cousin—or anyone else—stupid. It’s rude,” Daniel admonishes.
“But there are no fairies,” Will says stubbornly, stomping his foot.
Elena’s eyes widen. “Yes there are. Uncle Daniel told me so. Tell him, Uncle Daniel. Tell him.”
I mask my laughter with a fake fit of coughing. Ah, my imagination will have a field day trying to visualize how that conversation went between him and Elena. Daniel looks at me for help, but I’m quite curious how he’ll find his way out of this on his own. Both Elena and Will are looking at him expectantly. Elena folds her arms over her chest in a Pippa-like fashion. Will copies her stance a few seconds later.
Daniel lowers himself on his haunches, until he’s at their level, and then he wraps his right arm around Elena, his left one around Will. Warmth flashes through me as I watch him. Goodness, there is so much tenderness and love in the way he holds and talks to them. I’ve never seen this side of him, and I’m surprised at how strongly it impacts me. No matter how much I tell myself, or Jenna, that we’re taking it slow, I can’t help imagining our future.
Belatedly, I realize I’ve been so lost in my thoughts that I missed Daniel’s explanation, and it must have been a good one because both Will and Elena are smiling ear to ear, already moved on to the next topic.
“Uncle Daniel, can you bring me more fairy dust? Pleaaaaaaase.” Elena’s body language is spot-on. Wide, pleading eyes, hands joined in prayer, not to mention the way she says, “Uncle Daniel,” with the sweetest inflection.
“Sure thing.”
Elena smiles, taking Will’s hand, their feud clearly forgotten as they walk to her twin.
“That went well,” Daniel says with the air of someone who just avoided D-day. Damn it, I really wanted to hear him explain about the fairies. But I can’t ask him again without giving away that I’ve been daydreaming.
Daniel touches my face, sliding his hand in my hair, and I realize my lack of teasing him probably made him suspicious. But he doesn’t ask, doesn’t press. Instead, we catch each other looking after Will and Elena, and I’m certain he knows exactly what I’ve been thinking about.
“Come on. Let’s go bring some extra fairy dust. Mom said she’s keeping all the supplies in the storage room upstairs.”
“What exactly is fairy dust?” I ask as Daniel takes my hand, leading me upstairs.
“Glitter.”
He opens the door of a small storage room, turning on the light. The tiny cubicle is chock-full of supplies.
“We’re never going to find it,” he says on a groan, surveying the mountain of random supplies.
I chuckle. “Daniel on the search for glitter that he’s trying to pass off as fairy dust to his nieces. Never thought I’d say this sentence. I love this side of you.”
“Yeah?”
I nod, suddenly feeling warm all over. It’s silly, but I feel as if I just confessed a deep secret. Vulnerability grips me, and I break eye contact, afraid I’ll give myself away.
A loud bang sounds from below, startling both of us, but we relax as the unmistakable sound of kids laughing follows.
“These little devils,” he murmurs. “They raise hell whenever they’re all together. But the more, the merrier. The Bennett genes need to be carried on.”
A ball of tension settles in my chest.
“Yours too. I can imagine how pretty a girl would look with your hair, or your eyes. Lovely. Even though I’d have to spend half my life fending off suitors.”
I laugh nervously, my stomach contracting now too. The implication in his words is clear, and part of me is melting into a puddle. But the other realizes this is it. I’ve got to tell him I can’t have kids, so he can cut his losses. Back in college, he hadn’t been crazy about kids, but then again, not many college-aged boys are. If the adoring way he treats his nieces and nephews wasn’t a dead giveaway that he wants his own kids, his proclamation just did. He’ll make a great dad.
