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“Mr. Tristan. He's your father.”
“Really? He's my dad? Am I going to see him again? Will he take me to the park?” She paused for a moment. “Can I call him Dad?”
Violet found it hard to breathe. “I think he’d probably like that a lot,” she managed to say.
Violet had been right about Arabella's age making this easier. Ten years in the future she probably would have accusations and recriminations for her mother. But at six, she was just happy to know who her father was.
“Do you still want to go to camp?" Violet asked.
“Yes! Please, Mommy, please, I want to go to camp. I want to go to gymnastics camp, science camp, and art camp, and all the camps."
Violet’s mouth turned up. It was impossible not to smile at her daughter’s enthusiasm. "Earlier today I talked to Mr. Tristan about it. Because he wants you to be able to go. He asked which ones you'd like, and I thought you'd like arts and crafts and kayaking best.”
“Yes. I want those!”
She wondered if a day would come when her daughter would want the opposite of whatever she suggested. She knew some teenagers, both human and shifter, rebelled. She'd never had that opportunity. If she'd rebelled, there would have been severe consequences not only for her but her siblings and mother too.
With a sudden motion, Arabella leapt into the water with a great big splash. “Come on, Mommy. Let's swim.”
So Violet swam with her daughter and they chased each other in the water. “I'm going to get you,” Violet yelled. Tag was one of their favorite games.
Arabella squealed and took off. When she finally caught her daughter, she tickled her and tossed her into the air.
Once they were tired of the water, they got out and dried off. “Do you want to shift and run?” Violet asked her.
Of course, Arabella wanted that. And then they were at it again, this time as wolves. They chased each other for the better part of an hour, until even Violet was worn out.
As soon as they'd switched back and they were both dressed again as humans, Arabella put her hand in Violet’s. “When can I see my dad? I want to tell him that I know. Does he know that he's my dad?”
Sometimes Violet was utterly shocked at how perceptive her daughter was for her age.
“Yes. He knows. He was very excited when he found out about you."
Arabella didn’t comment on that. She changed the subject, going on to talk about the camps that she would attend and all the things she would do. Thankfully, she avoided any questions of why Tristan didn't know about her earlier. She might be brilliant and perceptive, but she was still six years old. There were some conversations that Violet might be able to put off forever.
When they got back to the camp, everyone was packing their stuff. “What's going on?" Violet asked.
“Your baby daddy came by and told us we can move in whenever we wanted to. So we’re moving in right now,” Austin said.
Violet was filled with incandescent rage. He was inserting himself into her life.
But she looked down at her daughter, who had been thrilled about the cabin as well, and forcefully pushed her feelings down. She would cope with them later.
At that moment, she realized that she'd been so preoccupied, she had not noticed Tristan. He came strolling over. “Hi, Violet; hi, Arabella. I ran into Onyx in town, and we started chatting about the cabin."
Violet shot Onyx a look. And Onyx nodded, letting her know that this was the truth.
So maybe it wasn't his fault so much. He smiled at her and she hated that it got to her. He was so handsome and so charming. She wanted to be the kind of female that could enjoy this sort of thing. She wanted to be the kind of person who could just have a relationship, and not be so bogged down by the past.
For so long, her feelings had been straightforward. They had been easy to understand. Now they were complicated and complex, and she didn't know what to do with that.
Arabella ran straight up to Tristan and flung her arms around his waist. “Mommy said that you're my dad. Can I call you daddy? Are you coming to the cabin? Mommy said she was signing me up for camp today. Did you ever go to camp?"
Tristan laughed at the way the words tumbled out of her mouth. He bent down and hugged her. Violet saw the absolute affection on his face. He was over the moon that Arabella had called him dad.
This was her life now. This was her life forever. She would need to get used to it.
