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“I’m so, so incredibly sorry, Sofia.”
She sits up next to me on the bed and brings my head to her chest, cradling it in her arms. “It’s okay,tonto. Don’t cry. We’re here now.”
* * *
Ileana is a nice woman,and I want her to continue to sit for Addy when Sofia and I need a night. I thank her when I pick Addy up. She’s fast asleep and doesn’t stir as I bring her back into the car.
I take my girls home, unable to break my ear-to-ear grin.
Addy gets a bottle once we are home and goes right back to sleep, so I tuck her in her crib.
“You’re really good with her,” Sofia says. I signal her to be quiet and lead her out of Addy’s room and into the living room.
“Sofia, we need to talk. Really talk.”
Her hand instinctively cups the side of her neck, and she nods. “Yeah. We’ve been avoiding it, haven’t we?”
“No. I haven’t, at least. I wanted things to calm down—to have time to process.”
Leading her to the couch, I sit and pull her in to sit on my lap so her feet can rest up on the couch.
“Let’s talk about Addy first,” Sofia says, and I nod.
“I want to be involved,” I say.
“Are you sure, Bren? Once in, you’re in. That’s it. You don’t get any more outs.”
“I don’t want an out, Sofia. I want to be in my daughter’s life.”
I sound a bit angry but cool my temper when I see Sofia’s grin. I must have said the right thing.
She lets out a long breath. “Good. That’s what I hoped you’d say. Everything else we can figure out.”
I pull her in and press a kiss to her forehead. “Can this really be so easy?” I ask.
“It won’t be easy, Bren. We both have a lot on our plates. You haveIndustrial November. I haveLa Oficina. You’ll need to travel, and I’ll need to be here for my business.”
“I know,” I say and kiss the back of her head this time. “How, um—” I clear my throat. “How do you feel about the public attention? The fans? The security? The press?”
“The fans, I can handle. I understand the attraction,” she says with a bite of her lip. “I’m not a jealous person, Bren. I know what’s mine, and I know the second it’s not.” The way she says it, with a slight arch of her brow, I know it is intended as a bit of a warning, but I think it’s also true. Sofia has excellent intuition. Then she keeps speaking. “It’s the press that makes me weary. And the threats. I understand they’re just that—threats—but something snaps inside when they include Addy.”
“I know, baby. I swear you’ll always be protected. Security around the clock, always.”
“It’ll take getting used to, but it’s worth it for Addy to have her father in her life,” she says.
“I’d like to take you to Berlin,” I say. When she throws me a questioning look, I add, “My parents want to meet their granddaughter.”
“Right. I’m sure we can make it happen.”
We discuss nothing further tonight. We don’t bring up that we said ‘I love you’ or that I know it was her first time making love. The most important thing is that I’m here to stay, and that seems enough for her to be content.
We go to sleep, and my heart soars, holding her in my arms the entirety of the night, knowing our little girl is sound asleep only next door.
My life feels complete for the first time.
* * *
It’s not evenlight out when Addy wakes us via the baby monitor. We both stir, but I tell Sofia I’ll get her.
