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“No!”
Cosy looked offended at the very suggestion, like he’d asked if she would kick puppies.
“Are you going to be rude or not share?”
“Of course not.”
“Well, neither is Sable because her daddy would spank her bottom for being a very naughty girl. So even if you two don’t hit it off—which would be fine, not everyone is going to be best friends—I think you’ll be able to have an okay time for an hour. I really do think you’ll get along well, and it would be good for you to meet some people. You were really isolated for a long time and I don’t want that to happen again. How about it?”
Cosy’s mouth was still turned down at the corners and there was a wrinkle of worry in between her brows, but before he could try to coax her some more, she nodded.
“Okay, Daddy. I’ll try it.”
“There’s my brave girl,” he said, snuggling her closer. “I’m so proud of you, I know that wasn’t easy. Now let’s read a story and get your second bottle in you before Halli gets here.”
* * *
Ian
The contrast between Halliday and Coco couldn’t have been any more stark but Coco seemed to be enjoying herself and that was all that mattered.
Halli was all punk with her bleach blond high pigtails with the ends dyed a vibrant purple, aBirds of Preyt-shirt tucked into black leather high-waisted shorts, neon pink fishnets and black suede booties, plus more piercings and tats than Ian cared to count—and those were the ones he could see.
Meanwhile Coco was cute like a little duckling in a sunny yellow pinafore dress with a soft white sweater underneath and fuzzy yellow socks. He knew too that under his little sweetheart’s dress her diaper was covered by ruffly white bloomers.
Ian had been the first to go under Halliday’s clever shears and she’d hacked away a few inches of his unruly hair, making him look slightly more civilized while Hudson cradled Coco in his lap and she watched Halli work. Hudson had gone next while Ian took his turn cuddling their little, and Halli did her usual magic.
It was nicer at the salon where she’d wash their hair and give them scalp massages before their cuts but that could wait until next time. Coco wasn’t ready to go to a trendy salon with people buzzing all over, music blaring, clippers humming, blowdryers…blowing. Nah, they’d have to ease her into that.
Now she was doing so great letting Halliday clean up the hack job her so-called master had done. Yeah, she shot him and Huds glances every few seconds to make sure they were still there and everything was fine but that seemed pretty reasonable. Such a nervous little bunny. He’d be nervous too if he’d been tortured and abused for years upon years. Honestly, it was a miracle she was functional at all. That she could trust them at all.Shewas a miracle.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Halliday chatter at Coco. Not that he thought Halli would ever do anything on purpose to upset her—she’d been super cool when he’d called her the other night to make his request. Eager, actually, to help Coco feel pretty. He’d warned her, too, that Coco would look bad but that hadn’t stopped Halli from being stunned when she first set eyes on their little girl. He couldn’t blame her. It was a shock. But it had only taken a second for her to be back to her normal, chatty, strut-around self.
And Coco? Well, she was Coco. Sweet and eager to please but shy and painfully vulnerable. So brave despite that, though. He’d been thinking since she’d come home that—despite his initial resistance—maybe shewashome. Maybe she was meant for them.
Yeah, Huds was forever picking strays up but Coco felt different somehow. Not someone to be patched up and sent on their way like they’d done before, but maybe a girl to be theirs. He’d been missing that, wanting that. Having a partner who was a little girl, playing for keeps.
Watching Jethro fall hard for Sable, Arthur find his true love in Saoirse—hell, foul-mouthed Plum and Gideon the goddamn priest. That had been a surprise until he’d seen them together and then it had seemed so obvious. They were all so happy and satisfied.
Ian wouldn’t have thought he’d want a woman as high-maintenance as Coco. She was fragile and needy and clingy, literally could not be left alone. If you would’ve asked him before he’d met her if he could deal with that, yeah, no, not at all. Except that was a nameless, faceless woman, and this was…Coco.
There was a nudge at his biceps and he turned to Hudson who was giving him a narrow-eyed, searching look.
“What’s happening in that big block head of yours?”
“Just thinking about Coco.”
“Yeah? What about her?”
What about her indeed. How he loved waking up with her between him and Hudson in the mornings. How he loved to dress her in pretty clothes and read her stories. How he loved the weight of her in his lap when he’d put a movie on for them to watch and she’d suck on her paci or his thumb.
Maybe he just lovedher.
Would that really be so bad?
She needed them. While he’d always known Huds would want a little girl who needed to be taken care of, looked after, doted upon, because that’s what he did, Ian hadn’t seen himself enjoying it as much as he was.
There was something really gratifying about helping Coco be comfortable, helping her feel safe. She wouldn’t need that forever—not to the extent she needed it now anyway—but then she would need other things. Maybe she’d want to go to school. Maybe she’d want to get a job. Maybe she’d want to take up pottery or horseback-riding or the flying trapeze. Whatever it was, he could help her do it. And goddammit, one of these days he’d make her laugh. It was his new mission in life.
