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Sigrid stood half-hidden behind her grandparents, using them as her shield, and Ollie understood. This wasn’t going to be easy. For any of them.
But it was going to be worth it.
Kneeling down so he was closer to her eye level, he said, “Do you know who I am?”
Sigrid nodded. “You’re my daddy.”
Daddy. The word made tears, hot and sudden spring to Ollie’s eyes. “That’s right, sweetling. I’m your daddy.”
“Mummy said you’re a Viking,” she said, her voice quiet and shy as she hugged her grandfather’s leg like a life-buoy. “Is that true?”
Apparently Ella had shown their daughter photographs of him, told her fantastical stories about why he was never there with them, there for her, including that he was a Viking off on a tremendous adventure.
He didn’t want to shatter any trust she still held in her mother, but he wouldn’t enforce the lie either.
“Well, I’m half Viking. My mother is from Norway, land of the Vikings. Do you know where Norway is?”
Eyes the exact same shade of blue as his peered up at him, and sandy-blonde curls like her mother’s bobbed around her face as she shook her head. “No.”
Ollie smiled at her bluntness. “That’s okay. Maybe when you’re older we can go there together, go an adventure and visit the real Vikings. Would you like that?”
Sigrid looked up at her grandfather who smiled and gave her an encouraging nod. “Okay,” she said.
“Would you like to come inside and meet your cousins? Josie and Diana made a special doll just for you. Do you like dolls?”
“She loves dolls, don’t you Siggy?” Her grandmother held her hand out and waited patiently for Sigrid to take it. “Let’s go inside and meet everybody, okay?”
The little girl dug the toe of her shoe into the ground. “Is there cake?”
“Siggy,” her grandmother started scolding her, but Ollie chuckled.
“Yes, love. There’s always cake in this house.”
That earned him a shy smile. “Okay.”
The Mulligans led Sigrid up the veranda steps while Ollie and Mia hung back for a moment.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly as Ollie levered to his feet.
He nodded, even as silent tears leaked down his face. “I didn’t think it was possible to love someone I’ve never met before, so much.” Ollie wiped his eyes on his sleeve, then whispered, “She’s so beautiful.”
Mia took his hand and walked towards the house. “You’re a good man, Oliver Bennett,” she said, stroking his tattooed forearm, the one he’d added a new set of runes to the same day he’d found out she was his: Sigrid. In blue ink.
When they reached the front door of the house, he shook his head, and said, “I have a daughter. Me. The second biggest womaniser in the family and I have a daughter. Dad’s right. It’s karma.”
Mia snorted. “You’re no womaniser. A bit of a slut, perhaps, but I find it hard to believe you ever seduced someone without them knowing exactly what they were getting in return.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Why are you so good to me?”
“Because you’re good to me,” she said, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “And speaking of daughters, how do you feel about having another one?”
Mia’s question caught him off guard, but when Oliver pulled back to look at her, he couldn’t contain the grin spreading across his face.
“I feel pretty good about it, actually,” he said. “Why? Are you trying to tell me something?” he added playfully.
“Hardly. It’s much too early for that.”
Ollie dropped his hands to Mia’s belly and lowered his voice. “You stopped taking your pill weeks ago,” he reminded her. “It only takes once, sweetling, and with the amount of sex we’ve been having, I’d say our chances are better than most.”
