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“It’s okay to be scared to meet her,” I say once the silence has stretched on long enough.
He flicks an eyebrow up, obviously not comfortable with the fact that I’m alluding to him being scared about anything.
“You’re not the big bad wolf you think you are, Roman.”
He rolls his eyes. “No, I’m just a psychopath,” he says sarcastically.
“I think you’ll be a great dad,” I say with a smile. “I was terrified before I got to meet her. Those hours I spent in labor were some of the worst of my life because I was scared I wouldn’t get to see her.”
He stiffens, rubbing at his collar. “Was it not an easy birth?”
“It was,” I reassure him. “There weren’t any complications and Kiara was right there with me the entire time.”
“I’m glad she was. You tend to live in this isolated world all on your own where you can’t depend on anyone else. You always seem to forget there are people who care.”
His jaw is clenched as he says the words. I look away, grasping his meaning entirely.
“I do know that people care. And I didn’t make the decisions for Cassie all on my own.”
“No, you just made them without her father,” he says stiffly.
“I didn’t do it because I thought you wouldn’t be a great father to her,” I feel the need to clarify.
He might act self-confident and sure of himself, but at the end of the day, he has doubts just like every other human being. My mind travels to the day of his father’s funeral. He was so close to breaking that night, scared he wouldn’t be enough.
“I didn’t keep her away because I didn’t believe in you. I kept her away because you were dealing with a lot, and as much as I wanted to tell you, I didn’t want to make your life harder in the process.”
The look in his eyes is a little intense as he stares at me. I wish I could tell what he was thinking. Then Roman blinks and his expression turns guarded.
“I’d like to see her now,” he tells me.
My heart swells. “Really?” He nods, and I quickly get to my feet. “She’s in her crib in my bedroom.”
I lead him to one of the oak doors and open it quietly. Walking inside, I peek into the mahogany crib with a crescent moon painted on it. She’s still asleep. Very slowly, I reach inside to lift her up. But Cassie’s a fussy baby and a light sleeper, too. Her eyes open and she lets out a soft cry.
“Shh,” I say softly. “Don’t cry,mi amore.”
It takes a few seconds, but my voice soothes her enough for her to stop crying. I look up and realize that her father is still standing at the doorway of the room. I wish I could get a mirror and show him how scared he looks right now. It’s almost funny. Almost.
“Don’t worry, Rome. She’s not going to bite,” I tease.
He scowls before taking slow steps inside. When he reaches us, he peers down at the baby in my arms and almost immediately, his expression softens. I’m pretty sure I watch him melt.
“She has my eyes.”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “And your nose, too. It’s kind of annoying that she looks so much like you, especially since I spent seven hours birthing her.”
“She knew to take after the better-looking parent,” Roman whispers without looking at me. His eyes are fixed on his daughter.
I roll my eyes at the comment. “You wish. We both know I’m the better-looking parent. Besides, Kie says she’ll start to look more like me as she grows older.”
“We’ll see,” Roman says with a smile.
“Do you want to hold her?” I ask gently.
He suddenly looks alarmed. “What if I drop her?”
“You won’t,” I assure him.
