Page 33 of Broken Strings

He brushes his lips against mine, lingering for a moment, before he pulls back. "I'm ready, Mina. Let's go get our girl."

We decide that it's probably better for me to pick her up by myself instead of ambushing her at school. But as soon as she's in the car, she knows something is up. Like I told him, there's no getting anything past her.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" she asks, her little eyes narrowed on me as I buckle her into her seat. Worry flows through her eyes. "Did…did my daddy leave?"

"What? No, of course not, baby girl," I hurry to reassure her, cupping her little cheek. "There's nothing wrong at all. In fact, I have a surprise for you."

"Is it Kasen?" she asks hopefully.

Lord have mercy. Grayson is going to kill that poor man. I should seriously start making her listen to little kid radio.

"It's better than Kasen."

"We're moving back to San Biego?"

Okay, maybe I set myself up for that one.

"No, we're not moving back," I say, laughing quietly. "What do you want more than anything?"

She scrunches up her nose, thinking about it. "Right now? A unicorn. But you said they only exist in heaven. So I don't think I can have one of those. I don't want to go to heaven yet. I'd miss my stuff. And you."

"Oh, so you'd miss your stuff more than me?"

She giggles, bouncing her shoulders in a shrug.

I tap her on the nose. "It's not a unicorn, silly. It's a person."

Her eyes grow wide as saucers. "A person?" she whispers. "My daddy?" She cranes her head around, looking every which way. "I get to see him, Mommy? Now?"

"Yeah, lovebug. You get to see him now."

I should have covered my ears before I told her that because she squeals so loud everyone on the sidewalk stops to peer in our direction.

"Let's go!" she cries, clapping her little hands. "Hurry, Mommy!"

"In a minute," I say, trying to settle her back down. "We need to talk first."

She growls at me…actually freaking growls like a feral cat. But she flings herself back against her seat, waiting impatiently for me to get on with it.

"Your daddy is at the house right now," I say quietly. "He's very excited to meet you, but he's nervous, too, lovebug. He's never been a daddy before, and he's scared he's going to mess it up, or you won't like him very much. He might not get everything exactly right all the time. So I want you to be patient with him, okay?"

"He's scared?" she whispers.

"A little bit. We've had each other, but he's been alone for a long time. He has to learn all about you now. He doesn't know how you like your eggs, what your favorite toys are, or what clothes you like to wear. You're going to have to teach him," I say gently. "It may make you sad that he doesn't know, but I don't want you to get mad at him for not knowing. It's not his fault that he was lost, okay?"

"Okay," she says, her eyes locked on my face like she's really listening.

"He got hurt, and it hurt his brain, made him forget everything. He didn't know who he was or what happened to himfor a really long time. That's how he got lost. We have to help him remember the good stuff now, okay?"

"Are we the good stuff?"

"Yeah, baby girl," I whisper, my throat tight. "We're the good stuff."

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, Brinley?"

"What if he doesn't like me?"