Page 35 of Tied and Tangled
“No.” I shook my head. “I mean I’m in love with her. Like… forever kind of love.” River, who had been sipping at her water, coughed. I watched as she laughed so hard water came up her nose. I kneeled to her side, patting her back as she cleaned off her face.
“Oh my god, Dad! You are so lame,” she breathed out, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief.
“What?” I frowned as I turned to take in both of my girls looking at me. Lake’s little body shook with silent laughter, her face turning red. I rolled my eyes and relaxed.
They were screwing with me.
“I just… I’m trying to be a good dad here. It’s always been the three of us, and I’ve never brought someone in who—"
“Could make us want a mom?” River cut me off, her words way too wise for a kid her age.
“Yeah.” My voice almost cracked. Sometimes I hated Cressida so much for walking away. I had no idea how a parent was capable of that. Hell, I had toyed with the idea of sending them to boarding school, but even when I did, I’d put it off until they were older. Year after year, I’d set it back.
Reality set it in as River and Lake stared at one another, silently doing that twin communication voodoo. I would never have had it in me to send them away. I loved my daughters.
“But you did,” Lake finally spoke, holding her sister’s hand.
“I did?” I scowled.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “When you brought Aria. We’ve had nannies, but…” They stared at one another again, and River took over.
“Aria is different, Dad. Than anyone else. We love her like… like a mom. Do you know how hard it’s been not to call her that?” she asked. I swallowed hard.
Fuck. A lot was going to change.
So much more than bringing Aria completely into the family fold. I was going to be home. I silently vowed it. I’d be there, aways making myself available to my kids. Kids. The image of dark-haired babies who looked like a blend of Aria and me played through my mind, and it didn’t freak me out. If anything, I wanted that one day. My girls would be amazing older sisters.
One day.
One step at a time, dumbass!I reminded myself.
“I want her to be that. One day. When you guys are ready and she is and—“
“Well, count us in.” Lake shrugged, and River nodded with her own approval. “We love her, Dad, and you love her, and she loves the three of us.”
“How do you…” I didn’t finish the question. I knew I didn’t have to with the way my daughters were watching me.
“The way she looks at you. And the way she is with us,” Lake shared quietly.
“This is really fast.”
“Is it, though? You guys have been on a million dates, and she lives here.”
“Million dates?”
“Dates are usually dinner and movie, right?” River asked, and I nodded. “Think about how many times we’ve done that. We might have been here, but you guys usually sit together.”
That was true.
“And she went on all those trips with us during the summer,” Lake reminded me. “So, maybe it’s not as fast as you think it is, Dad? Maybe you’re just finally getting it?”
“Getting what?” I asked, bracing for their answer.
“She’s the missing piece to our family. You just have to make it official,” River answered. I pressed my lips together.
Life’s too short to live it on hold.
“You two would be okay with it?” I asked. “If I, or we, asked her to officially become a Stark? If I asked her to marry me?” They turned to one another, doing that twin look thing again, and when they turned with a bright smile on their faces, I knew it’d be okay.