The rest of the visit passed in a blur of giggles and tiny hands pressed to glass enclosures. Aspen’s favorites were the baby goats. She got to feed one, and when it nibbled her fingers, she laughed so hard she had to sit down.
Alec was right there beside her, brushing dirt off her knees, and I stood a few steps away, trying not to let the ache in my chest show. Trying not to let myself succumb to the desire to have this. To be a complete family.
I stared at them and witnessed the love in Aspen’s eyes as she stared at her father. To Aspen, Alec belonged to her. And what scared me more than anything else was being like this. The three of us, felt right.
“She really loves him,” Nyx whispered in the back of my mind.
I nodded silently.
“Do you still?”
I didn’t answer and she didn’t push.
