Chapter 27 Silva #5
Tate was quiet for a long moment, one of those tears finally breaking free, rolling over the slope of his sharp cheekbone.
“Aye, I hate that you did that, too. My issues are my own, Silva. I’ll not let you give them to her.
I’d be dead on that forest floor if I were a wilting daisy of an elf.
Maybe in therapy you can unpack why you felt compelled to do such a thing. ”
She choked out a tearful bark, nodding. “You’re right. I do need to do that.”
“Regardless, I hope you didn’t pay your carnival worker too much.
” He nodded down, letting go of her hand to gently pull back Aelin’s lower lip.
“She has the buds. Just doesn’t have the jaw.
So at worst, you centered your Elvish privilege and ensured she’ll need pricey orthodontia once they come in. ”
The sob mingled with her laughter, bending as she shook to press a kiss to Aelin’s head.
“Good. I’m glad she’ll have them. And I start therapy next week .
. . She starts school on the first of the month.
It’s only three days a week for a few hours and the school year is practically over, but it will be good for her, I think. ”
“What’s the plan for that? You said you start back to work.”
She nodded, wiping away her tears. Having a conversation about childcare was entirely mundane, completely normal but this was the mundanity she’d been craving. That faerie tale happily ever after with him. This was a part that normally never made it to the page, she considered.
“I can drop her off on my way in, and then take my lunch break when she’s done and bring her to daycare.
Or my mom, she’s right there, too.” His eyes narrowed as she spoke, golden slits by the time she finished.
“Stop it,” she whined. “You weren’t a consideration when I put this all into motion.
Obviously, things have to flex. And it’s really only for a few weeks, unless she’ll be doing the full summer program. ”
“Silva, you put her in daycare, that’s your entire paycheck. I can pick her up from school every day of the week. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, dove, but since we’re being honest with each other — I don’t have a job.”
Her head dropped forward, shoulders shaking in swallowed laughter. “Well, how long is that going to last? When are you starting back here? Or up the street?”
Tate was shaking his head before she’d even finished. “I’m not. They’re not mine anymore. I handed them over to people I trusted, and they did me an honor in my absence. I’m not strolling through the doors to take them back now.”
Her heart hurt for him. She knew how much he loved his old girl. “You love the Pixie.”
“Aye, I do. And I still own a stake in her. And Clover. But Thessa and Shona have put their marks down now. And I have to respect that. But until then, Rukh is putting my car back together literally as we speak. I’ve got nothing to do.”
“How long can that last, though? You’re going to need to find something—”
“I’m a fae prince entrepreneur, dove. I think I’ll land on my feet.”
She twisted away from him, shaking her head.
“I can’t stand you. I don’t even know why I wanted you back.
” She refused to make eye contact as he huffed in laughter again, his thumb dragging down the center of her palm, making her quiver.
No. We’re taking things slow. She squeezed her thighs, emphasizing their closed status, feeling a protesting pulse he’d ignited.
“I guess we can discuss the specifics and make a schedule. I just . . . I don’t want you to step into more than you feel comfortable—”
“Silva, do you want me home or not? Because I’m not doing this halfway. I’m not walking away from her. If you want me to, we can discuss it through our lawyers.”
Her mouth dropped open, her gasp of offense coming from her toes. She swung her hand at his head, swiping the side of his topknot.
“I’m only half joking, dove.”
“I know, which is why I’m only half hitting you!”
Tate grinned. “My abandonment issues and generational trauma are for me and my minotaur therapist to work out. Not for me to extend to her. Just letting you know now.”
“You’ve been a father for seventy-two hours, and you’re already preparing to run for president of the PTA.”
“Oh, this preschool is about to get a bad dose of my opinions. I know wee miss has already decided she likes the playroom, but I’ll be the judge of that. I want to see their safety filings.”
She laughed again, more laughter in a single day than in the entirety of her marriage, quite possibly.
Silva didn’t know who leaned in first, only that one moment she was tipped forward, laughing at his ridiculousness, and the next her lips were against his.
It wasn’t the same as that first kiss they shared since his return.
That had been rooted in desperation, relief, and remorse.
This, on the other hand, was all heat. Her neck flushed as his tongue moved against hers, her nipples hardening beneath the thin material of her sweater.
It was only the presence of their daughter between them that kept her from climbing into his lap.
You’re supposed to be taking things slow.
You’re the one who said he needs to earn this.
That he needs to get to know the new you.
You have to start on a better foundation .
. . but he’s home. He’s home, and he’s yours.
“We need to take things slow,” she murmured, squeezing her thighs when he hummed his agreement.
By the time they were leaving, late that afternoon, Aelin had hung a picture of the cat she'd made for him on his refrigerator and had journeyed up to the roof with him to see where he had told her he’d slept for two nights, letting the moonlight heal him in anticipation of her visit.
She surveyed the overgrown garden with her little hand on her hip, sucking down a pouch of applesauce from his refrigerator, bought especially for her, asking if they could grow strawberries.
“We can grow whatever you’d like, wee princess.”
He’d walked them downstairs, crouching before Aelin with a hand on the staircase to steady himself, accepting her hug.
Her little watcher, who didn’t trust anyone right away, who stared and hung back — hugging him around the neck, giving him an applesauce-sticky kiss to the cheek.
He buckled her into her car seat before turning to Silva once more.
“When do we find this minotaur, then? I want to ensure I have adequate time to prepare my tragic backstory, unless you’d like me to disclose where I’ve been for the past five years.”
“You know, you're just the worst. You have been from literally the first night I met you. A complete jerk.”
Unlike the gentle smile he’d given her daughter all day, the grin he gave her then was wolfish, his teeth long and glinting.
“Perhaps you just bring it out in me, dove. If we weren’t taking it slow, I’d be inclined to ask if your husband made you scream the way I did.
” His words were a hot hiss in her ear, and once again, if it weren’t for the presence of her baby girl in the backseat, she would be pushing him against the black brick wall and hiking up her skirt.
“I told you I’m not the same elf I was. No guarantee you’ll make me scream again. Maybe you’ll get to find out again, someday.”
“Oh, that’s a wager I’ll take, Silva. We can discuss the future terms over dinner next week. I’ll let you know when I have the winter soup accounted for.”
She narrowed her eyes, letting him meet her lips quickly before sliding behind the wheel of her car. Her chest was tight as they pulled away, watching him in the rearview until her car turned out of the alley, leaving him behind for the night, returning to the world without him.
For now. All that was important was that he was home. Are you family? Of course we are.