45. Charleigh

FORTY-FIVE

CHARLEIGH

"Come on, Miss Charleigh, I gotta read you a story and then you gotta tuck me in because it's already thirty minutes past my bedtime. Dad says I keep tryin' to break the rules, but I really just need to have some fun. He's gotta know that."

Affection tugged at my spirit as Nolan hauled me upstairs. He climbed backward, jerking hard at my hand like I wasn't capable of taking them on my own.

River climbed behind us. His aura battered against me with each step. That dark ferocity that rolled and whipped, though the grunt he released was tender as he said, "Yeah, that's because you'd stay up the entire night if I didn't have somethin' to say about it."

"He's got a lot to say about everythin', Miss Charleigh." Nolan shook his head as if he couldn't believe the audacity his father had at setting rules.

I couldn't stop the ripple of a chuckle that crawled from the crevices of my spirit. Rising up from where all the pain had been trapped, but now it felt as if some of the pieces held there were being freed.

"I think your dad just wants to make sure you get a good night's sleep so you have plenty of energy to play with your friends tomorrow."

Through all of dinner, Nolan hadn't stopped going on about Gage and Juni Bee coming to visit.

"Well, he does got a lot of smart ideas, too, and I try to get all the smart ideas like him, but sometimes I just make bad choices." He cupped his free hand around his mouth and lowered his voice like it was a secret. "Like staying up way past my bedtime."

From behind, a rumble echoed from River. It skated my skin like a caress. Like joy unfound. Purposed and right.

I still couldn't quite believe that I was here like this. Sharing another evening with these amazing people who'd weaved themselves so deeply inside me there was no chance I could ever get them out.

Treating me as if they…as if they just expected me to be there. As if I belonged.

"But you aren't going to be doing that tonight, are you?" River said in that low voice.

"Nope. Like my Miss Charleigh said, I got to have my energy to stay up the whole night tomorrow. We're gonna party until the sun comes up."

I choked on a laugh as I glanced back at River whose expression had shifted to pure exasperation. Not sure what to do with the precious child who was definitely a little whip.

We hit the landing, and Nolan led me into his bedroom. Releasing me, he went sailing for his bed. He planted his hands on the edge of the mattress and propelled himself into the air.

His legs flailed, and half his body bent to the side as he attempted the flip that was basically him toppling and crashing onto the middle of his bed.

"Oomph," he cried when he landed on his back. "That was definitely not an eleven. But if you don't make it, you gotta try and try again, right, Dad?"

He grinned at River who hovered in the doorway. The man didn't have time to answer before Nolan was hopping up onto his knees, words spewing from his mouth. "That was another one of my dad's smart ideas. If you want something and you fail, you just gotta try, and try again until you get it. "

"First person who ever said it." River's tone was dry.

I pressed my fingers to my lips as if it might be able to stop the amusement that kept tumbling out.

"Well, it is really good advice," I told him as I peered back at him. His storm-cloud eyes were different tonight.

The grays lapping soft within the darkness that they always held.

Nolan plopped onto his butt and bounced off the side of the bed before he was on his knees in front of a bookcase that sat on his wall. "What's your favorite, Miss Charleigh? Dragons or fairies?"

"Um…dragons."

"What? You got the same favorite as me?" Nolan jumped onto his feet, waving a book over his head. "I got a really good one for us!"

He scrambled back onto his bed.

"Sit right there." He pointed to a spot on the floor beside his bed.

I climbed onto my knees. "How's this?"

"I think it's pretty good," he said with a shrug, and then he tossed open the first page and started speeding through the book. Clearly, he'd memorized every word.

River remained hovering just inside the door, leaning against the wall as he watched his son read me a story.

I was enraptured by the child's sweet voice. The tinkling lilt. The way he dipped his voice when the villain came on the scene. The giggles. His expression that enthused each spot where he was supposed to be surprised, even though there was no question he had heard this story a hundred times.

"The end! What did you think?"

"I think it was my favorite story I've ever heard."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. Because I had the best storyteller reading it to me."

He was on his knees in a flash, throwing his arms around my neck. He squeezed so tight that I could hardly breathe, his cheek smooshed against mine.

"Because you love me as much as I love you?"

The cavern inside me trembled. As if it were threatening to cave in, and all the brittle boulders inside were getting ready to dislodge and tumble into the pit. As if the crater stood a chance of being filled.

"I do, Nolan. I love you as much as you love me."

More, I was sure, because I doubted a child could feel the magnitude of what I felt right then. The way I wanted to become a part of something so brilliant and right.

"That's good because family is who we love most, remember?" He leaned back, his shining blue eyes searching my face to make sure I understood the importance of what he was saying.

Reaching out, I touched his cheek because I understood it more than he could ever comprehend or imagine. "I remember."

"Guess you're pretty smart too."

He said it casually as he plopped back onto his butt, shoving back his covers so he could get under them. He wiggled around as I drew them up to his chest.

He wore a matching pair of children's pajamas—pants with a short-sleeved tee with moons and stars all over them. He reached up again to hug me, and it was the first time I noticed the birthmark on the inside of his left arm.

A frown curved my brow, and I lifted my hand so I could tremble my fingers over it. Nostalgia whispered through, my mind blinking through memories I'd done my best to keep at bay.

But River was right.

I didn't want to forget anymore.

Not any of it.

So, I let it invade, as much as it hurt, all while I was soothed as I traced the mark on his skin. It was nearly heart-shaped, though it was a bit distorted and longer on one side.

I blinked through the joy and sadness when I turned back to his beaming face, and I ran my fingers through the locks of his warm brown hair. "Goodnight, Nolan."

"Night-night, my Miss Charleigh. You better be here in the morning, but if you gotta go, you gotta wake me up and tell me that you're leavin'."

"Okay, I promise." I leaned forward and swept a kiss to his forehead.

"Your turn, Daddy-O," he shouted toward the ceiling.

River approached, a rippling mountain from behind, covering us in his shadow.

A shroud of fortitude.

I scooted over as he knelt down beside me, and River readjusted Nolan's covers, tucking them beneath his little body.

"Sleep tight, Little Dude." River's voice was hushed. Full of devotion.

"Always, Dad, because you tuck me in the best."

We started to stand when Nolan grabbed his father's hand. "Don't forget my puppy! I sleep even more the best since Miss Charleigh got me my Lucky."

River chuckled, and he reached for it where it was on the floor halfway across the room. He tucked it in with him. "There."

"Perfect," Nolan said, beaming.

I stared down at him where I stood, and I gave myself over to the overwhelming presence of the man beside me.

Yeah.

Perfect.

River led me out, and he pulled the door shut behind us, though he left it open a couple inches.

I wavered, unsure of what to do. I ran my hands up my arms before I murmured quietly, "I should get ready for bed."

I started for the guest bedroom where I'd deposited my things once again after dinner.

I'd barely made it a step before River swept me up and off my feet, surrounding me in the sanctuary of his arms. "Where do you think you're going, Little Runner?"

A shiver raced, as sure as the ecstasy that pounded through my veins.

"To bed?" It peeped out of me like a question.

"Yeah, that's exactly where you're going, only you're headin' the wrong way."

And I didn't mind at all when he carried me to his room.