Connor had watched his daughter leap up the steps and into the house. He realized he hadn’t even asked her name, and but to be honest, his whole world was still spinning. Standing in the kitchen now with Neve, knowing he had a beautiful little girl named Ivy and seeing the girl he had once loved now as a beautiful woman, Connor could hardly process his feelings.

Why wasn’t he more angry?

He had always been a logical man. Even in the tattoo show where he judged, he was regarded as the realistic judge. He knew that for any unfairness that he felt Neve had inflicted upon him, he had easily done double to her. This point had been driven home earlier when he caught a glimpse of the lone tear running slowly down her face.

It took all of his willpower not to reach out and wipe that tear away. To not pull her into his arms and whisper into her ear until she felt better. He could tell that she was trying to be strong. Neve had always been a confident and powerful person. In high school she had been well loved by most classmates, and in class she was a force to be reckoned with when debating academic material. With him, she had never buckled to his opinions, despite his tough exterior. It was one of the worst feelings he had ever endured to watch her struggle to hold back the tears, and know that he was the reason why she cried.

How could I have left her? Fuck, I’m such an asshole.

He couldn’t believe that he had done this to her. He couldn’t believe that he had never looked back. But that thought caused him to begin to think about why he had left, and the discomfort of that caused him to shut down that line of thinking. Instead, he returned his gaze to Neve, while she removed her winter jacket. God, she looked even better to him than she had back then. How could that be? It was like her curves had filled in and the graceful way she moved made his stomach clench.

Her hair was longer now, a luxurious mass of waves that fell down past her breasts—her full and round breasts that he so often caught himself daydreaming about. Her legs were long and shapely and even in her wariness and uncertainty, her body called to him. So many nights he had dreamed of her legs wrapped around him, and the small cries she made when she came apart in his arms. Waking with a Neve-induced hard-on meant a very long cold shower, where he was forced to take himself in hand. Because those dreams wouldn’t stop until he did.

The desire in Connor was wreaking havoc through his body, and no other woman had ever managed to affect him so intensely. He closed his eyes in an attempt to calm his pulsing cock and straighten his now hazy thoughts, but when he opened them, her large emerald eyes were looking at him curiously. The soft pink fullness of her lips called to him and her chin was angled towards his, as though asking what he was thinking about.

He realized that the anger he was waiting for wasn’t going to present itself, especially with Neve’s sad face looking back at him. What he couldn’t understand was why Neve had even let him inside, or even let him speak to Ivy. She had every right in the world to hate him. She had every right to tell their daughter that he was dead or had abandoned them. She had every right to scream at him to get off her property the moment he’d appeared.

Instead, she had told their daughter about him, she had shown him to her on the television and allowed her to love him. She had allowed her daughter to dream about a good father, and draw pictures for him – that Neve hadn’t burned or torn to shreds. And when he appeared from out of nowhere, Neve had the love and compassion in her heart to invite him into their home.

This was the same girl he had loved so much. The same girl that had held him when he had problems at home, the girl that had accepted him, even though he was an angry rebel and she was a beautiful and popular cheerleader. The same girl who had run her hands through his hair and whispered that she would never leave him. The girl he had tried to forget with money and art and TV shows all these years had remained the same amazing person she had always been.

When he heard small steps coming down the stairs, he turned to see Ivy rounding the corner.

“What’s wrong with Mommy?” Ivy asked, looking back over Connor’s shoulder.

Turning, he saw what Ivy saw. Neve’s cheeks were flushed, and the remnants of dried tears showed on her cheeks. Her green eyes were haunted, although she was plainly trying to cover her expression form Ivy’s keen gaze. A small shudder wracked her body as she got herself back together, pasting a smile on her face while she casually brushed the dampness from her face.

“Nothing, honey! I was just looking for the drawings too and now I’m all out of breath! Let me check the garage.”

And with that, Neve turned on her heels towards the garage door. Ivy stood scrutinizing her father.

“You’ll love my artwork…um - Daddy? It’s just like yours!”

The slight hesitation when she said that word was just enough to punch a hole through Connor’s chest.

Goddamn, I’ve missed so much.

“Oh yeah? What’s your favorite thing to draw?” Connor asked, the tightness in his throat making his voice sound rough.

As she talked, he saw the same light in Ivy that had always glittered in Neve. Ivy was animated and boisterous, unafraid to share her thoughts and feelings, and seemingly undeterred by his lack of familiarity. He knelt down so he could be on her level, and she casually flung an arm around his neck and sat on his knee as she looked into his eyes and told him about dragons and butterflies she had drawn just like his own.

Engrossed in every word spilling from his child’s mouth, he hadn’t even heard Neve close the garage door and come back in. He fought not to look at her, knowing that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to focus his attention on Ivy.

“I like that one a lot,” he said, pointing to a picture that was hanging on the fridge. It had branches like a tree, but it was made up of flowers.

Ivy looked over his shoulder at the piece of paper he’d been referencing. “Mommy likes that one too. She said it reminds her of this other tree.”

Connor looked up slowly at Neve, hoping that he would find remembrance, maybe fondness, or some other emotion on her face. It couldn’t be a coincidence. That tree had to be the one where they had…it did, right?

But instead, when he looked at her, he saw only a stony stare. That same hard look she’d had earlier, like she didn’t want to show him any emotions at all. It gutted him, knowing that she felt like she had to protect her heart and soul from him.

He supposed that was fair. If she felt anything at all like he did at this moment, showing any emotion would be like opening a floodgate. He didn’t want to show everything at once, bare his soul to her, and he assumed that she felt the same way.

More so, actually. He was quite sure that under her civil exterior, Neve hated his guts.

And she should.

Never had he ever thought he’d be that guy.

The guy that abandoned his child and his woman. It fucking tore him up inside to think about it.

After the shitty way he had been raised, he had made a vow to himself early on that he’d never have children. He didn’t know the first thing about being a good father and he refused to let another child suffer as he had suffered. Cyrus too, although their father had never abused Cyrus. He saved that special treatment for the eldest.

And thank fuck for that. Cyrus was way too fragile as a child to handle that asshole – or his fists.

“Listen, Ivy. I should probably get going. At least for today.”

Ivy pouted, grabbing his hand. “No! You can’t! I haven’t shown you the rest of my drawings.”

Neve stepped in, disengaging her hand. “Ivy, sweetie, we can’t monopolize Connor’s time. I’m sure he has plenty of other people to see now that he’s in town.”

She looked at him pointedly over Ivy’s head, her eyes hard. She’d made her point. And it was fair. If he wouldn’t tell her why he’d left, she could choose to assume whatever she wanted.

And he couldn’t correct it. To do that would be the same as telling her the truth, and he wasn’t ready for that. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for that.

Connor cleared his throat. “Yeah, sport. I better take off, at least for today. But can I see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow’s Monday,” Ivy giggled. “I have school.”

He flushed. Of course, she had school. He had known that he was a dad for less than an hour, so school schedules weren’t exactly his forte. “Right. How about on Friday night then?”

Ivy looked up at Neve, her cute little gaze pleading. With her bottom lip trembling, Ivy had clearly perfected the art of the puppy dog stare, just like her mom had back in high school.

Neve sighed. “Fine. But you come here. I don’t feel comfortable with you taking her anywhere just yet.”

Connor nodded. “That’s fair. Of course, I expect you to chaperone as long as you want. In fact, I prefer it. I’m not really sure what I’m doing anyway.”

He gave her a small smile, hoping to at least lighten the mood. But instead, Neve remained stoic in front of him.