The day before had gone uneventfully, at least compared to the first half of the day. Emma woke up after her nap, the three of them played some board games, went for a walk, and then eaten dinner.

“Daddy, what’s your favorite food?”

“I’d have to say it’s pancakes … specifically, your mom’s pancakes,” he said, shooting Alex an intense look.

“Me too! Me too! I love Mommy’s pancakes. We only get them on special days though. And it was a super special day yesterday,” she said, bouncing in her chair.

“It definitely was, Emma.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Emma asked with her mouth full.

“Emma, come on, you know not to talk with your mouth full.”

“Sorry, Mommy,” she said after swallowing her food.

“My favorite color is green.”

“Mine is purple.”

“Will you be going away again, Daddy?”

Her question stopped both Gabe and Alex with their forks halfway up to their mouths.

“I’ll get to spend all week with you, Emma. I can take you to school and drop you off. But I have to go to work at the end of the week, so we might not be able to see each other as much when I’m working.”

“But I don’t want you to go away. I want to see you every day. It’s not fair. I’ve never had a daddy, so you can’t just go away again.” Her lower lip trembled. The pit grew in his stomach and the moment he hoped he wouldn’t have to have with her yet was upon them.

“Emma, I swear that we will be able to talk as much as you want and I’ll be here as often as I can.”

“But I want you here all the time, living with us,” Emma moaned.

“Emma, sweetie, remember when we had the talk about different kinds of families? We talked about how not everyone lives with all their family all the time. Do you remember that?”

“But why not? Why can’t we be a together-all-the-time family?”

“It’s not that easy Emma. We are a family and that’s what’s most important, okay? And your daddy and I will do everything we can to make sure that you get to see him as much as you can. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said glumly.

They both put Emma to bed. Apparently, the excitement of the day had gotten to her and she only requested two books that evening instead of trying to negotiate for more as Alex said she always did.

“You’ll be here when I wake up in the morning, won’t you, Daddy?” Emma asked, looking up at him with such big innocent eyes that it nearly broke his heart.

He knelt and gave her another kiss on the head. “Of course, I will Emma. I’ll be here for the whole week. I’ll be here when you wake up.” She gave him a nod and then rolled over onto her side. Emma’s question had cemented his desire to have them come with him to Scotland. He didn’t want Emma to think that he would just disappear on her.

He swore Alex wiped a tear from her eye as she turned off the light and they went back downstairs. He was sure to help her with the dishes this time. They settled into a companionable silence as they went about their work. The spark that zinged through him whenever he was near her came to life. It was hard to think straight when she was near him.

After they cleaned up dinner, she excused herself to her office. He thought she probably went in there to avoid him, not that he blamed her. He didn’t expect the shock to wear off after only a day. Heading upstairs, he lay down and fired up his laptop. There was a flurry of emails from Aaron, Aaron’s assistant, and a few others. He deleted everything from Aaron and was emailing his assistant about planning for Scotland, when he looked up and saw Alex.

“We’ll go,” Alex whispered so softly that Gabe almost didn’t hear her. She was standing in the doorway to his room, standing rigid like a statue.

“Sorry, what was that?” he said, sitting up in his bed, making sure he’d heard her correctly.

“I said we’ll go. I talked to work and I can take some time off and do remote work, if need be. So, we can stay for a while there. Maybe three weeks or so.”

“Alex, I don’t know what to say! Thank you!” he said, elated that he would be able to put Emma to bed every night and wouldn’t have to be away from her. “You don’t know how much this means to me. Can we tell Emma in the morning?”

She nodded and leaned against the doorjamb.

“There are a few things that you’ll have to arrange for to make things easier when we are there.”

“Of course, anything,” he said, nodding his head emphatically. He put his computer on his lap to add the items to the email he was already sending.

“It would probably be better if we could stay in a house instead of a hotel. A place where Emma can have her own room and a yard to play in. I know you’ll be on-set a lot, so somewhere that’s close to a park or other places for her to play would be ideal.”

“Yes, great suggestions. I’ll make sure it’s all arranged.”

“If you could get someone to get information about kids’ classes and activities in the area, that would also help. She’s a ball of energy and I’m sure there are cool things that we could do while we’re there.”

“Perfect. I’ll make sure it’s all set before we even go. I’ll get us a three-bedroom place—”

Alex interrupted. “Three bedrooms?”

“Yes, one for me, one for you, and one for Emma.”

“I thought it would just be me and Emma.”

“Alex, part of the reason I want you both to come is so that I can spend as much time as I can with you, with Emma. I want to be there to tuck her in at night and for breakfast in the morning. I want to be there every moment I’m not working,” he said, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“Right. That makes sense. Three bedrooms will work,” she said giving him a forced smile. “You’ll let me know what we need to bring over?”

“If you have passports, I can take care of everything else. Bring a few things that she loves to put in her room, but otherwise, we’ll take care of everything there.”

“Okay. Thanks, Gabe. I’m sure she’ll have a great time while we’re there.”

“You both will; I’ll make sure of it. I can get you anything you need to help with work and stuff.”

“If there is an office and reliable Wi-Fi, I’ll be fine.” Alex hesitated and he started to stand. “Goodnight, Gabe,” she said before darting off and going into her bedroom. Her bedroom door closed and he dropped back down onto his bed.

That could have gone better, but at least they were coming with him to Scotland. It would give him more time with Emma and more time to show Alex just how much she meant to him. He needed her to see that he was serious about them being together because if she didn’t believe it, they would never be a family.

* * *

Alex stared up at her bedroom ceiling, and the thumps and thuds of Gabe moving around in the guest room came through the walls. The decision to fly to Scotland had been a difficult one. In a small way, she wished Emma hadn’t taken to him so quickly—it would have made the choice easier—but every minute she chatted about him if she wasn’t there with him. Piggyback rides, pushes on the swing, taking a nap on his chest; Emma was not one to be separated from her dad.

Going to Scotland would help them bond even more and maybe she would think about having her go for visits sooner than she initially intended. She hoped it was the right choice. For Emma, it was an easy decision. For her it was trickier. Being this close to him was wreaking havoc on her resolve to stay away from him and not get involved again.

It had been less than forty-eight hours and she was already imagining his arms around her. Slamming her hands into her head, she hated herself for even thinking that. He’d cheated. She’d resolved to never, ever be with a cheater. She had to value herself more than that; if she didn’t then she might as well move back in with her mom and become that woman’s clone.

She had to stay strong or she would end up destroying herself. Going to Scotland would be a true test of her ability to resist him. She didn’t know if she could and, more importantly, she didn’t know if she wanted to, but more than her self-respect was on the line when it came to him.