Calista forced her voice to be strong despite the lump that kept forming in her throat. Andi needed her to be strong.

“You came back,” the Beast said meekly. “At least I can see you this one time.”

“No! No!” Belle said, sobbing as she kissed the Beast’s cheek. “Please don’t die... I love you.”

At that moment the spell was broken, and in one magical instant, the Beast turned back into his princely self. The enchanted servants returned to their human forms as well. The castle came alive with rejoicing. Mrs. Potts cried human tears of joy as the handsome young prince gathered the beautiful Belle into his arms. Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumiere had not one doubt that the loving couple would live happily ever after.

She was just closing the Disney storybook when she heard it, barely a whisper.

“Cali?”

Calista shot out of the chair to stand next to the bed. For the first time in two days, the eyes of the beautiful little girl she loved so much were open. Cali forced a comforting smile.

“Well, hello there, sleepyhead. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you awake.”

“Where am I?” Her voice was scratchy from lack of use.

“You’re in the hospital, sweetheart.” Your Cali gently held her hand. “Your school bus was in an accident, but you’re going to be just fine. The doctors and nurses have been taking really good care of you.”

The confusion was easy to see on her innocent little face as Andi tried to remember. For her sake, Cali hoped she’d never recollect the accident clearly. Some things were best left forgotten—like visits to morgues in the middle of the night.

“Where’s my dad? Is he still on his business trip?”

“Oh, of course not.” Cali was relieved Andi’s memory was intact. “He came rushing home the minute he heard about your accident. He’s been here at the hospital the entire time since you were brought here. It’s just bad luck he stepped out of the room for some coffee. He’ll be back any minute.”

“Who are you talking to, Cali? Are you done reading her The Beauty and the Beast?” His voice behind her startled Cali until she flushed with relief.

Cali winked at Andi as she leaned over her. Andrea seemed to understand. “She’s done, Daddy. I was about to ask her to read The Little Mermaid next.”

Nick was beside her in an instant. Cali moved aside to let him get closer to his daughter. Her heart melted, seeing his love for her shining in his eyes.

“Oh thank you, God. I’ve been so worried about you, Andi. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, I guess. My head hurts, and I’m really thirsty.”

“You two catch up.” Cali leaned down to place a soft kiss on Andi’s forehead. “I’m gonna go let the nurse know you’re awake.” She squeezed Nick’s forearm as she took her leave, and he looked up briefly. The relief of Andi waking up was sinking into his pained eyes. He didn’t say a word—he didn’t need to, Cali understood.

Calista stepped out into the hall but didn’t go to the nurse’s station immediately. She wanted to give Nick and Andi a few minutes to talk before alerting the nurse since she suspected they would be shooed out of the room so they could do some more tests now that their patient was awake.

As she expected, as soon as she alerted the nurse on duty, the RN picked up the phone to call Dr. Adams, then rushed into Andi’s room. Nick came out a few minutes later, a look of relief finally overshadowing the exhaustion that had begun to take its toll on all of them.

He didn’t say a word, just pulled Cali into his arms. They embraced for several long moments, each saying their thanks for Andrea waking up and appearing as if she was on the mend. They both knew she’d have a long recovery, but they were ready for it.

Before they could speak, Nick’s cell phone rang. He pulled out of their hug to check the caller ID. “I’m sorry, but I need to take this call.”

She watched him answer the phone as he walked away from the ICU and down the long hallway. It wasn’t the first time Cali felt the weight of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Nick had been making and receiving too many mysterious calls in the two days they’d been camped out at the hospital together. At first, she’d been angry Nick thought work was so important, that he would need to keep working while his daughter was on her deathbed. Cali had eventually realized the calls he was taking were not business related which only made Cali more uncomfortable.

They hadn’t talked about Dr. Adam’s revelations regarding Nick’s blood type on the day of the accident. In part, Cali didn’t have a clue what she could say that would make it better, but it was more than that. Like Nick, she just wanted to forget the terrible words. For both Nick and Andi’s sake, she just wanted to sweep the whole revelation under the rug. After all, Roni was dead. No one else but Nick and Cali ever needed to know Nick was not Andi’s biological father.

“What the hell are you saying? Babies don’t just fall out of the sky.” Nick had stepped outside the hospital into the spring sunshine that was a lot brighter than he felt. He should be enjoying the good news of Andi’s improved condition, not getting more bad news.

“Listen, I’m just telling you what I’ve found so far. I tried to tell you yesterday you’d better be sure you wanted to open up this particular can of worms because there’s no telling what you’re gonna find. You already know your wife lied to you about a lot of important things in your marriage. Is this really such a surprise to you?”

“Yes, dammit. When she showed up with the baby, she’d gained a lot of weight like she’d just given birth. She made a big deal about how upset she was when she had to quit breastfeeding because Andrea wasn’t getting enough nutrients according to the pediatrician. We didn’t have sex for like three months until her OBGYN gave her the green light to start again after the baby was born.”

“Did you actually see the baby breastfeeding?”

He racked his brains. Blackburn had to be wrong.

“Fuck, no.”

“Did you go to the OBGYN with her for her checkups?”

“No.”

“Did you ever notice any stretch marks on her? My ex-wife is full of them.”

“Dammit. I swear to God, I wish I could bring her back to life just so I could kill her with my bare hands.”

“I understand, but that isn’t going to help.”

Nick had only just begun to get his mind wrapped around the fact Veronica had deceived him about being Andi’s father. There’d been a small part of him that held out hope it was just a big mistake or at the least, she too had believed Andi was his since they looked so much alike. Now, to find out Veronica herself had never given birth to a baby put a nail in her coffin. His PI had received a copy of the autopsy report and that, combined with other medical records, had confirmed Andrea was not the biological daughter of either Nick or Roni.

But where the hell had she come from and more importantly, how long until some stranger showed up on his doorstep wanting to steal his only daughter away from him?

“Let me keep digging. The trail isn’t cold yet. I just wanted to fill you in with the newest information. I’m glad to hear Andrea is awake. Let me worry about this shit. You go back in and take care of your daughter. And Nick? She is your daughter in every way that counts.”

The private investigator hung up without saying goodbye. It was just as well, Nick had no words for this situation. He sat on a bench in the small garden just outside the hospital entrance, trying to sort through the rush of emotions the most recent news evoked. He was lost in thought and missed Calista coming out looking for him until she took a seat next to him. They sat in silence for several minutes, watching people coming and going out of the building.

Cali broke the awkward silence. “When are you going to tell me what’s going on, Nick?”

“Nothing’s going on.” He couldn’t bear the thought of telling anyone, not even Calista, what he knew. He couldn’t risk it.

“Really? Seriously, if you don’t want to talk to me about it, do me a favor and just say so, but don’t lie to me. I expected Kevin to lie, but not you.”

“I’m sorry, Cali.” He hated the pain in her voice, especially knowing he was responsible for it. “You’re right. I don’t want to hurt you, but I have a lot of shit on my plate right now.” He wasn’t prepared for her anger as she turned on the bench to glare at him.

“And I don’t? I thought we were in this together. I thought we were becoming a team.”

Nick’s heart rate spiked. He didn’t want to lose Cali, but he didn’t have time to balance a new relationship right now when his life was literally falling apart.

“We are a team, but there are still a few things I’m gonna have to deal with on my own.”

“Let me in. I know this is about what the doctor told you. We haven’t talked about it, but now that Andi is awake, I think we should.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. He was mistaken. Andrea is my daughter in every sense of the word. Period.”

He heard her emotional sigh. “Of course she is. Still, you must be a bit freaked out. Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Her emotions turned to anger as she sprang to her feet.

“There you go, lying to me again. I can’t believe I thought you were different, but you’re not. I’ve got a newsflash for you. Your daughter just woke up from a coma and instead of sitting in there talking to her... comforting her, you’re sneaking outside to take yet another private call. You don’t want to level with me? That’s fine, I’ll leave. But you need to get your ass back in there and sit with her. She’s afraid and asking for her daddy.” Calista had turned and was already ten feet away when he came to his senses.

“Calista, don’t go! Please.”

She stopped, but she didn’t turn around. Nick pushed to his feet to go to her. Cali refused to turn and look at him, so he hugged her from behind, holding onto her, trying to prevent her from leaving. He didn’t want to lose Cali. Not over this... not ever. But could he trust her enough to tell her the truth? She already knew enough information to compromise him should word ever get out. Should he trust her with more? He was glad he couldn’t see her eyes.

“I’ve hired a private detective. I need to know the truth. I need to know how to protect myself and Andrea from having someone show up in our lives to try to take her away from me. I can survive losing Roni, but I know for a fact, I wouldn’t survive losing Andi. She’s a part of me—whether she has my blood or not doesn’t matter. She’s my little girl. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Cali turned in his arms, hugging his waist as she looked up into his eyes. He was relieved to see her anger had dissipated.

“I understand perfectly, Nick. Your secret is safe with me. I would never do anything to endanger you or Andrea.”

He knew she spoke the truth. It helped him tell her everything.

“The PI I hired has uncovered that not only am I not Andrea’s biological father, but... Veronica never gave birth.”

Cali looked as confused as he felt. “But... how?”

“Who the hell knows? I feel like a complete idiot. I mean how the hell could she have lied about something like thi,s and I never figured it out?”

“She was a good actress. And this at least explains a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Like why she and Andi never really bonded. You told me she would never win a mother-of-the-year award, but maybe it was deeper. I don’t think she ever wanted to be a mother. Not really. I think Andi was just a way to trap you into marrying her. Didn’t you say you had broken up with her before she showed up with the baby?”

“Fuck. You’re right. In fact, the more I think about it, I bet that’s why it was getting worse these last few years. The older Andi got, the more jealous Roni became of the time I’d spend with her.”

“I bet it killed her to see you loving Andi so much, knowing the truth and never being able to tell you.”

“I hope she is rotting in hell.”

“I agree, and I understand you want to know the truth, so you can protect yourself and Andrea, but please, don’t let it consume you or distract you from what’s important. If no one has come looking for her by now, chances are very good they never will. You have to have faith.”

At that moment, Nick knew how very lucky he was to have Cali in his life. He felt one hundred times better than he had even fifteen minutes before.

“Let’s go see my daughter, shall we?”