CHARLOTTE

Two weeks had passed since the incident at the park, and there was no word from the Deck’s former team member.

My leg had healed nicely, and Darth did such a wonderful job with the sutures that there was hardly a scar at all.

Deck fussed around both Shiloh and me afterwards to the point I wanted to kill him. Well, maybe not such a drastic measure, but it was close sometimes.

He carried so much guilt over it all. At one stage, I was at a loss with how to deal with it. I even asked Darth about how I should go about it. His answer made so much sense that I decided to let Deck just run with it until he came to terms with it on his own.

But still, Darth’s words played on my mind.

“He keeps blaming himself, Darth. I have told him over and over it is all forgiven and forgotten, but he still has that look every time he sees me limp or hiss when the sutures pull.”

 “Charlotte, he hasn’t forgotten it yet, nor has he forgiven himself. You’ve got to let him go through this shit in his head. His nature is to protect, to fight for what is his. That night, he was so focused on the possibility that he could have lost Shiloh and nothing, and I mean nothing, was going to pull him out of that at the time. I was there the night that beauty was born, and let me tell you, her birth was a game changer. Fucking love in its purest form. For all of us. It’s been just her for so long, so give him a minute to pull his head out of his arse.”

I looked at the massive guy, his scarred face riddled with experiences I never wanted to know about and a man bun that would make a nun peel her clothes off and beg for sin.

“You love her a lot, don’t you?” He knew I was talking about Shiloh.

A smile graced his face, a smile he reserved only for Shiloh. “I looked into those baby-blue eyes, not three minutes after she was born, and fell flat on my face in love with her. I know how Deck felt that day. And I understand his reaction. Don’t take it personally, Charlotte. Just take it for what it really is.”

“And what is that?” I asked quietly.

“A man so deep in love with his daughter, his heart made a choice that, at the time, made perfect sense. Shiloh will always come first. And I don’t think you or anyone else should ever expect any different. If you do, well, then shame on you.”

And he had been so right.

Deck was who he was. When I first spied him at the day care dropping off and picking up Shiloh—I’d watched them from afar so I wouldn’t be caught gawking—the love he showed for his daughter was the main thing that drew me to him in the first place, apart from his physical stature. His love for his pint-sized clone. So, yeah, I heeded Darth’s well-given advice about letting Deck sort it out for himself.

The recital for Shiloh’s dance class was three days away, but my injury had caused a slight delay in the practice department for my solo dance. The girls, of course, were the main attractions and had several routines lined up for the night’s entertainment. But Shiloh had begged me to dance her favourite ballet. My dance wasn’t too long at only about ten minutes, but the preparation my body needed for those ten minutes was overwhelming. And since I hadn’t danced properly for a year or more, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to dance for the audience and not have them see the effort I was putting in. I had to call in a favour from one of my old dance partners to come and dance The Nutcracker pas de deux with me. Alexander found it entertaining that I was doing this for a little girl’s recital and was more than happy to help. And with such little time to rehearse together after such a long time apart, I was more than anxious. And really nervous, especially about the great leap and jump I was going to have to make halfway through the routine. Plus, there was a lot of lifting, and I wasn’t as light as I once was. Thank you, Stella.

“Excuse me, Teach, there is a dude here for you,” a voice said, pulling me from my worries.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Seb standing in the doorway to what was now known as the dance room. A smug look was on the prospect’s face.

Standing next to him, I saw Alexander, and his look told me he had never been called a dude in his life. I stifled a laugh behind my hand and motioned for Alexander to come in.

“Thank you, Sebastian. Would you mind finding Shiloh for me, and let her know that Alexander and I are going to start rehearsing now.”

He blushed as usual when I addressed him by his given name. I couldn’t help it, though. I just loved the name Sebastian. It was my grandfather’s name, and I’d adored him just as much as I’d loved my grandmother. It was actually a wish of mine to one day honour his memory by using his name for my son if I were to ever have one. How Deck would take that was something I was going to have to find out one day when we eventually decided to talk about having children together.

“Are you sure this is okay, Charlotte? The men at the gate and in the other room didn’t seem too happy with my presence here.”

“Huh. Really?” I had no idea why they would feel that way other than having an outsider in the compound. But I had asked Booth for his permission to let Alexander in for a practice or two before the recital, and he was very accommodating when I asked. Actually, he laughed and said he couldn’t wait.

“One asked me if I valued my life.”

“Stuff and nonsense. They are just being funny. Now let’s get to it. I haven’t danced this for two years at least. And I’m not sure if you can lift me anymore,” I admitted grudgingly. Damn Stella and her fantastic pasta and pastries.

I moved to the CD player I had set up for the music. The performance would have a piano player, but the CD would have to do for the rehearsals at the compound.

I pressed play, and the beautiful music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker filled the room.