Page 94 of Daddy's Ring
Wednesday night,after Maeve's asleep and the bookstore is locked up, Declan pulls me into the bedroom. We barely make it to the bed before he's kissing me, hands roaming, pulling at clothes with the kind of urgency that suggests he's been thinking about this all day.
"Missed this." He murmurs against my neck, teeth grazing sensitive skin. "Missed you."
"You were here this morning." But I'm arching into him, hands sliding under his shirt to feel the solid muscle underneath.
"Still missed you." He gets my dress over my head, tosses it somewhere behind him. "Miss you every second I'm not touching you."
We fall into bed together, all heat and desperation and the kind of connection that feels like coming home. He knows exactly how to touch me, where to kiss, what pressure and pace I need. Like the eight years apart didn't matter, like our bodies remember each other perfectly.
Afterward, we're tangled together, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my back. "Stay." I say it without thinking, then immediately want to take it back because it sounds too vulnerable, too needy.
But he just pulls me closer. "I'm not going anywhere, love."
"You have to go eventually. You have work?—"
"I'll stay as long as you want me." He tips my chin up so I'm looking at him. "Always."
I believe him. That's the terrifying part. I actually believe that he means it, that he's not going to wake up one day and realize he made a mistake choosing me.
Thursday brings rain,the kind that keeps customers away and makes the bookstore feel cozy and insulated from the world. Stellan shows up midday with coffee and lunch, settling in to work on his laptop while Maeve plays nearby.
"You don't have to keep doing this." I gesture at the food, the fact that he's here at all.
"Doing what?" He doesn't look up from his screen.
"Coming by. Bringing food. Watching Maeve while I work."
Now he does look at me, one eyebrow raised. "You're family. This is what family does."
Family. He says it so matter-of-factly, like there's no question about it. Like Maeve and I have already been absorbed into the Wolfe orbit and there's no point arguing about it.
"We're not—" I start, but Maeve chooses that moment to crawl over to Stellan, pulling herself up on his leg and demanding attention with her imperious baby sounds.
He saves his work, then picks her up without complaint. "What do you need, kid?"
She babbles at him, patting his face with sticky hands, and he just nods like she's making perfect sense. "You're right, that's a good point. We should definitely address that."
I'm watching them interact—Stellan holding my daughter like she belongs to him, Maeve comfortable and happy in his arms—and something in my chest cracks open. This is what family looks like. Not biology or obligation, but choice. Showing up because you want to, because someone matters to you.
Stellan catches me staring. "What?"
"Nothing." I force myself to look away, focusing on the inventory spreadsheet I've been neglecting. "Just... thank you."
"For what?"
"For being here. For caring about her." Aboutus, but I can't quite make myself say that part out loud.
"She's a good kid." He says it simply, like that's all the explanation needed. "And you're important to Declan, which makes you important to me."
It's the most emotionally direct thing I've ever heard him say, and I have to blink back unexpected tears. "Stellan?—"
"Don't make it weird." But there's something almost gentle in his expression. "Just let us be here."
So I do. I let him work at the table while I reorganize shelves, let him entertain Maeve when she gets bored, let him order dinner when it gets late and Declan texts that he's running behind.
Declan shows up around seven, looking tired but lighting up the moment he sees us. "Sorry. Meeting ran long."
"It's fine." And it is, because Stellan was here, because I wasn't alone.
