“Mommy, you’re not eating,” Adele observed, her brow furrowing in concern.
I glanced down at my barely touched slider. “I’m just not very hungry, baby.”
“Are you sick?”
“No, I’m fine. I promise.”
Dimitri’s gaze was heavy on me, but I refused to look at him. Instead, I focused on Adele as she moved from where she was to come sit beside me.
“Let’s count to three and eat together, Mommy.”
I beamed, realizing it was something I usually did when Adele didn’t eat. She mostly did it with vegetables, and after some time, she had started to eat them on her own.
I grabbed my slider from my plate. She did, too. And together, after the count of three, we both took a bite.
“Mommy, you have sauce on your mouth.” Adele pointed to my lips, handing me a napkin. I wiped it, my gaze accidentally sliding to Dimitri as he watched us, a tenderness in her eyes.
Adele finished her milkshake with a satisfied sigh and then turned to Dimitri. “Uncle Dimitri, do you have any kids?”
I froze, my coffee cup halfway to my lips.
Dimitri’s expression shifted, something unreadable crossing his features. “No,” he said at first. And I thought he was going to leave it at that, but then he added, “Not until today.”
Adele tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”
Before Dimitri could answer, a woman with a bright smile approached our table.
“Hi, I’m Emily, the manager of Poppy Tate’s,” she said. “We’re running a new Spin & Win activity for families ahead of Thanksgiving,which is just around the corner. Would you like to try it out? Prizes are small but fun.”
My throat tightened at her implication. Family. Dimitri, Adele, and me. My wolf hummed in contentment at the thought, but I quickly shut it down.
“Oh—” I started, a little too quickly. “We’re not… we’re not a family.”
Emily blinked, apologetic. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume. I just—” She glanced between Dimitri and me, as if debating whether to say more, but eventually settled on, “Well, the game’s mainly for kids. Your daughter is welcome to try if she wants.”
Adele’s eyes were already glued to the colorful wheel at the front counter. “Can I try?” she asked, practically vibrating.
I nodded. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”
Adele lit up, bouncing after the manager toward the counter.
The moment she was gone,I rounded on Dimitri. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t just—she doesn’t know—” I struggled to find the words, panic clawing at my throat.
“Then maybe it’s time she did.”
“No.” The word came out fierce, final. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I’m her father.”
“Biologically, yes. But you haven’t earned that title yet.”
“Because I didn’t know about her existence up until an hour ago!”
His phone rang, the shrill sound cutting through the tension like a knife. And when I saw the caller ID, my heart sank. Selene.
Of course. His wife.
“You should answer it,” I said, my voice hollow.