Part Four

Five Years Later…

"But what if he tries to take me away?"

He immediately pulledthe worried brown-haired little girlwho was the spitting image of her mother into his arms. "He won't, sweetheart. He's your --"

"Bilolical daddy," she interrupted.

"Biological," he corrected with a smile.

"I know, Mommy told me," she impatiently told him. "But Nancy's bilolical daddy came last week and he took her away to his house and she won't be back for a whole 'nother month..."

"This isn't the same thing," he patiently explained. "I'm not the same as Nancy's other daddy and you know why."

"Because you're magic and a secret," she nodded as she scrambled out of his arms and reached for the book on her bedside table. "Read to me again, Daddy."

Amazed how fast his daughter could process from one topicto the next, he sighed, "I've read that one to you half-a-dozen times already." Sure, the little pig was cute but how many times could he read about her adventures in the circus. But one look at his daughter's watery eyes melted his heart to a pile of goo and he took the book and sighed again, "Get under the covers." And, as soon as she complied, he shifted position and leaned back against the fluffy pink headboard. He smiled whenher small body snuggled next to his and he opened the book and began to read.

"I love you, Daddy," she interrupted.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he replied in a choked voice.

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Phoebe stood in the doorway and watched the scene with a sad smile. It was growing harder and harder for her to move on with her life when she lived for his visits. As if he knew she was there, he glanced up at her and held a finger to his lips so she simply held out her hand to him and waited for him to extricate himself from their daughter's embrace to come to her side. And, when he did, she silently enfolded herself in his arms.

"It'll be okay, Phoebe..."

"I love you, y'know," she quietly said, worried she didn't tell him often enough.

"I know," he smiled before he kissed the top of her head.

"It's working, isn't it," she murmured, "raising her, the three of us, I mean."

"I told you Dex was a good man," he reminded her.

She nodded, "Even if it did take him six months to visit after she was born, after I told him about your involvement."

"Even a good man needs some time to process a shock like that," he considered.

"You're a good man, too," she whispered. She rubbed his back and gazed up at him to tease, "Not even Dex could read that story to her seven times in two hours."

He chuckled and squeezed her tighter. "I love you, Phoebe."

"Daddy?"

Phoebe knocked her head against Cole's chest. "No more stories," she told her daughter. "It's already way past your bedtime."

But Cole was already moving towards his daughter, "What is it Hope? Did you have a bad dream?"

The little girl shook her head. "Can I have a baby sister?"

Phoebe thought her heart stopped, "What?"

"Can I have a baby sister?" she repeated.

They'd simplified the origins of Hope's conception for the little girl and Phoebe was clueless as to how to tell her daughter her request would be impossible to grant. She looked to Cole for guidance but he seemed just as lost. Until something sparked in his eyes and she warily stepped back. "Cole…you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking," he suddenly grinned, "then I'm thinking it can't be that bad an idea."

"It's a terrible idea," she exclaimed. "Dex is a good man and a good father and I will not use him like that."

"What's the harm, Phoebe," he considered as he tugged her hand and pulled her closer. "Dex is coming to town to spend time with his daughter and will naturally want to spend some time with you. A little music, a little wine, who's to say miracles can't happen twice?"

"We are so not doing this," she hissed so as not to upset their daughter, "we are not even thinking about doing this."

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