Teach Me Daddy

“Of course I’ve got garlic bread for the garlic monster,” I said, winking.

“Garlic monster?” Camillo asked.

“Kevin would probably eat raw garlic if I let him,” I said.

As the boys sat down at the table, I could see Camillo out of the corner of my eye. He was settling Ana into her high chair, clipping her in while she grabbed onto the tendrils of his hair. Junior had dropped his guard just a bit, so I could see a little more of that childish side of him and something told me that Kevin had finally found a friend to play with.

I knew Cassie was worried about me and she had every right to be. Camillo showed up in a snow-covered truck only twenty-four hours ago and now he was sitting down to family dinners like he’d been here for years. I really didn’t have any idea if he had any intentions of sticking around like he said. All I really had was my choice to believe him.

And I allowed myself to sink deep into a fantasy I didn’t even realize I had.

I wanted to know more about his nephew’s situation, but that wasn’t for me to pry into. If he wanted to bring it up and talk about it, I’d be there with an ear to listen. The mere fact that he had taken this boy in and was raising him as his own was a testament to how much he cared about family and it only served as more evidence in my mind to the fact that he meant what he said.

That he wanted to stick around and get to know all of us better.

I took out the leftover salad from last night and set it on the table. Cassie grabbed drinks for everyone while I backtracked for the salad dressings and, by that time, the oven timer was going off. I scrambled to the oven to take out the lasagna and garlic bread and my stomach began to rumble. Just as I turned around with the hot lasagna in my hands, I was met with the towering form of Camillo.

My eyes ventured up toward his as his stern gaze settled on me. He slowly took the hot lasagna from my hands, taking a step back before he took it to the table. I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding while I reached back for the garlic bread, but his hand came down on top of mine.

Oh, how I’d missed his touch.

“I’ve got it,” he said.

I looked up into his eyes and allowed myself to swim in their icy blue depth for a moment. He scanned me again, taking in my body in this dress while our heat radiated between one another. There was a part of me that wanted to raise up and kiss him. Just envelop his lips with mine to provoke him. I wanted him to pin me to this counter and take what he knew was his. I wanted that commanding presence from three years ago to rear its head and strip me of all my walls again.

I wanted him to pull from my body what he’d given me three years ago.

“Would it be all right if I fed Ana tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “That’s just fine.”

The two of us walked back over to the table and sat down. Lasagna was being divvied out and the garlic bread was being sliced. Everyone was digging into the food and spooning more onto their plates and, all the while, Camillo was feeding Ana. He kept pulling apart the garlic bread and giving it to her to hold onto. Then, he took to chopping up some of the lasagna on his plate, once it had cooled, and was feeding it to her off his fork.

I melted into my chair while I watched him take care of his daughter.

The attention he was showering her with weakened my knees. The way he was completely focused on her, blowing on the food and tearing it into bite-sized pieces, it was almost enough to bring me to my knees. There was a pang of regret that washed over me. Could it have been this way from the moment Ana was born? If I’d just reached out to him and told him I was pregnant, could she have had this her entire life? Had I missed out on a partner that could’ve helped and supported us instead of me dragging our family through the mud and mire just to make ends meet?

Did I rob her of something substantial that would forever affect the way she developed?

“Rose, you okay?”

I felt Cassie’s hand reach over and touch my knee, squeezing it lightly as I turned my gaze toward her. I could feel how hot my cheeks were as Camillo turned his head to me and, in an instant, the joyful gaze he held for Ana descended back into the stern one he always held for me.