“Yes, ma’am.” According to Colt, I was, so in a really convoluted way, I wasn’t lying.
Her eyes lit up. “Oh! You must be her daddy. We’ve all been waiting to see what you’d look like!”
Okay, that one I wasn’t going to lie about. It was one thing to throw the broad generalization out there, and another to claim the honor of being Maisie’s dad. As I opened my mouth to speak, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“You made it,” Ella said with a soft smile.
“I made it,” I echoed. “So did the binder.” I handed it over, and she hugged it to her chest in an all-too-familiar gesture that made my chest ache. She should have someone to hold her during times like this, not some inanimate object.
“I’m going to take him back,” Ella told the nurse.
“You go right on ahead.”
I walked down the hallway with Ella, taking in the bear murals. “They weren’t kidding about the bear floor label, huh?”
“Nope. It helps the kids remember,” she answered. “Want to meet Maisie? She’s still awake, despite my every effort otherwise.”
“Yes,” I answered without pause. “I would very much like that.” Understatement of the century. Next to the pictures of mountains Colt had drawn for me, Maisie’s pictures of animals were my favorites. But those belonged to Chaos. Just like with Ella and Colt, I was starting from scratch with Maisie.
Our steps were the only sounds as we walked down the long hallway.
“This wing is for inpatient,” Ella told me, filling the silence. “The other two are for outpatient and transplants.”
“Gotcha,” I said, my eyes scanning the details out of habit. “Look, you need to know that nurse thinks—”
“That you’re Maisie’s dad,” Ella finished. “I heard. Don’t worry, she’s not going to force adoption papers on you or anything. I left all the dad info blank because like hell were they going to call Jeff in case of emergency. He’s never so much as seen her.”
“I wish I could say that I don’t understand how someone can do that, but it happens all too often where I’m from.”
She paused just outside the room labeled with Maisie’s name. “And where is that?”
“I grew up in foster care. My mom dropped me at a bus station in New York when I was four years old. Syracuse to be exact. The last time I saw her was when she had her rights terminated in court a year later. I’ve seen some horrible parents in my life, but also some great ones.” I pointed to her. “And if your ex is so pathetic that he’s never seen his daughter, then he didn’t deserve her. Or you. Or Colt.”
There were a million questions swimming in those eyes of hers, but I was saved by Maisie.
“Mom?” The tiny voice called from inside the room.
Ella opened the door, and I followed her in.
The room was a good size, with a couch, a single bed, a padded rocking chair, and the giant hospital bed that held a small Maisie.
“Hey, sugar. Not sleeping yet?” Ella asked, depositing the binder on a table behind the door and moving to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Not…tired,” Maisie said, pausing in the middle for a giant yawn. She wiggled around her mom to peek at me. “Hello?”
Those crystal-blue Ella eyes took in every inch of me in cursory judgment. She was thin, but not too frail. Her head was perfectly shaped, and the lack of hair only made her eyes seem that much bigger.
“Hey, Maisie, I’m Beckett. I live in the cabin next to yours,” I told her as I came to the foot of her bed, using the softest tone I had.
“You have Havoc.” She tilted her head slightly, just like Ella.
“I do. But she’s not with me. I actually left her with Colt to keep him company while I came to see you. I hope that’s okay. It seemed like he could use a friend to talk to.”
“Dogs don’t talk.”
“Funny, that’s what your brother and I talked about, too. But sometimes you don’t need someone to talk back to you. Sometimes we just need a friend to listen, and she’s really good at that.”
Her eyes narrowed for a moment before gifting me with a brilliant smile. “I like you, Mr. Beckett. You let my best friend borrow yours.”
And just like that, I was a goner.
“I like you, too, Maisie,” I said softly, scared my voice would break if I raised it any further than