“I don’t care about that!” I couldn’t hold on a second longer. The sobs left me, making my entire body quake and ache from the force of them. “Money means nothing. Having material things is useless to me. None of it matters if you’re not here.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He rocked me in his arms, kissing the top of my head. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
I could only hope he was right.
--
My eyes still felt swollen when I got on the plane the next morning. I’d cried all night until my throat was aching and my voice was hoarse.
I didn’t want to go back to Virginia, wanting to stay so I could have as much time with Daddy as possible before his surgery, which had been scheduled for the week before Christmas, but he wouldn’t let me. The semester was almost over, with only finals to deal with before I came back for the holiday break, and he refused to let me put my education on hold.
Sunglasses perched on my nose instead of my normal prescription glasses, I didn’t look at anyone as I dropped down into one of the seats and fastened the belt. The flight attendant asked me if I wanted anything to drink, but I just turned my gaze out the window, unable to answer her without crying again.
Braxton’s warm hand covered mine, and I sucked in a shuddery breath, fighting the tears that wanted to be released. “What can I do?” he asked quietly, his thumb stroking over my knuckles.
My chin trembled, but I kept my eyes trained on the window without seeing anything outside. “Just hold me,” I whispered brokenly.
“Always, Kitten,” he said reverently as he unfastened my belt and pulled me onto his lap. I laid my head on his chest and let the tears leak from my eyes the entire flight back to Virginia.
Chapter 12
Braxton
With Nevaeh’s head pressed against my chest, I carried her into her room and laid her on her bed. The whole flight home, she’d done nothing but cry silently, then on the drive from the airport, she’d fallen asleep against me.
Pulling back the covers, I took off her shoes then tucked the thick comforter around her, taking off her glasses and putting them on the nightstand. She sighed softly and folded her hands under her cheek as she turned onto her side. As I looked down at her, my heart clenched painfully, seeing the tear tracks on her beautiful face that was pale from exhaustion and grief.
Bending, I brushed my lips over her cheek and would have left her to rest, but when I straightened, she caught my fingers with her hand. Surprised, I looked down to find her wide awake, her swollen eyes blinking up at me. For the longest time, we just gazed at each other, and then she gave a weak tug on my fingers.
“Don’t go,” she pleaded in a voice that sounded painfully hoarse from all the crying she’d done.
“Are you sure?” I asked, even though my first instinct was to give her exactly what she wanted and crawl into bed beside her. “You need to rest, Kitten.”
“I need you to hold me,” she said weakly, her chin trembling. “P-please?”
“Ah, baby, you don’t have to beg. I’ll give you anything you want, no matter what it is.” Kicking off my shoes, I carefully climbed in beside her, positioning us so I was lying on the side with my good leg.
As soon as I was beside her, she wrapped herself around me. It was so natural, it was like she’d been doing it forever. She fit so perfectly against me it was as if we’d both been created to fit each other.
With her head on my shoulder and her arms around my waist, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“What about Sasha?” she whispered after a few minutes passed.
“She’s staying with Lyla and Howler. She will be okay for another night. We can pick her up in the morning.” Brushing her hair back from her face, I rubbed my thumb over her cheek. “You should sleep, baby. You need to rest.”
“I can’t,” she murmured. “All I can think about is Daddy. I wish I were back there with him right now, Brax. What… What if something happens to him and I’m here?”
The thought of her back in California without me made my heart pound. I didn’t want to be away from her. But I knew she needed to be closer with how sick her dad was. “Don’t think about the negative,” I told her, trying to hide the fact that I was already clawing at the walls of my sanity just thinking of her being so far away without me. “Mia’s mom said he has the best doctors, and we’ll be back in a few weeks for Christmas and winter break. Once he has his surgery, he will be good as new.”
“Y-you think so?” There was so much hope in her voice, it broke my heart.
“Yeah, Kitten. I really do.” I lifted her chin with my thumb. “Would I ever lie to you?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
“And I never will,” I promised. “Your dad is going to be okay, baby.”
“You have more faith in that than he seems to,” she said sadly. “He wants me to prepare myself in case something does happen to him. I don’t know what I’ll do if we lose him, Brax. I can’t picture my life without him in it. Just thinking about it, I feel like there’s this gaping hole in the middle of my chest, trying to suck all the happiness out of the world and into some black void where I can’t smile. I can’t breathe for the pressure it puts on my lungs.”