“That’s not all I wanted to talk to you about, Daddy.”
She felt him pull the plug from the drain before standing up and helping her out of the tub and into a towel.
Daddy carried her into the nursery and laid her down on the changing table getting her dressed for the night.
“What else would you like to talk about, babygirl?”
“I think that maybe someday we can adopt. Or if we didn’t adopt maybe we can do like the Big Brother Big Sister program? Auntie C was helping me look into the different options available for us, since I can’t carry our child. I thought that my dream of being a mother died that night in the hospital, but it didn’t die, it just shifted a little and that’s okay.”
Daddy was quiet for several moments, as he worked the baby lotion into her skin before dressing her in a pull up and her favorite footie pajamas. Olivia just waited as he gathered his thoughts.
She knows that it wasn’t just her that lost a dream that night. Miles suffered a loss too. Not only did he lose the person that Olivia once was, but he lost the future that he pictured having with her.
Daddy pressed a kiss against her lips, pulling back with tears in his eyes.
“I would love nothing more than to raise children with you, Olivia. I know that you will be the perfect mom. So if you wantto adopt, do this program you mentioned, or any other avenue of having a baby, I’m here for it. But if you figure out later down the line that you changed your mind, I’m okay with that too. I just need you, my sweet girl. Everything else is just icing on the cake.”
Olivia grinned up at him as the final piece of the puzzle slipped into place and Olivia finally felt the peace she had been searching for.
She didn’t know it, but this conversation was the one thing that was holding her back from fully moving forward.
The thoughts in her mind have been telling her that Miles wouldn’t love her any more, since she couldn’t give him what he wanted, but she should have known better than to listen to them.
All Miles wanted was her and that was enough.
“Speaking of the future, there’s some things that you need to decide on.”
“Like what?”
“Well for one, what would you like to do with David’s ashes?”
Olivia shivered at the mention of him. Since she wasn’t in the mind frame to have a funeral following his death, Daddy had made the decision to have David cremated. Since then, the urn had been sitting on the shelf in their garage just collecting dust.
Olivia giggled a little at the thought of him burning here while he burned for eternity in hell where he belonged.
“You also need to decide if you want to change your name back to Cassidy.”
“I don’t ever want to be Cassidy again. She died that night on the floor of that warehouse.”
“Okay, Little Bunny. We can start the process of legally changing your name to Olivia.”
“As far as what I want to do with David, I think it would be best if I reach out to one of his family members. I don’t want him in our house tainting our future, but I don’t care enough to do anything with his ashes.”
Daddy nodded his head at her and leaned in, pressing a kiss against her lips again.
She opened her mouth allowing him to deepen the kiss. Groaning, he lifted her up, carried her into their bedroom, and onto the start of their new life together.
EPILOGUE
MILES
Miles bundled up his Little girl and made his way into Emmett’s house. They were having a cookout to celebrate the approval of Olivia’s name change and her acceptance into the local community college.
Almost a year has passed since that dreadful night. They have had their ups and downs, but Miles is grateful to be able to call Olivia his.
She still has weekly play sessions with Cleo, as she continues to work through all of her trauma, but he has noticed a change in her.
She laughs more and her eyes have a sparkle of life in them, no matter what she is going through at that moment.
