What does that mean? Persephone wanted to know, but couldn’t ask. She was terrified that it meant co-existing, co-parenting while passion...love steadily waned…
“Don’t fall apart on me, Goddess,” he was saying. “You’ve come too far for that, you know?”
“In other words, just get over myself and stop the pity-fest.”
Brows arching, he gave an approving nod. “I like that.”
She had to laugh then. All the while, she prayed Hill never lost his talent for drawing the gesture out of her.
Hill was taking stock of their nearness, but he dared not act on it. The girls would surely walk in on their parents in the middle of something neither he; nor Persephone, he presumed, would be able or willing to explain.
“There might be a bright side to all this, you know?” He posed the question while patting her thighs bared by the turquoise jumper she sported.
Persephone’s dark, lovely face was a study in mock disbelief. “And you’re just mentioning this now? Speak, man!”
“Well,” Hill tugged her off the counter, dropped an arm around her shoulders while leading her from the kitchen. “We’re so uptight about this and I don’t believe they’ll think it’s half as big a deal as we’re making it out to be,” he shrugged. “That’s kids for you.”
“Mmm…” Persephone pretended to consider his outlook. “And you’re basing this expert opinion on?”
“You’re not talkin’ to a total doofus here, Goddess. I do know about kids.”
“Really? How much?”
“Well hell, I’ve got a whole week’s worth of child raising under my belt.”
Persephone’s laughter resumed.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Persephone had always considered the phrase ‘new normal’ to be an attempt at putting a positive spin on a situation that was most likely one to dread.
Over the past weeks however, she could say that ‘new normal’ could also be a way to put a positive spin on something that had the potential to be fabulous, but due to its...mystery was also a terrifying endeavor.
That had pretty much summed up her outlook over the first week of Hill Tesano’s larger than life return to her world. As the time stretched, there had been little of the terrifying uncertainty. While she had never in her life feared Hill, what they were going through, was untested territory for them both. Persephone had expected him to be far less amenable to the situation and she suspected she had the girls to thank for that.
Tammy had complimented Persephone’s openness to sharing with the twins so much about their father and his family. Those efforts didn’t fill Persephone with a sense of accomplishment, though. Such a thing had been her duty, her responsibility. She’d expected nothing from it, least of all, Hill’s forgiveness. Oh, how she craved it, though. She could barely spend time thinking of any of the other millions of things she wanted for them. His forgiveness, understanding, trust...yes, those were the things she wanted most of all.
During the past two weeks, she had shared with Hill all that her mother had said. She’d even gone into the details of Casper’s visit to her place in Miami just over three years prior. She’d told him how that chat with Evangela’s closest advisor spurned her into action-actions that had almost cost Fernando Ramsey his life.
That her intentions were honorable, sounded hollow in light of how wrong it all could have gone. Yes, she’d shared it all-all except the enlightening conversation with Eva in a Memphis hotel room before she’d returned home to Hawaii. Nor had she told him every detail of a much older run-in with her deranged sister when the lives of their girls had been in the greatest jeopardy.
Yes, she’d made use of their time together knowing her confessions would only keep her further away from hearing the words she wanted from him. Regardless, she wasn’t walking around under a perpetual dark cloud of regrets and foreboding.
Persephone suspected she had her girls to thank for that as well. On the day that said ‘perpetual dark cloud’ made an appearance, she and the girls were in the midst of that most normal of endeavors: cleaning.
~~~
The morning found Hill still in bed-an unusual sight considering he’d been on call for the girls since his arrival in their lives.
Well rested, Hill woke that morning ready to tackle a new day in the latest and wholly unexpected chapter of his life. He was a father! Being caught off guard wasn’t a thing he was familiar with, nor did he have a desire to become so.
Caught off guard was exactly what he’d been upon discovering the true motivation behind Persephone’s invitation to her home. He had never been happier to have been caught off guard and she thought he could hate her for that?
True, her actions were beyond outrageous, but did she really believe he could ever hate her? You haven’t told her that though, have you?
Shifting between the crisp sheets of the guest room’s king bed, Hill smoothed both hands across his chest and along the slab of defined abs. Finding increased comfort in the new position, he let his thoughts turn back to what troubled him then.
No, he hadn’t told her. His intention wasn’t to punish her by not doing so. God, never that. She was right, though. He was pissed with her. He was damn well pissed as fuck with her-not that she’d taken the girls to hide them from Eva, but that her doing so meant she was hiding them from him as well.
God, why couldn’t she have just trusted him? Before she’d gone to such lengths, why couldn’t she have trusted him enough before she’d run? Would she run again? That’s why he hadn’t said the words- he feared saying the words might pave the way she’d take when the world called again and she thought she’d have no other choice. With that choice, she’d opened before him another unexpected chapter.
He’d never met anyone who thought him incapable. That it was Persephone who held that belief, had to be some kind of irony. She terrified him. The overarching uncertainty that she’d take flight again- that she’d believe him incapable again...terrified him. Some weak, yet persistent voice deep in his head told him he was overthinking- another thing he wasn’t familiar with.
He’d lounged around too long anyway and was curious as to why the girls hadn’t come bursting in to jump on the bed until he woke. It had quickly become a morning ritual and one that he secretly enjoyed. So much so, that he only pretended to be asleep when they came to wake him.
Curiosity melded with mild disappointment and he sighed. Accepting that he’d been stood up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He spent a few moments dragging his fingers through his hair to clear remaining sleep from his head.
Sleep abandoned its place and a faint smile curved his mouth at what replaced it. Housequake? He listened earnestly for a moment and determined the music was coming from somewhere inside the house. He guessed the girls had decided to spend the morning with their mother.
Taking advantage of the unscheduled break, Hill rummaged around in the bedside table drawer and found his phone. He’d shut it down shortly after arriving, wanting nothing to interfere with his time with the girls. He wasn’t surprised to find a wealth of missed calls. It was the ones from his youngest brother that he decided to return first.
“Hill?” Caiphus picked up by the third ring, his greeting was a mix of curiosity and trepidation. “Everything good?”
Laughter settled in Hill’s throat and came through as a chuckle. “Ah Rug, you do ask the best loaded questions.”
“So?”
“Yes, everything’s good and no I can’t talk about it right now.”
