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Casteel hoped time would slow down. That his daughter would be this size forever. Little enough to ride on his shoulders, too short to reach whatever she wanted, small enough to pick up occasionally. The perfect size for him to easily protect from anything and everything.
But with every passing day he saw more and more of Poppy in her eyes. Whenever she pouted or frowned or became angry she was every bit her mother.
However her dark hair, the set of her brows and that mischievous smile were all him.
Soon she would be too tall to sit on his shoulders, she wouldn’t need to extend her arm so high to hold his hand. She would be free to run and roam and he wouldn’t be able to protect her as easily as he could now.
Her tiny fingers clenched his as they walked through the trees of the private forest trail, just on the outskirts of the palace. Occasionally she let go to grab a rock or a leaf she found interesting. Casteel would pocket some of the pebbles so that Cora could show her mother later.
“I’m lonely,” she sighed.
The light hearted tone of her voice did not match the words, causing Casteel’s brows to furrow.
“You’re lonely?”
She nodded, big eyes turning skyward to look at the sunlight filtering through the leaves.
“Do you want to invite your friends over to the palace more? Perhaps visit the orphanage again soon?” he suggested.
This time she shook her head.
“Do you want…” he pondered, “do you want to have more time just you and me? Or more time with momma? All three of us maybe?”
“No.”
“What about Uncle Kieren?”
“No, I want a brother.”
Casteel snorted and she released his hand, charging down the trail and scooping up a lumpy rock that fit her palm perfectly. She returned to his side holding it out to him.
“It looks like a cloud,” Cora remarked.
Accepting the rock, Casteel silently noted how very much this rock did not resemble a cloud.
He slipped it into his pocket. “It looks exactly like a cloud. Well done.”
Cora beamed then took his hand once more. They continued down the trail.
“You want a brother, you said?”
“Tomorrow please,” she said with a bob of her head.
Casteel chuckled.
“Ask your mother,” he wanted to say. But decided against it. They’d never been anything but a unified front, no matter how many passionate arguments took place behind closed doors.
“It takes a long time to get baby brothers,” he grimaced down at her.
“How long?”
Casteel grinned. “A whole, entire year.”
Cora froze and gawked up at him. He nodded in response and she narrowed her eyes. He saw Poppy and fought the urge to snicker. Casteel always did his very best to take his daughter seriously, but it was difficult when she looked like a miniature version of Poppy.
“Are you lying?”
“I would never, ever lie to you.” He knelt before her. “Would you still want a baby brother in a year?”
She contemplated the question, brows drawing together in concentration. He saw himself in that particular look.
“I don’t know.”
“What about a baby sister?”
A shrug.
He tucked her dark hair behind her ears, ensuring it wasn’t in her eyes. “You should ask your mother.”
“Okay.”
She paused then climbed on top of his knee, wrapping her arms around his neck.
This was perhaps one of the most perfect things in Casteel’s life. When his daughter would clamber onto him and wait to be picked up, putting her complete trust in him. Him of all people. A murderer who had led so many men and women to their deaths and-
Stop.
He blocked out the thoughts, shutting his eyes tight as he scooped her up in his arms.
Cora yawned, laying her head against his chest. Of course she was tired. This was par for the course. The long walk down the trail until she was exhausted, then scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back to her chambers for a nap. She would be slumbering in a matter of moments, the gentle rocking of his every step lulling her into a deep sleep.
Casteel pressed a kiss on the top of her head and she nuzzled deeper into his chest.
“Dadda,” she mumbled.
It didn’t matter how many years passed, his stomach continued to flip whenever she called him that.
“Yes, Cora?”
“Will momma like the rocks?”
“Of course she will,” he said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “She loves it when you bring her rocks.”
True to fact, Poppy had a drawer containing probably fifty rocks that Cora had brought her over the years.
“Do you think she’ll give me a baby brother for it?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. You can ask.”
“Could you ask?”
“I can ask.” He tried to duck his head so their eyes met. “But whatever momma decides, we need to respect that. Do you know what I mean?”
Another shuddering yawn, her eyes slid shut. “Means we need to be nice. Even if we don’t like it.”
“Very good.”
Her kind heart. She got that from Poppy.
Cora’s breathing became even, her chest rising and falling as she dozed off in his arms. Exiting the woods he saw Poppy in the distance, wearing her trousers and a tunic.
An involuntary smile spread on his lips.
Even if it was only the three of them till the end of time, it would be more than enough. It would be perfect.