“No, I mean I watched you when you weren’t looking at me. You were completely relaxed. More than I’ve ever seen you since we found you in that alleyway. You were enjoying yourself.”
“I wasn’t worrying or stressing. I had fun. I can’t remember the last time I had fun. That’s sad, huh?”
“I’m not good at having fun. Maybe we could learn together.”
She sucked in a breath. She knew how much they could both use some fun. She also knew how hard it was for Wolfe to offer this.
“I’d love that. Should I . . . what would I call you?”
“Wolfe.”
She had to grin. “Not Daddy?”
“That’s Caleb.”
She got it. But maybe she could come up with a name for him. Hmm.
He turned to the bed. Picking up the bag, he set it on the floor next to the bed. Then he spread out the blanket.
“Can I help?”
“No.”
She shook her head but didn’t take offense. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Wol
fe would always be Wolfe. But that he was willing to try new things and attempt to give her what she needed. . .
That meant the world.
“Did you like being in the SEALs?” she asked. She’d have thought that would be hard for him. Having to take orders. Being close to others. “Don’t you have to bond with your team?”
“Wasn’t easy. Aleki and Caleb helped a lot. If we’d been on different teams I wouldn’t have coped. But we made a good team together, thankfully they saw that. The others in our team knew I was different. They would go through Aleki and Caleb.”
Isolating Wolfe. She knew why Aleki and Caleb had done it. They’d tried to help him. But maybe they’d accidentally done the wrong thing.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said as he drew something out of the bag and plugged it in. She blinked in surprise at the nightlight he’d plugged in. It was in the shape of a pig. Ooh. She did love pigs.
“What’s that?” she asked, surprised. Wolfe wasn’t the most aware of people.
“You’re thinking they should have forced me to interact with the rest of the team, that I was isolated.”
“Well, umm, yes sort of.”
“The thing that you have to realize is that I didn’t care about them. I did what I had to in order to be part of the team. But there are only so many people I can let in. I don’t have the emotional capacity for more. Our family is it. So I can pretend to care about others, but I really don’t. Aleki and Caleb know this. I’ll try to give you what you need, but will it be enough? Can you be satisfied with what I’m capable of giving you?”
“Wolfe, I’ll take whatever you can give me. Because I can’t be without you. Without any of you.”
He was silent for a moment then nodded. “Good. Then it’s well past time you were in bed. Little girls need their sleep. Especially when they’ve had no one to take care of them and their health has suffered.” Striding over, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Laying her out, he covered her with the bedding. The weighted blanket settled over her.
“Ooh, it’s almost like being hugged.”
He nodded and tucked her in tightly then walked around to his side, and she noted that, like Caleb, he’d chosen the side closest to the door. He climbed in then rolled so he faced her.
“You’re tired. We went to bed too late.”
“It’s not even eleven. Back home I never went to sleep before eleven.”
“That won’t be happening again.” He reached over for the bedside lamp, turning it off. She shuffled around, trying to find a comfortable spot. It was odd having Wolfe here in bed with her, yet not touching him.