When the door swung open, Lucie smiled at me warmly before stepping forward and engulfing me in a much-needed hug. I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling my shoulders relax as she patted my back supportively. “Oh, baby doll, are you okay? Did you sleep? You look terrible!” she asked as she pulled back and regarded me with her motherly concern she used on her kids.

I forced a smile and shrugged. “I’m okay.” That was a lie. I was far from it, but I didn’t want to talk about it with Carson watching my every move. “Where’s Sash and Rory?”

Lucie stepped back and waved me in, looking at Carson with tight eyes. I could tell he’d gone down a peg or two in her estimations after this. “They’re in the living room.”

As I looked toward the door, Rory stepped out, closing it firmly behind him. I sighed and relaxed a little more. It felt nice to be around familiar surroundings and people. He strutted toward me quickly and I smiled, opening my arms for a hug. Only, I noticed too late that he wasn’t looking at me, and he certainly wasn’t smiling.

He stalked forward, and before I could open my mouth and tell him not to do what I knew was coming, he raised his arm and threw his fist straight into Carson’s face.

“RORY, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? Stop it!” I cried as Carson slammed back into the wall behind him.

A livid-looking Rory turned back to me and pointed an accusing finger in Carson’s direction as he clutched his bleeding nose. “You said you didn’t have the energy to punch him in the face, so I figured I’d do it for you!” he barked.

An unwilling smile twitched at the corner of my mouth. Although I didn’t approve of violence at all, the fact he was standing up to someone older than him on my behalf just served to remind me what a great little brother I had. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t really want to reprimand him, but I knew I needed to.

Carson pushed himself upright, shaking his head. “You’re fucking lucky you’re underage,” he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

One of Rory’s eyebrows rose in challenge. “Oh, yeah, and why’s that, dickwad?”

I shook my head quickly, stepping between them and holding my hands up in protest. “Rory, just don’t,” I pleaded.

“Tell me you’re not seriously moving in with this bellend!” Rory snapped, narrowing his eyes over my shoulder. “I could just kick the snot out of him and throw him out.”

“You could try!” Carson growled from behind me, stepping closer to me and gripping my hips as he attempted to push me out of the way so I wasn’t between them. “Don’t stand there, Emma. If your runt of a brother foams at the mouth again, you’ll get hurt.”

I shoved his hands off me and held my ground. “Just stop it, both of you. What are you, three? Grow up!”

“Runt of a brother?” Rory repeated, gritting his teeth. “Twat.”

Twisting on the spot, I put one hand on each of their chests and pushed as hard as I could, separating them. “Stop it!” I shouted angrily.

“Mummy?” I heard from the living room. The four of us in the hallway fell silent and looked toward the living room door as the handle rattled where Sasha was obviously trying to get out because she’d heard me. “Muuuuuuummmmmmmmyyyyyyyy!”

When I looked back to Carson, I saw his mouth was open as he stared at the door. He wasn’t moving. The blood had stopped from his nose, but it covered his lips and chin and had dripped down onto the front of his shirt. He looked like something from a horror film.

“Your face,” I muttered with wide eyes.

His hand shot up, cupping his nose and mouth. I didn’t even see Lucie disappear, but she came running back from the kitchen with a tea towel in her hand which she threw at Carson just as the living room door opened.

Sasha’s little face peeked out of the room, looking left before turning to the right. Her blue eyes lit up when she saw me, and a gigantic smile stretched across her face as she giggled and rushed out of the room, running toward me as her brown curls bounced with each step. “Mummy!”

I grinned and bent, catching her just as she jumped at me. “Hey, beautiful,” I greeted, planting a big kiss on her lips. I stood and lifted her, hugging her tightly to me. “I missed you! Been good for Lucie?” I asked.

She nodded. “Play minoes. Falls down!” she replied excitedly, pointing back toward the door.

I looked at Lucie for help, not knowing what she was saying. “Dominoes,” Lucie explained. “We’re trying to make a domino trail, but it’s not going well. Keeps falling down, right, Sash?”

I grinned and nodded. “Dominoes? Sounds like fun.”

I turned to Carson. He was just staring at Sasha with wide, clearly-awed eyes. His mouth still hung open, the tea towel Lucie had given him long forgotten as he dragged his eyes over every inch of his daughter’s face. His whole body was alert and on edge. The way he was looking at her so adoringly made my heart ache and my stomach clench. It was as if he were looking at the Eighth Wonder of the World. He wasn’t even blinking, and he was barely breathing. I’d never seen love at first sight, but if I had to describe what it looked like it would be Carson looking at his daughter for the first time. Impossibly, my love for him seemed to double just because of the tender, adoring way he was looking at my little girl.

I looked back at Sasha as she played with my hair, wrapping it around her chubby fingers. “Sasha, there’s someone here who wants to meet you,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. Her big, blue eyes came up to meet mine. I motioned toward Carson with one hand, not really knowing how to make this introduction at all. “This is Carson. He’s your daddy. Can you say hi, Daddy?”