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I' as I could until I just couldn't anye proposal and commit myself to hi hiht left in ht with Oould have been our first tiht of itin onis that he saved ht into another

My bedrooes causing my head to raise up off the pillow Lilly pokes her head in and gives rin

Pulling"

"Mo herself up onto the bed and scraet under the covers with me

"Sleep good?" I ask her before pressing my lips to the top of her head

She nods and burrows into me

Lilly is so freaking affectionate, and she never holds back showing it to s and unexpected declarations of "I love you so much, Mommy" are the true joys in my life No matter how many times she tells me that, my heartI can't conquer withto ever have happened to me

"You hungry?" I ask her

"Pancakes"

"Pancakes it is," I pro her up with iving her a little tickle as I do Her giggles are infectious and I can't help but laugh

Once she's standing on the floor, I give her butt a little pat "You know thedrill Get your Pull-Ups off, throw theirl panties"

"Okay, Moreeable voice of hers

Lilly's a fiercely independent girl, and one of the first things she mastered when she turned three was how to dress herself

For the most part

She can take her clothes off with sole, and put on her underwear, shirt, and pants with a fifty-fifty chance of the tag going in the back She gets overly frustrated with her socks and shoes, but that kid will try and try until she gets it I've been enjoying her taking over some of these responsibilities She's not fully potty trained, still needing to wear pull-up diapers at night I figure we'll be tackling that soon enough, but for now she takes a lot of pride in being able to help get herself dressed in the , and that's cool by me While my heart wants her to stay my baby forever, my soul wants her to conquer the world all on her own

Lilly runs off to her bedroom and I take a quickAfter Marek's open ogling of ht, I know that I have to dress a little more presentably when I'm downstairs

Just as I' s My tone His texts toso because it's the easiest thing to do

But I don't like that he's been going tothe that I'll end up stringing hiain, I square my shoulders and pick up my phone

"Owen," I say softly into the phone,it sound almost as if I'm relieved he called me

"It's about time you answered my calls," he responds tersely

"I'm sorry," I flat-out lie to hiet some alone time"

"Because you're spending ti coe to his tone He's not threatened by Marek because he knows Marek dunorant about what Marek and I had together, mainly because the man could never understand such a deep love It's beyond his capacity He also believes his leverage overelse other than returning to him

Conceited prick

"I' his assumption

"How's that going?" he asks grudgingly, and it's the only credit I'll ever give this man While he never beca, he was always kind to her I guess his bullish, manipulative ways didn't extend to kids He never had to use Lilly to get to me because he already had me by the metaphorical short hairs, so all Owen ever had to do was be nice to Lilly Over ti with Lilly, and he behaved decently around her Or rather, he wore his sheep's clothing very well

"It's going as well as can be expected," I tell hi to understand who he is, and Marek's trying to learn how to be a father"

Owen grunts in acknowledgment, and then he's done with Lilly He throws the sheep's skin off a little too easily "When are you co done"

My skin crawls and my stomach churns "I don't know Maybe a few months"

"Unacceptable," he says darkly "I'reed to beto North Carolina with hiet custody worked out with him"