addeeee!” Tash yelled, and they heard her crashing through the house to get to the front door.

Lily was in the kitchen helping Fazire prepare dinner. At her daughter’s cry, she knew Nate was home. She knew this because Tash’s exuberant shout had become the nightly ritual upon Nate’s arrival home however tonight there was a bit more excitement behind the mad dash.

Lily’s eyes flew to Victor who was sitting at the kitchen table going through some papers.

It was Thursday, Victor and Laura weren’t due to visit until Saturday but Lily had recruited Victor in her latest strategy to get Nate to trust in her, in their family, in happiness.

She wasn’t lying to him when she told him she didn’t want to know his secrets. She didn’t want to know, she didn’t care what they were. Whatever they were wouldn’t matter in the slightest.

She just wanted him to believe, believe in her, believe in their family and believe in himself. She knew he didn’t. She was shocked by that knowledge but she knew it was there all the same. It held him back, kept him away from her, kept him removed and she wanted, no, it had now become a need, she needed him. She needed him for Tash and she needed him for herself.

She wasn’t making a lot of headway, no matter how hard she tried (and she’d been trying very hard) so she’d decided to pull out the big guns and enlist Laura and Victor. It was a desperate measure but she didn’t care about that either. She wasn’t too proud to admit she was desperate. This was her family she was worried about, Lily would do anything.

Catching her look, Victor grinned at her.

Lily grabbed a tea towel and dried her hands quickly, throwing a nervous smile at Victor, then one to Fazire.

Fazire was watching her closely. Fazire, Lily noticed the last couple of weeks, was watching everything closely, even closer than normal, especially Nate.

Lily didn’t have time to worry about Fazire. She rushed out of the kitchen and down the hall, feeling nervous. Why, she didn’t know. She wanted this to be perfect, to be meaningful, to put at least one dent in that armour around Nate’s heart, to watch just one drop melt off the ice that encased it.

Laura rushed into the hall from the living room, her eyes wide and excited. When she spied Lily, she gave a little giggle. At the same time, both women’s hands searched for the other’s and they clasped them tightly and walked out the front door.

Tash was dancing around Nate and the brand-new, bright red, Ducati motorcycle that was sitting on the front walk, an even brighter-red, huge bow adorning it.

Victor had chosen the bike because Lily didn’t know anything about Ducatis. Nate had one, of course, in London but he didn’t have one in Somerset. Victor had assured her this bike was the best, the most expensive, the top of the line and it certainly looked it (and cost it). Victor had arranged for it to be delivered and Lily had paid for it out of her seven million pounds. It was the first time she touched the money. Victor had also decided that he and Laura had to come to watch the presentation, certain it would be a doozy.

It was a doozy all right.

Nate was staring at the motorcycle.

Tash was shouting.

“Mummy bought it for you! Isn’t it pretty? She says you’ll take me for a ride. She got helmets and everything! One for you, one for her, one for Fazire and even a small one, for me!”

Nate’s eyes went from the bike to Lily, who had stopped just outside the front door and Laura had stopped beside her. Lily felt Fazire and Victor move in behind them.

She smiled at Nate.

Nate frowned at her.

“Do you like it? Do you like it? Do you like it?” Tash sing-songed, still dancing around the bike.

Nate was still glaring at Lily, seemingly frozen to the spot. Lily was confused at his glare and her smile faltered.

“I wish to speak to you privately,” Nate announced, his voice sounded controlled, formal. He came unstuck and stalked toward her.

“Nate –” Lily started but he was already there, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the house, right through Victor and Fazire, going so far as shoving his father out of the way.

“He likes it! Daddy always speaks to Mummy privately when he’s happy,” Tash yelled.

Lily felt relief because what Natasha said was true. Nate carefully shielded Tash from any of his more amorous displays of affection. He was openly affectionate with Lily in front of anyone, holding her hand, touching her, brushing his lips against hers. But if he wanted something deeper and more meaningful, he did it behind closed doors.

Nate dragged Lily up the stairs, all the way up to their bedroom. He pulled her inside and then he slammed the door, slammed it so hard, it felt like it shook the house.

Lily stopped several steps away from him, tilted her head to look at him and smiled, woefully misinterpreting the intensity behind his actions.

“I take it you like the bike,” she said through her smile.

Nate stared at her, his eyes didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked angry. Very angry.

Her smile faltered.

“Who paid for that bike?” Nate asked, his voice dangerously calm.

She blinked at him, again beginning to be confused and the smile melted from her face.

“I did. It’s a present from me,” she replied.

“I already have a bike.”

Lily felt her heart sink. “I know, but it’s not here and I thought –”

He interrupted her. “What money did you use to pay for that bike?”

Her body jerked and she realised, too late, where she went wrong. All of a sudden the gesture seemed silly, indeed, it was silly. He’d paid for his own present.

“I used the money you gave me,” she answered in a small voice.

She felt tears start to prick her eyes. This was not going well at all.

“Lily, I told you, that money is for you.” Again, his tone was calm, even, low and still dangerous and she could tell he was angry.

“Yes, I know,” she went on. “It’s mine, that’s why I bought a present with it, er, for you.”

He kept his body still and the distance between them. She could tell this took an effort, she could tell he wanted to approach her and, for some reason, shake some sense into her and all of a sudden she felt afraid.

“You don’t use that fucking money for me. I don’t need a goddamned bike. I thought I explained this but I’ll explain it again,” he continued, using patience, what appeared to be extreme patience. “That money is yours. You use it for you.”

“Nate –” she began only to be interrupted again and it was clear his patience had quickly run out.

“I’ve got everything I need right here in this goddamned, fucking house!”

Even though Nate’s words were beautiful (in a way), Lily winced for two reasons.

Firstly, he’d lost his temper and his voice was raised, in fact, he was shouting and she’d never seen him that angry. He was, quite simply, enraged.

Secondly, he was cursing flagrantly. He didn’t shy away from a curse word but he also didn’t use them very often. And certainly not in a raised voice that could be overheard by his daughter who he went to great pains to protect from anything he felt might be inappropriate.

Surprisingly, considering Nate didn’t talk much, he wasn’t finished and he was getting louder.

“And you don’t use it on Natasha. I’ll take care of our daughter.”

“Nate –” she tried again, using what she hoped was a soothing voice, but he interrupted her again and he was even louder.

“And you don’t use it on Fazire. It’s clear you took care of Fazire and anything you used to take care of, now, I take care of. Is that understood?”

Lily was losing her fear and beginning to get angry. Therefore she didn’t reply because she was attempting to control her own temper.

He took a giant stride forward which meant, when he stopped, he was an inch away, and he dipped his face to hers. Stubbornly and angrily, she held her ground.

“Is that fucking understood?” Nate roared and she’d had enough.

She was just trying to do something nice. She was just trying to melt his heart. She was just trying to make him happy.

“Don’t yell at me!” she yelled.

“Tell me I’m understood!” he yelled back.

“I can’t use seven million pounds on me!” Lily returned just as loudly, head tilted back, hands clenched into fists at her sides and shouting in his face. “You pay for everything! The groceries! My new car! You bought me a new cashmere cardigan that I didn’t even need just a week ago! You even paid off the mortgage! What am I going to do with seven million pounds?”

“Go shopping. Go to a spa. Fly to fucking Paris and watch the Collections and buy every stitch of clothing at Chanel. Get a manicure every day. It doesn’t matter, just use it… on you!” Nate shouted back.

Her eyes narrowed on him. “Go… go… you want me to go shopping with seven million pounds?” she spluttered (still loudly). “Get a seven million pound manicure?” she yelled nonsensically.

He took a step back, his eyes still glittering with anger but she could tell he was trying to control himself.

“I don’t give a fuck, just don’t spend it on anyone but you,” he demanded (also still loudly) and then started to turn away, toward the door, like they were done talking or, more to the point, yelling, which they were not. Then he turned back. “I’ll have the money for the bike transferred into your account.”

“Don’t you dare!” she shouted but she shouted it at his back, he’d opened the door and disappeared.

She stared at the space where his back used to be and she realised she was breathing heavily, her heart was pounding and she’d never been so angry in her entire life.

Lily took a deep breath then a second one then she heard another door slamming somewhere far away but it still shook the house.

Nate’s study.

At the sound, she stopped trying to calm herself and stomped out of her room. Then she stomped down the stairs. Then she stomped down the second flight of stairs right passed Victor, Laura, Fazire and Tash and even Mrs. Gunderson, who sat beside Tash, tail twitching. They were all standing in the hallway, their eyes, in unison, watching her progress as she rounded the ground floor landing and stomped down to the garden level.

Then she walked right up to Nate’s closed study door and without knocking she threw it open, stomped inside and then she slammed it shut.

He was standing behind his desk, papers in his hands, for some reason the brightly coloured plastic box that held her household files was opened and on top of his desk.

She ignored the box and ignored the searing glance he aimed at her.

“We’re not done,” she announced.

“We’re done,” Nate retorted.

“We are not!” Lily yelled.

Calmly, he looked back down at the papers in his hands, dismissing her.

At this, Lily threw her head back and screamed blue, bloody murder. When she was done, she tipped her chin down again and glared at him. He was most certainly looking at her now with narrowed eyes and knitted brows.

“Good!” she snapped. “I have your attention.”

Then she advanced on him, rounding his desk. He turned to face her and she halted a foot away from him and lifted her finger.

“It’s my seven million pounds. You gave it to me!” she shouted and with every verbally underlined word, she poked him in the chest. “If I want to buy you a motorcycle with it, I’ll bloody well buy you a motorcycle. If I want to buy you a prized-pedigree King Charles Spaniel that costs the moon, I’ll buy it for you. If I want to commission blind nuns in a convent in the depths of the Pyrenees Mountains to craft you the finest tailored shirts fashioned from silk spun from a near extinct species of silk worm, I’ll do it! Now, is that understood?”

After she stopped shouting, Lily saw emotions warring on his face and she couldn’t latch onto any one of them but she thought she glimpsed amusement as well as anger there, and something else, something she definitely couldn’t read.

“If something happens to me, I want you to be taken care of. I don’t want you wasting that money on me,” he told her, his voice much softer but his dark eyes were intense.

“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” she snapped, not feeling any less intense and her voice not one iota softer.

Finally, he touched her. He dropped the papers he was holding on his desk and his hands settled on either side of her neck, one of his thumbs moved to stroke her cheek.

When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. “If there comes a time in your life when I’m not in it, I want to know you’ll want for nothing.”

“That’s not going to happen!” she yelled, now her raging feelings even more intense knowing she hadn’t made the tiniest nick in his armour, not even a scratch.

Furthermore, she was beginning to get scared.

Why would there be a time when he wasn’t in her life?

“Nate, I’m not letting you go,” Lily declared, scowling at him to hide her fear. “Whatever is going on in that head of yours, forget it. I’m not letting you go. You’re not letting me go. No matter what.”

“Lily –”

“No! No matter what!” she snapped. “Now we’re done talking.”

She pulled her neck away from his hands and stomped back to the door, feeling relatively pleased with herself, feeling she’d made her point.

“Lily,” he called and she halted, hand on the door and whirled around to glare at him again, not wishing to lose ground. Even if she hadn’t put a scratch in his armour, he’d have to be an idiot not to understand what she just said and Nate was no idiot.

“What?” she clipped.

He watched her a second and she realised whatever emotion that had hold of him was gone. She knew this because his lips were twitching.

“After… that,” he started, his voice was no longer angry, there was no intensity and there was no gentleness either, he was definitely amused, “I hesitate to mention money again, but you’ve a separate bank account with a goodly amount in it.” He pointed to the paper on his desk that he’d been studying when she’d arrived.

She stomped back around the desk to stand beside him, snatched up the bank statement and stared at it. It was Tash’s school fund.

“It’s clear you could have used that money, I’m wondering why –” he began.

“I never touch that. That’s Tash’s school money,” Lily answered his unasked question, tossing the bank statement down on his desk.

He stared at her, eyes blank. “I’m sorry?”

She turned to him and put a hand on her hip. “Tash’s school money. Tash is a gifted child. It’s not just me who thinks so as a doting mother, so do her teachers. They told me she’d benefit from a special school. Those schools cost money, lots of money. I’ve been saving –”

Something shifted in the room and that something emanated from Nate and the power of it made Lily stop speaking. It was something she didn’t understand but Nate didn’t look amused anymore, he also didn’t look blank. His eyes were burning into her so intensely she felt they’d scorch her skin.

“You did without to save money so Natasha could go to a school for gifted children?” he asked.

Lily felt a shiver slide across her skin at the tone of his voice. Again, she couldn’t put her finger on it, didn’t know what it was but it meant something to him, something profound.

“Of course,” Lily said quietly, knowing, in her experience of families, in her experience of people, an experience she didn’t know was vastly different from his, that any mother would do the same. Those two words were said with the kind of certainty that someone would declare the sky blue and the earth round. “Can I spend my seven million on that?” she ventured carefully.

Tash could go to the best school in the world with seven million pounds.

Nate didn’t answer her. In another abrupt change of mood, he swept her in his arms and held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. He buried his face in the hair at her neck and for long moments he didn’t speak and he didn’t let her go.

“Nate,” Lily whispered, “I can’t breathe.”

At her words, his arms loosened but he still didn’t let her go.

Finally, after whole minutes slid by, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes and what she saw made her not able to breathe again. It was raw and aching and the weight of it fell on her like an avalanche.

“No,” he said softly, “I’ll pay for Tash’s school.”

She nodded immediately, not wanting to do anything to deepen that ache in his eyes.

“I’ve already noticed she’s advanced for her age,” he went on.

“Significantly advanced,” Lily told him.

He smiled, that awful look thankfully melting from his face, it warmed and he bent his head to kiss her lightly.

“Significantly advanced,” he agreed against her mouth.

“Like her father,” Lily continued, staring close up into his eyes.

“Like her mother,” Nate parried.

She shook her head and put her hand to his cheek.

“What am I going to do with you?” she whispered.

“Help me select a school for our daughter,” he responded without hesitation. “I’ve already made a shortlist.”

Her eyes rounded at his announcement then she grinned and leaned into him, dropped her hand from his cheek and wrapped both her arms around his waist.

“Okay,” she answered.

Lily pressed her cheek to his chest and she felt him rest his on the top of her head.

And, Lily realised, joy beginning to bud in her heart, that she’d done something ages ago, something that was for Tash, something that no hugs, no afternoon phone calls to his office, no expensive motorcycles could do.

What she’d done for their daughter, his daughter, rent a huge, gaping hole in his armour.

She closed her eyes tightly and felt hope.

“Lily?” he called against her hair.

“Yes?” she whispered, her eyes opening.

“Please don’t buy me a King Charles Spaniel. I’m not fond of small dogs.”

She closed her eyes again, this time with laughter.

The motorbike roared up to the front of the house, Nathaniel’s tall, lean body on the front, Tash’s small, lean body holding tight to him on the back.

Fazire did not like motorbikes. He had not liked Will’s and he did not like Nathaniel’s. What was in Lily’s head when she bought that bike, Fazire did not know. To Fazire, motorbikes were certain death on two wheels.

After her father stopped the bike, turned it off and shoved down the stand, Tash jumped off the back and pulled off her helmet like she’d been doing the exact same thing every day since the day she was born.

Fazire, Laura, Victor and Lily were standing at the front of the house watching the father and daughter pair. Lily went forward as Tash ran to her.

“Did you like it, doll baby?” Lily asked as she arrived at her daughter.

“I loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it!” Tash cried, throwing her arms around Lily and jumping up and down, shaking Lily with her excitement. Then she stopped jumping and she leaned back, her arms still around Lily’s waist. “I tried to make him go faster but Daddy wouldn’t, no matter how much I begged and pleaded,” she finished dramatically.

“Thank goodness for that,” Laura muttered, with feeling, under her breath.

Fazire’s eyes turned to Laura and they shared their first look of complete accord.

“Your turn,” Fazire heard Nathaniel’s deep voice say and his eyes moved back to the tall man and he saw that Nathaniel was looking at Lily.

“Oh no,” Lily said, backing up a step then two, “I’m too old for bikes.”

“Oh Mummy, you must go! You must!” Tash cried, rounding her mother and putting both hands on Lily’s behind and pushing forward while Lily still retreated, Nathaniel advancing on her.

“Nate –” Lily said warningly and Fazire understood why. Nathaniel’s face had a set look and he was grinning.

Fazire sighed.

Lily was going to be next on the bike.

Fazire heard a squeal, quickly followed by another one as Nathaniel made it to Lily and lifted her up, swinging her around and with quick, long strides he carried her toward the bike. The first squeal was Lily’s, the second squeal was Tash’s and the little girl was jumping up and down again, clapping.

“Go Daddy, go!” she encouraged.

“Don’t forget her helmet!” Laura called, turning to rush into the house.

“On their first date, he took her on his bike,” Victor said beside him and Fazire’s eyes moved to the man at his side. Victor sounded like he was talking to himself and Fazire realised this was true when he saw the faraway look on Victor’s face. “He never brought her back and I knew he wouldn’t. That night, after he called to tell me she wasn’t coming home, I never would have thought it would have ended so soon.” Abruptly, Victor stopped speaking.

Whether this was because the pain of the memory or something else, Fazire didn’t know but something flashed on the other man’s face as he watched the pair and Fazire’s eyes swung back to Nathaniel and Lily.

“Oh my –” Laura breathed, now back and holding Lily’s helmet.

Nathaniel was zipping his leather jacket on Lily and for some reason Fazire saw this brought tears to Lily’s eyes. After Nathaniel was done with the zipper, Lily threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Not a soft, demure kiss but a kiss the like little Tash shouldn’t see. Surprisingly, because Fazire knew Nathaniel was very careful with these sensitive, private matters, Nathaniel’s arms closed around Lily, pulling her deep into his body, his head slanted and it became a kiss that little Tash really shouldn’t see.

“Fucking hell,” Victor murmured words Tash shouldn’t hear but she’d heard a lot of them that day also from her father.

Fazire’s arm shot out and he pulled Tash to him and covered her eyes with his hand.

“Fazire!” Tash shouted, trying to yank his hand away and Lily and Nathaniel realised what they were about, their lips disengaged, though their arms didn’t, and the pair looked at their audience.

Fazire could see Lily blush.

“There are children in attendance,” Fazire snapped across the expanse, dropping his hand from Tash’s eyes.

Nathaniel’s gaze sliced to Fazire but other than that he made no response.

“Fazire!” Tash shouted again, planted her hands on her hips and gave him a pouty look. He glared right back at her. They were locked in a staring contest which Fazire would win because he had lots of practice with Becky, Lily and seven years with Tash not to mention, he was immortal so he had all the time in the world.

Laura moved forward with the helmet and Tash lost the contest as she turned, crossed her arms on her chest and looked toward her parents.

“Can you let Tash read to you tonight? We might be awhile,” Nathaniel said to his mother.

“Of course,” Laura replied, clearly pleased with the offer to spend more time with her granddaughter.

Nathaniel turned to Natasha and he didn’t have to say a word. She ran forward and gave goodnight hugs and kisses. The one to Lily was a hug about the waist and a kiss from her mother who bent down to do it. Nathaniel lifted her up, Tash wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him soundly on the mouth before she pressed her cheek to his shoulder and, after a few moments locked together with Lily looking on, a smile on her face, Nathaniel set her down.

Then Tash stepped back to hold Laura’s hand. Nathaniel got on the bike, Lily got on behind him, wrapped her arms around him tightly, put her chin on his shoulder and they shot from the curb far faster and far, far more dangerously than he’d gone when Tash was on the bike with him.

“He’s the bomb,” Tash whispered, watching them go.

Fazire had had enough. He turned to Victor.

“We must speak,” he announced.

Then without waiting for Victor to reply, Fazire stomped into the house, down the stairs into their new family room.

It was just like the old family room except it had a bigger, fluffier, more attractive corner couch with a big ottoman in the front that could sleep three small, active children. Fazire liked this couch, the old one was comfortable but he could retire on this couch. This couch was more comfortable than the hundreds of cushions that made his bottle a home. There also was an enormous flat screen television set affixed to the wall. Fazire liked this television too. His Westerns came alive on that television. Clint Eastwood looked like he was actually in the room. There were also nicer, sturdier, more attractive bookshelves and more of them so he could have much more space to fill photo albums and put framed pictures.

In fact, Fazire liked the whole house. He liked the KitchenAid mixer and blender. He liked the new refrigerator which was like the ones in America that actually had room enough to fit food in it for more than a day. He liked Lily’s office and the fact she had time to write.

He liked a lot of facts about Lily. The fact that Lily was smiling again. The fact that Lily was laughing again. The fact that Lily’s face rarely looked pinched and worried about money or Tash or anything.

Anything, that was, except when she looked at Nathaniel.

Fazire had decided he’d done his job well; it just took a long time for it to realise. Like a gestation period for babies. Lily had asked, with her wish, that she and her lover go through trials and tribulations. Unfortunately, Fazire was a wee bit too good at granting his wishes (he always had been, he thought with little humility). When he tied Lily’s life to Nathaniel’s with her wish, he’d chosen the exact right man and she’d been given everything she wanted.

However, at fourteen years old, she didn’t understand that all those terrible troubles the heroines in her books went through in real life hurt. That the words were just words on a page, but in real life, the pain was immense. Trials and tribulations to prove your love were exactly that, trials and tribulations.

And Lily wasn’t through with hers. Neither was Nathaniel. Not just yet.

Victor followed Fazire into the room and closed the door behind him.

“What now?” Victor asked, wary eyes on Fazire.

Fazire wanted to float. He really, really wanted to float but he kept his feet on the ground for now.

“Tell me,” he commanded in his best genie-voice.

“Tell you what?” Victor asked, not, unfortunately to Fazire’s way of thinking, a human who liked to be commanded.

“Tell me about your boy.”

Victor’s body grew tense and he did not respond.

“I can fix him,” Fazire announced.

“What did you say?” Victor asked.

“I can fix him. You tell me about him, what’s stopping him from giving himself to Lily, I can tell Lily and she can wish for it and I can fix him,” Fazire explained.

Fazire didn’t want to do this, not in a million years. He didn’t want to go back into his bottle and be passed along to the next greedy, grasping, vengeful human. He wanted to watch Tash grow up. He wanted to watch Tash’s daughter grow up. And her daughter and –

“You’re mad,” Victor cut into Fazire’s dismal thoughts.

“I’m not mad. I’m here for a reason. I know you humans think I’m strange and I don’t care. I think you humans are strange because you humans are strange. However, I’ve got a purpose in Lily’s life and I’m quite prepared to –”

“We humans?” Victor asked, watching Fazire closely.

Fazire nodded, crossed his arms on his chest above his belly and tilted his head back to stare down, or more to the point, up his nose at Victor. “Yes, you humans.”

“And what are you?” Victor queried.

“I’m a genie,” Fazire announced.

Victor’s brows snapped together, he stared and then his face got a little scary even for Fazire who wasn’t scared of anything.

“You think you’re a genie,” Victor said slowly and incredulously.

“I am a genie.”

“You think you’re a genie and you’re living with my granddaughter, Lily, my son –”

“I am a genie,” Fazire repeated.

Victor stared at him for long moments then he crossed his arms on his chest and said quietly, “Maybe we need to find you a home, someplace comfortable –”

“I have a home. This is my home and then there’s my bottle and –”

“Dear God,” Victor breathed, his brows coming unknitted and he looked no longer frightening but concerned.

Fazire sighed. There was nothing for it.

Therefore he floated. He crossed his legs under him and he snapped his fingers so his human clothes immediately changed to his genie clothes including the fez, gold armbands and earrings.

Victor’s concerned look was gone. His head was tilted back to stare at Fazire drifting five feet up in the air and Victor’s mouth was open.

“Sarah, Lily’s grandmother, was my first mistress. She gave her wishes to her daughter Becky, Lily’s mother,” Fazire explained, staring down at the stunned and speechless Victor. “Becky couldn’t have babies so she made a wish and I made Lily. I made her perfect and sweet, just what you see. But I wanted her to have humility –”

Fazire explained how Lily used to be, even magically floated a photo album out, an act which startled Victor and made him take two steps back, and flipped it to the right pages so Victor could see the chubby, plain, adolescent Lily, something else that made Victor look like he could not believe his eyes. Then Fazire told Victor about Lily’s wish and where Nathaniel came into this mess.

“It was the most complicated wish ever,” Fazire informed Victor. “Now that he’s back and it seems her wish came true. I was channelled last night and told I was nominated for Best Wish of the Century Award. So far this century, I’m the only one nominated. I figure I could win. No one has ever had a wish like that.”

Victor stayed mute, didn’t utter a sound throughout Fazire’s explanation.

Fazire floated closer to him and closer to the floor.

“Now,” he said softly instead of commanding it because it meant a great deal, a great deal to Lily. And even though it also could mean that Lily would use her last wish and he would go away, he wanted to give this to her, he wanted to fix Nathaniel, he wanted it for Lily and, these last few weeks, watching the tall, proud, intelligent man and how he looked at and treated Lily and his daughter, he wanted it for Nathaniel too. “Tell me about your boy so I can fix him.”

Victor closed his eyes slowly.

Then he opened them again, sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands.

Fazire snapped his fingers and he was in his human clothes. He floated low until his feet touched the floor. He walked over, sat on the opposite side of the couch to Victor and he waited.

Then Victor’s head came up and he looked at Fazire. He seemed startled for a second as he hadn’t realised Fazire had changed back but he recovered quickly.

“I can’t believe you’re a genie,” Victor whispered.

“If you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you,” Fazire lied. This was entirely untrue but he’d always wanted to use that line.

Victor shook his head.

“Does Tash know you’re a genie?” Victor asked.

Fazire nodded.

“Does Nathaniel know you’re a genie?” Victor went on.

Fazire shook his head.

“Fucking hell,” Victor breathed.

“You really shouldn’t use that kind of language, especially with a youngster in the house,” Fazire admonished.

Victor just kept staring at him.

“Tell me about Nathaniel,” Fazire prompted.

Finally Victor relented. “I’ll tell you about Nathaniel but you have to give him time. And Lily time. If they don’t seem to be working it out on their own –”

“I’ll give them time,” Fazire interrupted.

“You can’t tell Lily right away,” Victor pressed.

“I won’t tell her right away.” Finally in exasperation Fazire snapped, “I’m a genie! I know what I’m doing.”

Really, what could be so bad about Nathaniel? It was obvious to anyone he was a good man. Fazire even wanted to dislike him and he couldn’t hold out for more than a few weeks and Fazire was really good at holding a grudge. He once went three hundred years holding a grudge against another genie. He was famous for it.

Victor interrupted his thoughts and started talking. While listening to the terrible tale, Fazire stopped thinking.

When Victor stopped talking, Fazire said immediately, “I must tell Lily.”

“You tell her, I’ll have to kill you,” Victor threatened and even though Fazire was immortal, he still felt a thrill of fear.

“Why would he…?” Fazire started.

“I’ve no idea,” Victor cut in.

“But it’s nothing to be ashamed –” Fazire continued.

“I know,” Victor interrupted again.

“I can’t fix that,” Fazire admitted and it was true. He couldn’t. No one could fix that.

Except but one person.

“Lily can,” both Fazire and Victor said in unison.

Nate was lying in bed, covers to his waist some papers in his hands he should have gone through that evening rather than taking his daughter and Lily on motorcycle rides.

Instead of reading them, he was thinking about the rides, Tash’s excited babble in is ear, Lily’s body pressed against his.

He was also thinking about the only present he’d ever received from anyone outside his adopted family. A present from Lily. She hadn’t bought him a tie or a watch; she’d bought him a motorcycle. No half measures for Lily, he was discovering.

Lastly, he was wondering if there were blind nuns in the Pyrenees who made tailored shirts out of rare silk and he was hoping Lily didn’t have their phone number.

Lily walked out of the bathroom wearing another pair of short drawstring pyjama shorts, these were light blue with green polka-dots and they were topped by a fitted green camisole. She was rubbing lotion into her hands and arms that made the room smell of almonds. He noticed, and was pleased to see, that she’d gained some weight in the past weeks, her too-thin body filling out into the lush curves he was more familiar with and he vastly preferred.

He watched her walk toward the bed, graceful and unaffected, having no idea that even in her pyjamas, she was more elegant than any woman he’d ever met.

She jumped up and landed on her knees at the end of the bed, sitting on her calves. Her eyes found his and she smiled at him but Nate noticed her smile was warm but guarded.

He gave up all pretence of reading and tossed the papers on the bedside table.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked, correctly reading her face.

Her eyes lit with a knowing look, not surprised he surmised her troubled thoughts and asked about them. To Nate’s way of thinking, time was too precious not to cut to the chase immediately, most especially any time with Lily.

She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip.

Then, releasing it, she said, “Promise you won’t get mad?”

Nate wanted to laugh but he didn’t. Lily on the end of their bed smiling at him, however guarded, Tash downstairs asleep and exhausted from an exciting day that centred around Lily’s generosity, his parents in Lily’s old room, now the guest bedroom, with all that, there was practically no way he could get mad.

Of course, after what he expected she considered his irrational response to her giving him a present, a response he knew wasn’t at all irrational, he could understand her concern.

“I won’t get mad,” he assured her softly then, deciding she was too far away, he commanded in an even softer voice, “Come here.”

She shook her head, her smile fading and he felt something constrict in his chest as he witnessed its loss.

“I need to tell you something and I think I better do it from here.”

He kept silent and felt his shields go up as he watched her warily.

She took a deep breath.

“It’s all my fault,” she declared.

He stayed silent at her strange declaration.

She hesitated and then spoke again. “Everything that’s happened to us, it’s all my fault.”

He still didn’t speak, this time because he could not imagine how Lily had turned things around in her head to think that anything she’d done could make what had happened to them her fault.

“You see,” she went on, “these past eight years, I knew I should, I wanted to but something always got in the way but I always knew I should go to Victor and Laura and I didn’t.”

Finally he understood her worry. His shields went down and he broke his silence. “Lily, darling, come here.”

She shook her head again, her red-gold hair brushing her shoulder.

“I need you to know, to say this. Nate, I couldn’t afford it. I could have called them but what do you say? I was ill, at first, but that’s no excuse. I mean, I got better then it was years –”

“Lily –” he interrupted but she was on a roll and getting agitated. He knew this because she jumped off the bed and began pacing.

“I wrote them letters, dozens of them, trying to explain. I thought I could do it better by writing it. I’m a good writer, a long time ago, I even won awards. I never told you that.” She stopped and looked at him as if shy of this admission then she brought up her hands and her fingers started to fidget, clenching and unclenching. “If I’d gone to them, if I’d called, just sent one letter, I can’t even understand myself why I didn’t send –”

Nate decided this was enough. He threw off the covers, knifed off the bed and advanced on her. He was not about to allow her to berate herself for Danielle and Jeffrey’s deception, not after what she’d been through.

She didn’t retreat but when his arms went around her, she kept her hands between them and pressed them against his chest. She tilted her head back and looked at him, her eyes were tormented. At the sight, he felt fury blaze through him but, as he’d promised her, he kept it firmly under control.

She went on quietly. “I thought they knew about my parents dying, I thought they knew and they didn’t care about me enough to –”

His arms tightened but her hands pushed against him to keep some distance.

“Lily, I don’t want to hear –” he started.

She shook her head again. “You have to know that’s what I thought, even though it sounds awful. I thought they might be like Jeff and Danielle, I know it wasn’t right but part of me –”

He saw the tears spring to her eyes and he decided it was a good thing he’d likely never see his sister and brother again for he would not be responsible for what he did.

“I need to explain to them, I need to apologise,” Lily went on.

His arms went from around her and he wrapped his fingers around her wrists, pulling her hands from between their bodies, he gently manoeuvred her against the length of him. When he released her, she slid her arms around his waist and leaned into him and he framed her face with his hands.

“Let it be,” he said softly.

“I can’t,” she replied. “They have to be wondering. Nate, it was seven years I had their granddaughter and I haven’t even told you about my wish yet. When I do, you’ll understand, it’s all my fault –”

At the torment in her eyes, Nate wanted to throw something across the room. He wanted to do someone (and he knew exactly who) bodily harm. Instead, he kept careful control of these reactions and he hushed Lily by touching his lips to hers.

When he’d moved an inch away, he looked deep into her eyes and repeated, “Let it be, Lily.”

She was, he noted, not ready to let it be.

“I can show them the letters. I still have them, every single one. And I have to tell you about Fazire, what I wished, how this all comes down to me.”

One lone tear slid down her cheek. Nate brushed it away with his thumb and decided their conversation was finished. He wasn’t going to allow Lily to blame herself for their loss and he was definitely not going to stand there and watch her cry.

“It’s over, everyone is moving on,” Nate explained quietly. “There’s no reason to go back. Just let it be.”

Her eyes changed in a way that he could swear barely masked fear. She leaned into him further, her arms tightening around him.

“Will you?” she asked.

“Will I what?” he returned.

“Will you let it be? Will you stop working yourself to death to prove to everyone you’re sorry for something you didn’t do? Will you stop taking care of everyone and realise we’re all in this together? That we’re all supposed to take care of each other? That we’re a family, you and me and Tash. And your parents. And Fazire. Do you know it’s over and we’re moving on? Will you let it be?”

Unusually for Nate, he hadn’t seen it coming, he hadn’t realised she was negotiating him to this pass. He hadn’t noticed her bringing his guard down, battering his shields and going in for her soft, tender kill.

“Lily –” His voice sounded rough to his own ears and he felt his chest begin to expand and relax. He’d never had a family, a functional unit where people took care of each other. He had Laura and Victor, but he owed both of them his life and everything he was. Jeff and Danielle had never been family.

But, or course, he couldn’t tell Lily any of this.

“Please don’t transfer the money for your cycle into my account, Nate,” she whispered, cutting into his thoughts. “Please let me do something nice for you.”

Instead of speaking his answer, he tightened his hands on her face and she showed she understood his non-verbal assent by tightening her arms around his waist.

She came up on tiptoe and, her mouth against his, in a voice so soft he could barely hear her, she murmured, “For a lot of reasons, because there are a lot of reasons, I love you, Nate.”

He felt and did everything at once.

A surge of joy flew through him so strong he thought it had to have burned a path through his gut straight to his heart.

Before it could bring him to his knees, he bent and slid an arm under hers. Lifting her, he carried her to the bed, his mouth taking hers in a hot, demanding kiss.

At the same time, of their own accord, his battered shields slammed up and locked into place.

Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back as he planted her in their bed, coming down on top of her.

When his mouth moved to her jaw, ear, neck, she repeated, “I love you, Nate.”

The words tore through him and he silenced her with his mouth, yanking at her clothes, pushing them down, pulling them up, throwing them aside.

When he was done, she pressed her gloriously naked body into him, running her hands over his fevered skin, wrapping a leg around his hip, sliding her lips across his jaw, nipping his shoulder with her teeth.

“I love you,” she said against his neck.

“Quiet, Lily,” he growled, taking her mouth in another hard kiss, working her with his hands and fingers, bruising her lips with his own, forcing her silence. When she was squirming underneath him, her fingernails on one hand scraping the skin of his back, her other hand moving between them to wrap around him, it was then he thought it was safe to take his mouth from hers and he used his lips, teeth and tongue in ways he knew would send her soaring.

“Nate, I love –” His mouth came back to hers to stop her words. To assure her silence, he spread her legs, positioned himself and slammed into her wet softness. She gasped against his tongue at the sudden, savage invasion but her body instantly began to move with his. She dug her heels into the bed to lift her hips, inviting and absorbing his violent thrusts.

He knew it was happening, felt it building in him as it built in her, he felt her tighten around him, her breath coming in short, quick pants, her arms holding him close. He experienced another kind of joy as he heard her cry out his name when she climaxed. Only then did he let go the control he had on his body, grinding into her sweet softness until he found his own release.

He allowed her to take his weight for brief moments, staying connected to her intimately, carefully filing away the feel of her under him, wrapped around him, before he rolled away.

Nate heard her soft mew of protest as he pulled out, something she did every time as if the loss of him tore an important part of her away. He catalogued the sound amongst his many memories as he gently arranged them in the bed, yanking the covers over them and holding her close to his side.

She didn’t speak, so he did.

“I won’t transfer the money,” he allowed, giving her that one thing as he’d be taking away everything else.

He felt her smile against his shoulder and she snuggled closer. He knew she thought she was closing in on sweet victory of the war she’d been waging for the last month.

“Thank you,” she whispered and, by the tone of her voice, Nate understood it meant the world to her.

He also realised that he’d made a colossal mistake.

Nate had been selfish. He’d wanted it all even when he knew he couldn’t have it, shouldn’t have it, but he took it anyway. He knew it the minute he’d watched her walk down Laura’s stairs to talk to the police after the man had tried to snatch her purse. He knew she was not for the likes of him.

He knew it then and he knew it now.

She thought their eight year drama had all been her fault but he knew she’d been a trusting innocent, a virgin, an Indiana girl who’d never even had a boyfriend.

It was Nate who’d taken all she was willing to give and all she was willing to give was everything. He’d forced her to sleep with him on their first date, forced her to move in with him after one night, purposefully made her pregnant to bind her to him then left her to face the consequences of his actions on her own. Then, when he found her again, he forced himself into her life, her home, her bed, her family and took even more.

Now he had it all and he wasn’t worthy of it.

He should have set up visitation with Natasha. He should have taken only what Lily was willing to give and allowed her to keep him at arm’s length. He should have worked at shielding her heart instead of letting her fall in love with a man who didn’t exist. A romantic hero, in her mind, who was, Nate knew, no romantic hero at all.

Now she thought she was in love with him but she didn’t know who he was, what he was, where he came from. When she found out, and eventually, Nate knew with certainty, she would, it would be all the more devastating to her.

Therefore, he had to commit one final act to take care of her, protect her and their daughter.

He felt Lily’s weight settle into him but Nate didn’t sleep that night. Instead he lay awake, feeling her soft, warm body pressed into his side, listening to her breathing, stroking her skin and hair and purposefully creating one last, precious memory.