The Wolf’s Contract Marriage by Layla Silver

Chapter 11 – Caelum

I spent the rest of my workday feeling like I was walking through syrup.

My phone buzzed almost constantly in my back pocket with calls from Camilla; in the end, I read Teagan’s last text message and followed her lead. I switched my device off, but not before giving Barry and Alice a heads up that I’d be going radio silent for a while.

I desperately wanted to get home, to find out why Octavia had felt she needed to find her way to my place instead of heading to school, and it felt like the suspense was killing me.

“You should go home,” Barry told me at around three in the afternoon. “You're way too distracted to do anything helpful.”

“Are you sure?”

We were standing in the main office, while Barry and Alice watched me with identical looks of sympathy on their faces.

Barry put his arm around his wife and nodded. “Family is the most important thing in life. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

I snapped a playful, yet grateful salute at my colleague, who harrumphed good-naturedly. Then, I grabbed my things and high-tailed it off the site.

The drive to my house passed mercifully quickly. Before I knew it, I was pulling into the driveway and was surprised to see Teagan and Tavi on the porch, chatting away. My daughter had a pad of drawing paper balanced on her lap, and a stick of what looked like charcoal poised in her fingers. Teagan was peering over her shoulder and pointing out certain details, while Tavi nodded in understanding.

“There's my girls,” I said warmly as I slammed the car door closed and beeped the lock.

“Daddy!” Octavia cried as she handed the pad of paper to Teagan and clattered down the few steps to ground level, before she threw herself into my arms.

“Hey, baby, are you okay?” I asked into her strawberry-smelling hair that looked so much like my own.

“She's just fine,” Teagan reassured me as she followed Tavi down the stairs to stand by my side. “She was just trying her hand at some drawing.” Teagan turned the pad of paper towards me so I could see Tavi’s work of art. It was a surprisingly realistic-looking horse running through a field, with the wind whipping through its mane. “She’s a natural, if I do say so myself.”

“No, I just have a good teacher,” Tavi replied, with a small smile in Teagan’s direction.

“You’re too kind, honey.”

“I’m glad you two are getting along so well, and thank you for looking after her, Teagan,” I said fervently as I quickly leaned over to drop a kiss on her cheek.

“Not a problem.”

“Now,” I said as I dropped down on my haunches so that Tavi was looking down at me, “you need to tell me how you got here.”

“After my friend Ally's mother heard what was going on at home, she gave me a lift here.” Tavi's head was bowed in shame, and she was twisting the bottom of her uniform skirt in her hands.

“There's nothing to be ashamed of, honey,” Teagan said softly as she put her arm around my little girl's shoulders. It really was incredibly reassuring to see that they were getting along like a house on fire. It was a good sign for the future that Teagan and I could end up creating. “Let's go inside and you can tell your father everything you told me.”

Tavi nodded, and together they went into the house, while I trailed along in their wake.

“Can I get you guys anything to drink?” Teagan asked as soon as Octavia and I were settled on the couch.

I nodded vigorously. My throat felt dry and scratchy after a day on a dusty construction site. “A coffee please.”

“And you, Tavi? Water? Orange juice? A soda?”

“Orange juice, please,” my little girl replied. Octavia scooted up the couch and snuggled into my side, until Teagan came back with our drinks.

“Now, do you want to tell me what's going on at home?” I prompted gently, as I rubbed my palm soothingly up and down her tiny back.

“It’s her boyfriend,” Tavi replied in a soft, sad voice as she tried to talk through my shirt. I found myself stiffening as soon as her words registered.

“Did he hurt you?” I demanded as my fingers clenched into a fist on my knee.

Teagan reached forward, took my clenched hand and smoothed my fingers out soothingly. “It's okay, Caelum.”

“No it's not, if he hurt her, I... I...”

“He didn't hurt me, Daddy.” Tavi sat up and looked me straight in the eye. It was sometimes somewhat unerring, having my own eyes looking back at me out of her face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. He's too busy with Mom for either of them to care about me.” Octavia sounded so sad that my heart nearly splintered into a million pieces. I hated seeing my little girl unhappy.

At her words, however, I found myself properly scanning her for any sign of neglect. Her school uniform was creased and crumpled, while her face had dried tear marks streaked through the dirt on her cheeks. Her hair wasn't brushed, and she looked thinner than I remembered.

“Did you have breakfast this morning?”

Tavi shook her head. “Ally's mom gave me an energy bar on the drive here.”

I got to my feet so fast that Octavia nearly toppled right off the couch. “I can't believe...”

Teagan got to her feet seconds after I did, and grabbed my hands. “Caelum. Breathe. Getting angry now won't get you anywhere.”

I forced myself to take a deep breath, before releasing it slowly. After I did it a few more times, I felt only slightly less like I was going to go and murder my ex-wife and her new boytoy for neglecting my daughter.

“Better?” Teagan's hazel-eyed gaze was watching me closely.

“Marginally.”

“I'm sorry, Daddy,” Tavi piped up from the couch, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

I whirled around, sank down onto my haunches, and gently put my arms around her small shoulders. “Never, not for one second, think that I'm angry at you, or that this is your fault. It isn't. It's your mother's, and she's going to have to learn to live with that guilt.” Even as I said the words I knew that Camilla wouldn't feel one shred of guilt for what she'd done to Octavia over the years. She'd only wanted a daughter for what she could get out of me, which absolutely wasn't fair on Tavi.

“Okay, Daddy,” Octavia whispered into my shoulder. When we pulled away, her eyes were red and swollen, and when I discretely looked down at my shirt, it was to find two wet spots where her face had been.

“She's here safely, Caelum.” Teagan squeezed my shoulder in gentle solidarity. “If you ask me, you should be able to keep her here for at least tonight without any problems with the court.”

“I hope so, but the judge who took our case is a little bit of a stickler about the importance of a motherly figure in a child's life.”

I straightened back up and started pacing up and down the length of the living room. Octavia watched me go back and forth, like a puppy watching the ball at a tennis match.

“She has a motherly figure.” Teagan stepped around me to sit on the couch and put her arm protectively around Tavi. “Me. I’ll be here to help with homework, talk all about girl stuff, and cultivate that artistic streak.”

I stared at her in amazement for a few seconds as a plan slowly started forming in my head. There were a few things I'd have to sort out before setting it in motion, but the more I thought about it, the more doable it was sounding.

“Are you sure want to get involved with this? After what happened with your parents, I'm surprised you want to.”

“No child should have to go through what I had to,” she replied fervently, and I nodded in understanding. Teagan had told me about how she had been stuck in the middle of an ugly custody battle during her parent's divorce. It was a wonder how she managed to wait until eighteen before running away.

“Daddy?” I looked down to find that Octavia had left the couch and was tugging gently on my shirtsleeve.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“I'm hungry.” I looked up and caught Teagan's eye. My girlfriend looked like she was having trouble holding back tears at Tavi's little voice.

“Okay... what would you like to eat, baby?”

Tavi went quiet as she deliberated like it was the most important decision in the world. She was concentrating so hard a small frown was creasing the skin between her eyebrows. “Can I have a hamburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake please?”

“Of course you can, sweetie,” I said as I pulled out my phone. “It'll be here twenty minutes after I order it.”

Octavia's face lit up like the sun coming out from behind a giant cloud again, and I had to wonder what exactly Camilla had been feeding her. Bread and water when she was well behaved?

Tavi settled herself back on the couch beside Teagan, and patted the seat beside her. “Come sit down, Daddy, you look tired.”

“You're right, Tav, I am.” As I sat down, I realized I was completely exhausted. I rubbed my eyes and leaned back so that my head was resting against the back of the couch. “It's been a long day.”

There were a few moments of gentle silence between the three of us before, “how do you know Daddy, Teagan?”

My eyes shot open, and I looked over at my girlfriend with wide eyes. “Well, Tavi, honey... we're friends. We're very good friends.” Teagan’s cheeks turned slightly pink as she no doubt recalled exactly what we'd gotten up to as 'friends' recently. “But...” She caught my eye and took a deep breath. “We might get married to win custody of you.”

“That's right,” I confirmed. The only reason for Teagan and I to get married would be to win custody of Octavia, and that was that.

Right?

“Really?” Tavi gasped and clapped her hands happily. “You could end up being my mom?”

“Yes, honey.” Teagan reached out and ruffled my daughter's hair. “Would you like that?”

Octavia nodded so vigorously that her pigtails bounced like they had a mind of their own. “I'd love that.”

As I watched Teagan grin and lean over to kiss Octavia on top of her head, I realized I would really love that too.