Chapter Text
“Daddy.”
Jay craned his neck, failing to look quite far enough over his shoulder. “Stay out of the kitchen, peanut.” Lifting the pot of recently-boiling water and ravioli off of the cooktop, he made the quarter-turn to the strainer in the sink.
“Can Dina be my mommy?”
Startled, his hand slipped. “Wh- Shit!” The pot banged against the center divide, splashing pasta and very hot water everywhere. Jumping back, he tried to minimize the damage to both their dinner and himself. “Chloe! Out!”
“I’m out Daddy.”
Panting from shock, he nodded. “Good girl.” Most of their dinner was salvageable, and a little hot water probably wouldn’t ruin his cabinets and floors, so he put the now empty pot back on the stove and yanked at the roll of paper towels. “Everything’s okay, peanut. Daddy’s not angry with you. He’s sorry for shouting.”
“I know.”
He looked up and then paused. Chloe looked unbothered by the chaos as she stood watching him, her finger in her mouth. In the past, she would’ve gotten upset by such a commotion, but lately…
Jay sat back on his heels, brows furrowing. “You already have a mommy.”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you want Dina to be your mommy then?”
“She loves me.”
His heart soared, but his eyes narrowed. “She does.” Leaving the water, he huffed to his feet and scooped her up. “Chlo… did a grownup tell you to ask me that?”
Her eyes went wide and round and then, after a moment, she shook her head.
Jay’s brows rose. “Did Uncle Blake mention Dina being your mommy?”
“No. Uncle Blake was buying ice cream.”
“H-” He cut himself off…
Chloe was getting better at keeping secrets, but she wasn’t great. Taking advantage of that, he pressed.
“Did anyone else have ice cream?”
She nodded. “No-Dina.”
“Lilith.” He muttered. “Did she tell you to ask me that?”
“It’s a secret.”
“It is, is it?” Sitting her on a clean part of the counter, he finished clearing up the mess. “And Lilith asked you while Uncle Blake was getting ice cream? Was she waiting with you for ice cream too?”
“And Mommy.”
Mid-way through throwing the last of the paper towels away, he frowned. “Pardon?”
“Mommy waited too. She likes No-Dina too. They tell stories and laugh big laughs.”
How had he not known Abby spent any time at all with Lilith? Or Blake for that matter? And why were his ex-wife and his girlfriend’s sister telling his daughter to ask him about Nadine being Chloe’s…
Lilith and Blake would go behind Nadine’s back in a heartbeat, but Abby? Doubtful. So… how much of this did Nadine know?