❝I never meant for this to mean a thing.❞
“Huh. Funny how that worked out, isn’t it?”
He tries to keep his voice light, but it’s difficult when all he can see in the light overhead is how Jenn has pillowed her cheek against the top of Phoebe’s head and how her lips are turned in the slightest bit, pressing an unconscious kiss into Fee’s light brown curls. The little girl shifts in her sleep, and Gabriel and Jenn move at the same time, his hand hovering at her back and Jenn’s fingers going white as they try to find purchase around a small leg or a bony hip.
“You’ve got ‘er; you’ve got ‘er,” Gabriel murmurs in reassurance. Jenn’s face – sometimes he forgets that he isn’t supposed to think about her age, about how young she actually is, because it is one of the things that she has lied about, and it is also one of the things that don’t matter.
But her face – she looks so scared, even if it is just for a moment.
“Hey.” Gabe reaches out to rub her arm, and feels her shaking. Tears have risen to her eyes, and she is half-sniffling into Fee’s hair. “It’s over, Jenni,” Gabe murmurs, his split and bruised knuckles ghosting the curve of her cheek. “Fee’s okay, an’ she’s home. I’m not angry with you, love. You don’ have to worry … Here.”
He removes his keys from his coat pocket and then reaches for Phoebe, explaining so very gently, “She’s heavy. You get the door, huh?”
He passes her the keys and transfers Phoebe’s weight to one hip, listening to Jennifer sigh wetly, days of burden leaving her mouth.
“That’s it, love,” Gabriel murmurs, half of the words getting lost in Phoebe’s hair. “Breathe. Just breathe … You’re home, now.”