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what she said around the child.  She was hired to babysit her, not indoctrinate her.
    “How many babies did they have?” Precious asked, biting into a slice of bread.
    “Well, I’d say...”
    Feeling quite uncomfortable with talk about love, babies, and happily ever after, Erik tried to tune out the exchange between his daughter and Michelle.  Love, babies, and forever was what he’d hoped for when he married Cassie.
    If it hadn’t been for that drunk...
    Well, he didn’t know that exactly.  They never had the opportunity to resolve their last fight that night.  He had no idea what he would have done if Cassie had confirmed his suspicions about her.
    He couldn’t understand why people who claim to be in love lied, betrayed, and inflicted pain on each other.  Love made you vulnerable.  He’d been vulnerable to Cassie.  He loved her more then he’d ever loved anyone, would ever love anyone again.  Was that love strong enough to weather the storm of his suspicions, though?   He would never know.  All he knew was that he would never make himself that vulnerable to anyone, ever again.
    Well, he was going to try not to, he reassured himself as his eyes rested on Michelle sitting where Cassie used to sit, her brown skin glowing under the richness of the russet cotton dress she’d changed into.  Her obsidian eyes sparkled like black magic, daring him to reach out and taste the sweet essence of her soul.  Erik tried to picture Cassie’s chestnut-brown eyes, but all he saw were those fiery, black eyes of an irresistible woman gazing back at him, inviting him to explore and revel.
    Shaking off the bewitching invitation, Erik pushed back his chair and smiled at his daughter.  “Hey, little one.  Daddy has a surprise for you,” he said, deliberately interrupting their conversation about forever after.  As far as he was concerned, fairytale endings were just that... fairytales that belonged in children’s books.
    Precious jumped out of her chair and ran to him.  “A surprise for me?  What is it, Daddy?”
    Erik closed his eyes as he hugged his little girl.  God, he loved her so much.  She was all he had left of Cassie, and he cherished her with everything good in himself.   He pried Precious’ arms from around his neck and peered into her eyes—Cassie’s eyes.  He planted a quick kiss on her forehead.  “Go wash up and meet me back here,” he said, placing her on the floor.
    She raced out of the room without so much as a backward glance, her long ponytails bouncing behind her like thick cords of rope.
    Erik turned his attention to Michelle who’d left her chair and was now gazing out the bay window overlooking a rose garden.  Habitually, his eyes swept the length of her.  She had a good posture, he thought, and would carry a fetus well, but her narrow pelvis would make childbirth difficult, the astute physician in him noted with concern.
    Since the moment he’d laid eyes on her, Erik could not stop thinking about Michelle’s body, and how it would look naked, especially her full perky breasts and the shape and color of her nipples.  He wondered about the haven of delight between her thighs.  What were her waxing preferences?  American, French, or Brazilian?  He knew what he liked.  Would Michelle deliver or disappoint him?  As his eyes took in the gentle curve of her long graceful neck, he wondered how her silky skin would feel against his lips.   He could easily kiss her nape without having to trek through a thick mass of hair as he used to do with Cassie.  Cassie .
    At the thought of his wife, Erik took a deep breath and forced the pleasing yet dangerous musings about his daughter’s nanny out of his head.  He took a moment to collect his thoughts then walked to the window to stand beside Michelle.
    “They are beautiful,” he said, gazing at the array of red, yellow, white, and pink roses, all in full bloom.  Cassie had put her sweat into that garden and after she died,