Read Online Wanting What She Can't Have by Yvonne Lindsay - Free Book Online
Authors: Yvonne Lindsay
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had gone from curiosity about Raoul, to grim determination to make him acknowledge her. Ruby plopped down onto her padded bottom and Alexis let her hands go, only to see the child pull herself up using the coffee table beside them and take at first one, then two, then more tentative steps toward her father.
“Oh, my God, she’s walking. She’s actually walking!” Alexis cried.
“Should she be doing that already?” Raoul said, his eyes fixed on his daughter’s tiny form as it teetered toward him on the carpeted floor.
“Well, she’s a little early at ten months, but she’s been showing signs of wanting to get onto her feet properly for a couple of weeks now. Oops, there she goes.”
Ruby lost her balance but before she could hit the carpet, Raoul was right there. His large hands hooked under her tiny armpits and swung her up into an arc that made her release a gurgling laugh of sheer joy.
Alexis felt a pang in her chest at the sight. This was how it should have been all along. Father and daughter sharing special moments like this one.
“Dad-dad,” Ruby said again, her little hand patting Raoul on the face.
“That’s right, Ruby,” Alexis said from her position on the floor. “That’s your daddy. Good girl.”
“She can’t really understand I’m her father,” Raoul said, putting Ruby back down on the floor.
He was forced to reluctantly hold her hands as she tugged herself up onto her feet again and continued to want to walk, this time with him bent over, holding her hands as she tottled toward Alexis.
“Why not?” Alexis asked, feeling her joy at seeing them together dim a little at his lack of pleasure in Ruby’s behavior. “You are her father and she ought to know that, don’t you think?”
“It would be no different if she called me Raoul. She only mimics what she hears you say,” he said repressively.
Provoked, Alexis returned with, “I prefer to think she knows you are her dad. I think she deserves that, don’t you? Or would you rather she grow up calling you Raoul? As if you were some stranger who just happened to live alongside her?”
He waited until Ruby was closer to Alexis before extricating his fingers from the baby’s clutches. Beaming a toothy smile, Ruby continued to take steps unaided. Alexis opened her arms and Ruby walked straight into them.
“Look at you, you clever girl!” she laughed as she hugged the child and smothered her neck with kisses, eliciting yet more baby giggles. “I’m seriously going to have to keep my eye on you now, aren’t I?”
She looked up and caught the expression in Raoul’s eye. Was that longing she saw there? Did he wish he could express the same spontaneous love for his daughter that she did? Alexis gave Ruby another cuddle before setting her loose. Bit by bit she felt as if she was beginning to break through the shell he’d built around himself when it came to Ruby. The thought brought her to an idea that she wanted to suggest to Raoul.
Drawing on a liberal dose of courage, and buoyed by the fact that he’d stayed in the room rather than withdrawing again quickly as he was in the habit of doing, she launched into speech.
“Raoul, I’ve been thinking. Catherine is due home this weekend and I thought since it also ties in with Bree’s birthday, the first time dealing with that date for both of you since she’s gone, that it might be nice to have a bit of a get-together here—you know, invite a few of your friends, make it a potluck dinner kind of thing. I think it would be nice—partly to celebrate Catherine’s recovery to date and partly to remember Bree.”
“I don’t need a gathering to remember her. It’s not a good idea.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” she said, dragging in another deep breath and refusing to be cowed by his rejection, “which is why I kind of went ahead and organized it anyway. Catherine was really eager to participate and she’s just aching to see Ruby again, and Laura and Matt and
“Oh, my God, she’s walking. She’s actually walking!” Alexis cried.
“Should she be doing that already?” Raoul said, his eyes fixed on his daughter’s tiny form as it teetered toward him on the carpeted floor.
“Well, she’s a little early at ten months, but she’s been showing signs of wanting to get onto her feet properly for a couple of weeks now. Oops, there she goes.”
Ruby lost her balance but before she could hit the carpet, Raoul was right there. His large hands hooked under her tiny armpits and swung her up into an arc that made her release a gurgling laugh of sheer joy.
Alexis felt a pang in her chest at the sight. This was how it should have been all along. Father and daughter sharing special moments like this one.
“Dad-dad,” Ruby said again, her little hand patting Raoul on the face.
“That’s right, Ruby,” Alexis said from her position on the floor. “That’s your daddy. Good girl.”
“She can’t really understand I’m her father,” Raoul said, putting Ruby back down on the floor.
He was forced to reluctantly hold her hands as she tugged herself up onto her feet again and continued to want to walk, this time with him bent over, holding her hands as she tottled toward Alexis.
“Why not?” Alexis asked, feeling her joy at seeing them together dim a little at his lack of pleasure in Ruby’s behavior. “You are her father and she ought to know that, don’t you think?”
“It would be no different if she called me Raoul. She only mimics what she hears you say,” he said repressively.
Provoked, Alexis returned with, “I prefer to think she knows you are her dad. I think she deserves that, don’t you? Or would you rather she grow up calling you Raoul? As if you were some stranger who just happened to live alongside her?”
He waited until Ruby was closer to Alexis before extricating his fingers from the baby’s clutches. Beaming a toothy smile, Ruby continued to take steps unaided. Alexis opened her arms and Ruby walked straight into them.
“Look at you, you clever girl!” she laughed as she hugged the child and smothered her neck with kisses, eliciting yet more baby giggles. “I’m seriously going to have to keep my eye on you now, aren’t I?”
She looked up and caught the expression in Raoul’s eye. Was that longing she saw there? Did he wish he could express the same spontaneous love for his daughter that she did? Alexis gave Ruby another cuddle before setting her loose. Bit by bit she felt as if she was beginning to break through the shell he’d built around himself when it came to Ruby. The thought brought her to an idea that she wanted to suggest to Raoul.
Drawing on a liberal dose of courage, and buoyed by the fact that he’d stayed in the room rather than withdrawing again quickly as he was in the habit of doing, she launched into speech.
“Raoul, I’ve been thinking. Catherine is due home this weekend and I thought since it also ties in with Bree’s birthday, the first time dealing with that date for both of you since she’s gone, that it might be nice to have a bit of a get-together here—you know, invite a few of your friends, make it a potluck dinner kind of thing. I think it would be nice—partly to celebrate Catherine’s recovery to date and partly to remember Bree.”
“I don’t need a gathering to remember her. It’s not a good idea.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” she said, dragging in another deep breath and refusing to be cowed by his rejection, “which is why I kind of went ahead and organized it anyway. Catherine was really eager to participate and she’s just aching to see Ruby again, and Laura and Matt and
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