“Oh, I can and I have.” There had been countless occasions where she’d gotten angry at him for pointing out a truthful observation. “Fortunately, this isn’t something I want to get mad at you for, so you’re safe.” Her brows rose playfully.
One side of Leah’s mouth quirked into a smile. “She might agree with you, but that probably also depends on whether she even understands what we’re talking about. I’ll take the compliment, though.” If she’d been aware that any part of him was jealous for what she had, she likely would’ve been more upfront with her agreement to let him help raise Marigold. After spending the first month getting to know her daughter, Leah was slowly starting to widen her bubble of protectiveness and allowing others — namely her siblings — to help her more.
“If she makes fun, I’ll probably laugh because it’ll still be cute.” Such was her admiration for her daughter. Thus far, Marigold could do no wrong. She was surprisingly well-behaved, which did make Leah wonder exactly how Marigold had been treated while she was living in that government facility.
Leah rolled her eyes and looked at him fondly. “You and your complexes. I take no blame for any such complex and counter that with a threat to find other methods of enjoying things.” She nodded once. “So there.”
Her brows rose in mild disbelief. “Given both their previous jobs, I don’t see how they could be embarrassed by something like that.” She, too, was surprised that there wasn’t as much antagonism in her tone when speaking of Alghren. “It’d probably be an amusing show for us, though, if she really did ask them. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t already been asking Alghren a million questions.” The bikini the woman insisted on wearing revealed a lot. Leah wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing a bikini while she was pregnant.
Leah smiled down at her hand in his. “If you’re sure,” she said softly. “You know I’m thankful for what you did, but I can imagine it must be frustrating sometimes to finally have my attention like this… and be forced to share it with so many other people.” Not that she really had anyone beyond her siblings and daughter, but the point still stood.