Will was mid-laugh when Ella said it, chuckling at their comically puckered expression. Caught him right off his guard. Mum and Dad.
'Course he thought of Ella as his kid, love 'em and doted on 'em like they were his own blood, and since he'd moved in proper he and Clio had been sharing the parenting more— but Ella had a fine father already in Jacob, and Will had only been in their life a year, and he'd never have presumed—
A complicated expression ghosted across his face, fondness and wonder all wound up in some deep emotion he couldn't name. It'd been a long time since anybody had called him Dad.
He recovered quickly and turned to Ella with a wide grin. "Thass right, we're bein' proper gross. Mushy an' all." He'd pulled away from Clio as he spoke and leaned over Ella to plant a noisy kiss on their head. "What d'you think, me duck, you up for an adventure in the woods?"