SINN | +18

• chapter • 5 •

chapter five:
izabelle

• • •

I DON'T RECALL EVER PASSING OUT, nor do I remember waking up back in my bed. When I shoot up from where I am, the first thing I'm greeted with is the horrendous throbbing soreness between my legs. I'm wearing the shirt that Sinn was wearing when he first entered.

Then, I find pictures of me and Ava on the bed, either from when she was a baby or just last summer when we went to Disney World. At the edge of the bed, Sinn is going through every picture carefully with the hint of a smile on his face. He looks up when he feels the bed move, his smile disappearing and being replaced with a cold look—a betrayed look.

"She's mine," he says. His voice is void of emotion. "Don't say she isn't either because she looks almost exactly like me. How old is she? She looks old enough to be in schooling."

I bite my lip, feeling the guilt beginning to eat me alive.

"I had her not to long after we ended things," I whisper. I can't even look him in the eye. "I thought being on Earth and away from the strict rules of being an angel would be safer for her, especially considering she's 50-percent demon."

Sinn lets out a harsh laugh and stands up, grabbing the photos and throwing them on my lap. I wince slightly at the heaviness of the photo album on my legs and look down at the pictures.

"Do you see those?" He snaps. His body starts to shake. "Those are pictures of only you with our daughter, Izabelle! Does she even know I exist?"

I pause, trying to find the right words to say. His jaw clenches and he closes his eyes, breathing in slowly. When he reopens them, he looks slightly calmer—still terrifying, though.

"All Ava knows is that you're too busy to be around right now," I slowly tell him. "I show her pictures of when you and I were younger every now and then and she doesn't question when you'll come home at this age. I plan to keep it that way."

"Do you even fucking hear yourself right now?" He snaps, tugging at his hair. "You're talking about our daughter, Izabelle! I should get a say in this!"

"Not until I can trust that you're going to be a constant in her life," I snap back. "For fuck's sake, Sinn, you were barely around when we were together, nonetheless when I needed you the most when I was this close to having my wings stripped from me! You honestly think I'd let you carry that same inconsistency into Ava's life?"

He opens his mouth to retort something, then closes his eyes again. I can tell he's trying not to lose his shit so I give him props for not exploding and throwing me out of a window.

"Even if I wasn't ready, I would—and will—be there for my daughter," he says to me slowly. He's a lot calmer than just a few seconds ago. "For whatever she needs from me as a father, which includes being there for anything."

I inhale slowly, then look down at my fidgeting fingers. There's sentence after sentence lodged in my throat as I struggle to find any words to say.

"B-but..." I stammer, suddenly feeling my nerves get the best of me. "It would require you seeing her every day from the time she went to school to when she got back. To... to help her with her homework and make jokes with her at dinner."