Free Naked by Megan Hart Page A

her daddy spoiling her has nothing to do with any of that?” I murmured, my attention focused on the scene playing out in front of me. Point and shoot. Click. I captured the battle between father and child with a press of one finger.
    “Don’t take pictures of this!” Steven demanded.
    Pippa, laughing, dodged his grasp and ran around the studio. Her shoes pounded the old wooden boards, the beat of freedom. She ran fast, that little girl. Just as I always had.
    Devon laughed and sat back, shaking his head. I snappedpicture after picture. Pippa running. Steven grabbing her up, dangling her upside down, her pretty dress flipping up to show the rumba panties beneath, and her springy curls sweeping the floor. Daddy and daughter snuggling close. Then, two daddies with their little girl, the love among them a visible, tangible thing I didn’t control or edit, but merely captured.
    “Pippa, do it for Daddy,” Steven said. “I want a pretty picture of you to give Nanny and Poppa.”
    That rosebud mouth pursed again and the small, fine brows furrowed, but at last Pippa gave a sigh better suited to a little old lady. “Oh, okay. Fine.”
    He settled her on the upturned wooden crate and arranged her hair and dress, then stepped back. I framed the shot and took it. Perfect. But even as I tilted the camera to show the digital image to Devon, I knew this wasn’t the one I’d tweak and polish to give them for their wall.
    Small arms hugged my knees and I looked into an upturned face. “Lemme see, Livia! Lemme see the pitcher.”
    I knelt beside the little girl and showed her the photo on the screen. She frowned. “I don’t like it.”
    “Shh,” I whispered conspiratorially. “Don’t tell your daddy that or he’ll make you sit for another one.”
    Even at four, Pippa was smart enough to figure out when a smile was a better weapon. She giggled. I joined her. When she hugged me, her small, soft cheek pressed to mine, I smelled baby shampoo and fabric softener.
    “Why don’t you go play with the dollhouse,” I told her. “Let me show your daddies the pictures.”
    “I wanna see the pitchers, too!”
    “You will,” I promised, knowing there was no way to keepher from it, but not willing, as her fathers were, to indulge her every whim. “But first I have to put them on my computer. Go play.”
    “She listens to you,” Steven said with an exhausted sigh as Pippa skipped off to the corner where I’d placed my old dollhouse. “Thank God.”
    I shrugged and slipped the memory card from the back of my camera. I took it to the long, battered table I used instead of a desk, and pushed it into the card reader plugged into the back of my Macbook. My photo program opened, showcasing the series of pictures I’d taken. Steven and Devon pulled up chairs on either side.
    “Look at that one,” Steven said about the one showing the three of them. “Gorgeous, Liv. Just amazing.”
    The heat of pride flushed my cheeks. “Thanks.”
    “No, seriously. Look at that.” Devon pointed to one of Pippa, backlit in front of one of the studio’s long, high windows, her dress belled out around her knees as she spun. “How do you do it?”
    “Practice. Talent.” I clicked on the shot to enlarge it, and toyed with some settings to bring out the contrast of light and dark. “Mostly practice.”
    “Anyone can take a snapshot. But what you do is art. Really art.” Devon sounded awed. He turned from the monitor to look at me. “She draws, you know. Pippa does. The pediatrician says kids her age are just barely making stick figures, but she’s already drawing full bodies.”
    “I don’t draw,” I told him gently, and kept my focus on the screen.
    “I’m just saying,” he answered softly.
    We worked together for a little while on the photos theyliked best, until I’d cleaned them up and added them to a disc for them to take home. I added the raw shots, too, in case they wanted them for any reason. I lingered on the one of Pippa in