Free Friends & Forever by J.M. Darhower

story!"
    "Again?"
    "Again!"
    Carmine had told her this story so
many times he was shocked she wasn't sick of fucking hearing it. Haven kissed
Maura's forehead before walking out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.
Carmine kicked off his shoes, climbing into the bed beside her, laying on his
side to give her most of the space, as she snuggled into his arms. She smelled
like soap with a hint of something else, something fresh and calming and
beautiful. Sunshine .
    The girl was sunshine.
    ' She
got that from you ,' Haven always said.
    "Once upon a time, a long time
ago, there was a princess…"
    "A pretty princess, Daddy?"
    "A beautiful princess," he said. "The most beautiful princess I've ever
seen."
    " Beautifuler than Mommy?"
    Carmine ran his hand through her
wayward hair, pushing it back off her forehead. "Just as beautiful as
Mommy."
    Maura nodded, satisfied.
    "So there was a beautiful
princess, a special princess, but nobody knew she existed, because some
monsters kept her locked away. They didn't want the rest of the world to know
about her… they wanted to keep her all to themselves. And they did, for a lot
of years. The beautiful princess grew up alone, and sad, wishing she could be a
part of the world outside of her dungeon, but they never let her even get close
to escape."
    "Until the angel, right, Daddy?"
    "Until the angel," he
agreed. "The angel was beautiful, too, the most beautiful angel to ever
exist. She saw the princess, and she knew she had to save her from the
monsters. And so she did. The angel risked it all to free the princess from
captivity, and in the process she became a real angel."
    "Like grandma?"
    "Just like grandma."
    Maura smiled. She asked the same
questions every time, and Carmine couldn't help but wonder if she'd figured out
this story was true, but she never pressed the matter, and he hadn't admitted
it. She was young, but she was a smart child, much too smart for her age.
    "So the princess was saved from
the monsters, but she wasn't free yet, because there were more monsters out
there, more monsters who didn't want the princess to be free. They were afraid
she would claim her crown, that she would bring an end to their reign, so they
tried to take her, tried to imprison her again."
    "But it didn't work?"
    "No, it didn't, because they'd
underestimated the brave knight who had sworn himself to be her savior. He
slayed the monsters, saving the princess once and for all, freeing her and
letting her take her rightful place as princess, where she lived happily ever
after."
    Maura stared at him for a moment.
"Daddy, are you the knight?"
    Carmine was surprised by that
question. She hadn't asked that one before. The story always ended here, and
she was always content with that. "Uh, no."
    "What happened to the
knight?"
    "He was awarded for his bravery
by getting to spend eternity with the angel."
    "Did the princess get a
prince?"
    "Yeah, she did, and he was the
luckiest prince to ever exist."
    Carmine kissed her forehead before
climbing to his feet, grabbing his shoes as he headed for the door. He paused,
his hand on the light switch, when she spoke again.
    "Daddy, are you the
prince?"
    He laughed, looking back at her.
"Do I look like a prince to you?"
    She stared at him, hard, like she was
genuinely considering his question, eyes studying every inch of him looking for
signs of royalty. "I dunno ."
    He laughed, turning off the light,
the automatic heart-shaped nightlight kicking on in the darkness.
"Goodnight, piccola . I love you."
    "Night, Daddy. Love you."
    The day she was born, Carmine fell in
love for the second time. He never thought he'd ever love someone as much as he
loved Haven, that all-consuming, soul-gripping, fuck-you-up kind of love that
leaves you breathless and weak in the knees, that squeezes your fucking heart
and takes over your chest. The kind of love that alters you, changes the person
you are, making someone who once thought they were hopeless feel like they're
worth a