Asher stood in his parents' living room, checking his watch for the fifth time in two minutes.
Kael would arrive in fifteen minutes for the first supervised visit with Kai and Lily.
And Asher felt like he might throw up.
"Stop pacing," his mer-dad said from the couch. "You're making everyone nervous."
"I'm not pacing."
"You've walked past the window twelve times in the last five minutes."
"I'm just—" Asher ran his hands through his hair. "What if this is a mistake? What if he hurts them? What if—"
"Then we end the visit immediately," his fer-father said, coming in from the kitchen with tea. "That's why we're here. To protect them."
"But what if I'm wrong? What if letting him in is the worst thing I could do?"
"Or," Elliot said from the doorway—he'd insisted on being here for moral support—"what if you're giving your children the chance to know their father? What if this is the right thing?"
Asher wanted to believe that. But five years of pain made it hard.
