You've got to be kidding me, Reine thought. The shock of the revelation only allowed her to politely say two words out loud."Who's this?"

Max beamed with pride as he picked up the girl. "This gorgeous creature, my dear, is Amara. Amara honey, this lady is going to be your new mama."

"Excuse me?" Reine asked with shock. "Max, can we talk in private, please?"

"Morgan, can you take her?" He handed Amara to the girl who just entered the kitchen. "Have Mathilde make her something for lunch," he instructed, ushering Reine out of the room. "Let's go to my study."

Neither of them said a word until they reached the office tucked inconspicuously into a quiet corner of the second floor. Dark wood paneling covered the walls and a large billiards table took up much of the floor space.

The faint smell of cigars turned Reine's stomach, but she tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling and focus her thoughts. "Why in the world did you tell that little girl I was going to be her mother?"

Stopping in the middle of the room, he turned to face her. "I agree it was rather presumptuous, but I always imagined we'd have children together,." he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Since you're going to be living here now, it was the obvious conclusion. Morgan's been amazing with her, don't get me wrong. But she has Kenzi to look after. Plus, she's better suited for the role of the fun aunt, anyway."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Reine held up her hands and took a step backwards. "I never said I'm staying. I appreciate your hospitality, and I obviously need to get as much information as you can give me, but I intend to go back home – and back to my life – as soon as I can."

"Oh." He scratched his temple with one finger. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I think you're making a mistake."

"Listen, Max. I haven't objected to you repeatedly referring to me as your wife because . . . well, I'm still trying to make sense of it all. But I can't go along with you making me that little girl's mother out of the blue. She's a person, not a thing to assign over. I just met her for goodness sakes! What if she doesn't even like me?" she asked.

He walked back across the room and put his hands on Reine's shoulders. "How can you think that? She'll love you." Looking into her eyes, he smiled. "Plus, I've told her everything about you, and she's been dying to meet you."

"That's not the point," she said, wrinkling her brows and squirming out from his grip. "You could have given me a heads up, too. Why do you think it's okay for everyone to always know what's going on except me?"

He moved over to a small table filled with bottles before answering. "Is that what you think I've been doing?"

"Oh my God." She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Let's just back up, here, okay? Is Amara your daughter?"

He smiled. "Yes, she is." Pouring a golden colored liquid into a crystal glass, he offered it to her. "Drink?"

Reine waved him off and continued with the questioning. "How is that even possible?"

"Don't over analyze it, darling." He took a sip, savoring the taste before swallowing. "She's an orphan, plain and simple. And I've adopted her."

Leaning against the billiard table, Reine rolled a shiny, red ball across the green felt. "Is she like us? Will she be this young forever? Or will she grow old and die while the rest of you remain unchanged?"

"No, she's different," he said, sitting down on a leather loveseat next to the sleeping, gray feline.

"Isn't it one or the other?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Mortal or immortal? What else is there?"

He smiled before taking another drink. "Well, obviously, there's Amara. That's our theory, anyway. We can't be certain yet, not until she is twenty years and seventy-five days old."

Steadying herself with both hands on the edge of the table, Reine leaned forward. "Why? What happens then?"

"That is when, if we are indeed correct, she will turn immortal."

She shrugged her shoulders. "How do you know? Why then?"

"Because that's the exact age her mother died," he said as he scratched the cat's head. The Persian responded by getting up and moving to his master's lap.

"What does her mother have to do with it? Didn't you say immortality was a genetic mutation?"

"I certainly did and she's no exception. Have a seat my love." He patted the now vacant space next to him.

Ignoring the suggestion, Reine chose the chair opposite him. As she crossed her legs, she inadvertently exposed her Mona Lisa printed socks.

Max smirked, but continued. "Amara's mother was a drug addict who died of an overdose in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She was eight months pregnant, and Amara was born a mere minute after her mother's heart stopped beating."

"Wow," Reine whispered.

"That's not everything." He stroked the cat's back. "Amara's mother was destined to become immortal. The single minute between death and immortality, which mother and daughter shared was possibly enough to transfer the gift to the baby."

"But you can't be sure?"

He cleared his throat. "Not definitively, but there are precedents. Children born after such circumstances have occasionally exhibited normal growth until they reached the age of their mothers' deaths, at which time they took on the traits of healing and stopped aging."

Reine bit her lip. "So, she's some sort of hybrid?" she asked.

"I hate that term." He swished around the drink's remnants in the glass. "It makes me think I should be feeding her ethanol or something. But I guess the analogy is somewhat appropriate."

Reine sighed, taking in all of the information. "If her mother became immortal, didn't she want her daughter back?"

"No, she did not." Max finished his drink and placed the empty glass on a side table. "And there were no other immediate family members, so she was put up for adoption."

Reine shook her head. It was such a tragic way to start a young girl's life. "How old is she now?" she wondered.

Max responded immediately. "Four and a half."

"And a half?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his specificity.

"Oh, yes. It makes a big difference." To her amazement, he was quite serious.

"You really enjoy it, don't you?" She smiled.

He wrinkled his forehead. "Enjoy what?"

"Being her father." It felt strange to say those words.

Max was also puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you totally light up when you talk about her." Reine tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

He smiled again. "I had given up on the thought I'd have a child, but she's a remarkable little girl. I imagine her to be a lot like you when we were young." He leaned slightly forward and looked Reine in the eyes. "Perhaps that's why I was so drawn to her. You're right though. I shouldn't have expected you to take over a mother's role. But you can still be friends. Are you comfortable enough now to go talk to her?"

She sighed. "Fine. Let's do it."