by Dahlia Rose
“Some are traditional gifts that would be given in japan, some of the others I just went shopping and picked out cute little girl things,” Jacob admitted. “This gold envelope should go first.”
Eden opened the gold envelope with elegant calligraphy on the outside. Inside was a check with more zeros than would ever be in her bank account. “I can’t and won’t take your money,” Eden said feeling as if this was some kind of payoff for the last year.
“In Japanese culture, it is one of the traditional customs to offer the new family money to bless the birth of their child,” Jacob said. “Part can be kept for family needs and then the parents will share half of what was given to gift another.”
“So, what do I do with twenty thousand dollars?” Eden asked.
Steve Kinsley coughed. “Whoa!”
“You can place half in a trust for Sera and donate the rest to charity?” he said hopefully.
Eden nodded stiffly. “That sounds good.”
“Do you want to hold your daughter?” her father asked Jacob. “You keep looking at her like you want to reach out and take her.”
“I do,” Jacob admitted with a smile. “Just a little bit worried about if her grandpa may throw a punch.”
Steve Kinsley laughed. “Take your daughter, son.”
Jacob lifted the baby into his arms and a sigh of contentment escaped him.
Eden watched how he interacted with the baby, showing her toys and clothes from the boxes that Eden opened. Some of them were totally cute and made her smile, like onsies and socks rolled up to look like sushi. Another was a traditional tea set for Sera’s first meal. Jacob explained that is was his from his birth that he was now passing on to his daughter.
Dinner was more casual, with her parents asking questions and Jacob filling them in about his life and other happenings. All the while, she was acutely aware of the man that sat across her table while their baby slept in her bassinet.
After dessert when Jacob and her mother were done comparing recipes and spices. With warm goodbyes her parents then went home.
She was acutely aware of being alone with him and Eden didn’t know what should happen next.
He was now on the floor watching Sera while she enjoyed tummy time before her bath.
Eden sat on the sofa across from him and leaned on her elbows to watch their interaction.
Jacob laughed when she made a drool bubble and kicked her little legs. “She is absolutely amazing,” he said. “Was it an easy birth?”
“Easy like birthing a watermelon.” Eden laughed. “This chunk monster here was almost nine pounds. I could be to blame for the excessive toasted sandwiches I ate.”
“Cravings?” Jacob asked.
“Like a fiend, with fried onions and pickles on everything.” Eden laughed. “Not just pickle slices but fried pickle slices.”
“I have never had a fried pickle,” he commented. “Heard about the trend, never had a chance to taste one.”
Eden shook her head. “And you lived in Texas.”
The baby let out a wail of unhappiness that turned their attention back to her. The comfortable feeling to be laughing and talking with him made Eden more nervous that she was easily falling back into loving him and wanting him. Lord, she hoped she’d locked those emotions away and they could just co-parent. “Time for her bath and bottle before bed.” Eden moved to pick Sera up.
“Do you still breastfeed?” Jacob asked.
Why did that question maker her warm in all the right—wrong places? “I do but she has bottles as well, she is six months old and I’ll be weening her off the breast completely soon,” Eden managed to say. “Bottles at night helps her sleep better.”
He cleared his throat. “That’s good.”
“It won’t take long to bathe her. Do you want to wait and give her the bottle?” Eden asked hesitantly.
“That would be amazing.” Jacob stood. “Do you need me to do anything?”
Eden smiled. “No, we pretty much have a routine down.”
“One, without me,” Jacob said knowingly. “I missed six months of watching her figure out what daytime and nighttime is. Finally figuring out whose faces belong to whom...”
“We’ll be out in about thirty minutes,” Eden said quickly and walked down the hall. Her emotions were in flux and she needed to put some space between them. Now Jacob was back in her life, so would he want to take the baby for half the day or overnight? Eden started to panic because she definitely wasn’t ready to leave her baby with anyone overnight, not even her parents could convince her to let them watch her, so she could take a breath for twenty-four hours.
She talked herself calm while bathing the Sera and sang the bathtub songs that they made up while watching her baby smile. It made Eden’s heart ache sweetly, the love that filled her when Sera looked at her with such love and trust. She couldn’t deny Jacob that, it wouldn’t be fair for him or their daughter.
Dressed in her little yellow duckie pajamas and smelling of her bath wash and baby powder. Eden took the baby back out to her father.
Jacob had taken off his coat and was sitting on her sofa waiting for them return.
“She likes the rocker recliner,” Eden said handing him the baby. “I’ll get her bottle ready for you.”
In the kitchen, she could hear him talking to be the baby in English and in Japanese. Eden was sure the words of love translated the same in both languages. With the warm bottle in hand, she went back out to Jacob and their daughter. “Put this burp cloth on your shoulder and this bib under her neck. She tries to guzzle down her milk and she leaks from the corners because she’s a greedy pudding baby. The other one is for when you burp her, so she doesn’t spit up on your good clothes.”
Jacob took the bottle with a husky laugh. “She can do whatever she pleases, I am okay with it.”
“See, now you can’t be spoiling her,” Eden said sitting close by. “Then mom is the bad cop and dad is the good cop. When she grows up, she will know how to play us against each other.”
“How could you not spoil her, look at her?” Jacob teased. “I understand the good daddy bad mommy scenario.” He watched the baby drink her bottle.
Eden noted how Sera’s eyes were fixed on her father.
He started to sing to the baby in Japanese, a soft lullaby that combined with the milk and the gentle rock of the recliner. The baby’s eyes grew heavy and with the bottle empty, Jacob wiped her mouth gently.
“Now put her up over your shoulder,” Eden instructed in a low voice. “Pat her back lightly until she burps and then we can put her down. You’ll have to put her down, if I take her, she’ll wake up.”
“Like this?” Jacob asked tentatively while tapping her small back.
Eden nodded.
Soon, they were rewarded with a burp that made Jacob grin like he’d just won the lottery. He got up gently.
She led him down the hall to the nursery and watched him carefully put her on her back in the crib. Eden put on the nightlight that made starts on the ceiling and left the door cracked before they went back down the hall.
“Was it difficult?” Jacob asked and then elaborated, “After having her I mean and being on your own.”
“I had my mom to help but for the first few weeks, she cried then I couldn’t figure out what she wanted, so I cried.” Eden smiled ruefully. “Sleep deprivation and feeling like you were failing didn’t go well, but we got through that and now, we run like a well-oiled machine.”
At the front door, Jacob turned to her. “Why didn’t you tell me? Reach out to me, Eden I would’ve come.” His voice intense.
“And leave your ailing mother?” Eden shook her head. “I don’t need that on my conscience.”
He grabbed her shoulders and whispered fiercely, “We would’ve worked it out. You should’ve told me, the pregnancy, my mother’s deception, all of it.”
“I can’t apologize for running,” Eden said defiantly. “We really didn’t know each other, a few weeks of sex a
nd dreams...”
“Our dreams,” Jacob said huskily. “Together.”
“Don’t Jacob,” she whispered feeling tears threaten to slip from her eyes.
“Don’t what? Love you, want you, need you in my life like the next breath I draw into my lungs?” Jacob asked. “Because that won’t ever happen.” He didn’t wait for an answer, instead Jacob took her lips in a kiss.
The kiss brought every touch, every caress right back into her mind. That bullshit box she locked them away in didn’t do a thing and it all crashed over her in waves. He speared his tongue into her mouth and her knees went weak. Being molded against his body and feeling completely decimated by his kiss, Eden felt her reserve weakening and she knew she had to pull away.
She put her hand on his chest and pushed him away. “You should go.”
“You don’t want me to,” Jacob said.
Eden looked at him and repeated the words, “You should leave...please.”
Jacob sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I love you Eden and I won’t ever stop saying that. I hope you’ll see the time we didn’t spend together was stolen from us. I want to build a life with our daughter and you. I won’t give up, my moon, don’t expect me to.” With those words, he slipped out the door closing it behind him.
Eden lifted a trembling hand to her lips. She replayed his words in her head as she locked up and wondered if because of her actions, the stolen time was because of her.
Chapter Five
Jacob knew he had his work cut out for him when he decided to relocate to Arizona. It wasn’t much different from Texas, warm breezes and wide-open spaces. December and not a drop in temperature, it was around forty when he’d left Eden’s house and the high would be around sixty for the day.
Living a hotel and house hunting wasn’t the most ideal situation. Jacob would have much preferred to stay with Eden and then she and Sera could move into the new house with him.
That wasn’t going to happen, because while he could still see the love in Eden’s eyes, he saw distrust. Maybe he should’ve tried to find her much sooner than this. Or Eden could have told him about the pregnancy. Mistakes were made on both sides, and now instead of rehashing them, it was time to overcome them. He fully intended to have her and his child back in his world.
God, so much time wasted, Jacob shook his head and focused on the real estate agent.
“Does this price work for you?” he asked Jacob, almost salivating at the commission if he closed the deal.
“Draw up the paperwork, I want to move in by this weekend,” Jacob replied. “My belongings are already on the way from Texas, so there is a bonus if you expedite this quickly.”
“Mr. Sato, it would be my pleasure to work on this for you,” the realtor said.
Jacob nodded. “Now where is a good place to get a Christmas tree around here?”
The realtor ginned. “I can help you with that too.”
Jacob wanted this house to be warm and filled with Christmas cheer to woo Eden towards actually thinking about it as home. From the first time he saw Sera’s face, it was like something righted within him and he saw everything clearer. He was a father and from what his father instilled in Jacob, he knew that it was the most important job of his life.
The SUV he drove was no longer a rental, as he’d dropped that model off at the rental company then went right across the street and bought his own. He bought a car seat and the cashier at the store told him that he could take it to any Firehouse, and they would show him how to install it safely. Luckily, he could do better than that, Arizona might be a new home, but it didn’t mean he was without friends.
After buying the house, he was on his way to see his friend, Dr. Hosea Bennett. Hosea or as he was called Jay to his friends, had a wife and two sons, so he could talk to his friend and receive much needed advice along with help with the baby carrier. While Jacob chose a house right outside of Phoenix, Hosea’s house was in a lovely hacienda style neighborhood surrounded by trees to offer shade in the driveway.
In the smaller shrubbery, there were Christmas lights and on the lawn holiday blow ups, including a snow globe that garnered Jacob’s interest. He pulled in and parked behind the red family Suburban.
Jay stepped out of the house wearing sandals, a pair of cargo shorts and a light green polo shirt. Jay kept his head clean shaven and a wide smile broke through on his ebony face. There was no handshake but a warm embrace with some heavy claps on the back. Jay was like a brother and it was like they hadn’t lived in two separate states for over four years.
“Look at you living the life,” Jacob said pulling away with a grin. “I wanted to say you got fat and lazy but you’re still solid.”
“Speak on, you still looking like you’re ready to kick some ass in a Kungfu movie,” Jay teased.
“I thought we stopped stereotyping each other in middle school.” Jacob laughed and rubbed his flat torso. “But yeah, the eight pack could do some damage on the big screen.”
“Now you’re showing off, eight huh?” Jay clapped him on the back. “Come inside, let me get you something to drink and you can tell me why I need to help you with a baby carrier.”
Inside the house was cool with a fan working in the vaulted ceiling of the ranch style home. There were baseball bats, skates and other items that showed children lived there.
“Where’s the family?” Jacob asked casually.
Jay led him to the kitchen, outside the sliding door was a pool and a bunch of flotation animals, including a unicorn. “Brandon has soccer this morning and Marlowe is in some kind of dance class for three-year-olds,” he answered. “Caroline took them because I just got off shift like two hours ago.”
“I’m sorry man, I can come back, you need to sleep,” Jacob said apologetically.
“Sit your ass down and drink this coke,” Jay said good naturedly. “It takes me a few hours to wind down and then I don’t go back to the hospital until Tuesday, unless they really need me. You know, best trauma surgeon in Arizona and all that.”
“Ego.” Jacob shook his head as he grinned. “But hey, do what you do, you know you’re the best.”
“Tell me about this car seat situation.” Jay leaned against the counter and took a sip of his own drink.
“I have a daughter, she’s six-months old and I found out about her on Tuesday,” Jacob answered. “Her name is Seraphine Akira Kinsley, Sera for short.”
“Whoa, plot twist when did you make a kid?” Jay asked in surprise. “Didn’t the mother call you?”
“Nope, my mother got to her and she bolted, then went off the grid, disconnected her phone and everything.” Jacob sighed. “I guess I could’ve searched harder, but when I woman changes her number, it usually means it’s the end.”
“Yeah, but she left because of your mom, who can be...a lot to say the least. So, I would want to know what was actually said,” Jay replied.
“If I had known from the very beginning my mom was involved, I wouldn’t have stopped looking,” Jacob explained. “My mother didn’t say a thing about it until she was on her deathbed. She told me and asked for forgiveness, then died a few days later.”
“Jesus, I’m sorry man,” Jay said. “Are you doing okay?”
Jacob nodded stiffly. “Doing okay, you know my mother and I had a strained relationship from the time I hit sixteen. I loved her, but I also feel a sense of relief that she is at peace and—”
“And she isn’t fucking up your life,” Jay finished for him.
“I hope she found peace...but yeah,” Jacob replied. “I got some investigators on it and they found Eden, that’s Sera’s mom.”
“I am intrigued by all this,” Jay said with dry amusement.
Jacob grinned. “I show up at the house and she is holding this baby girl and denied she was mine, until I saw that baby’s eyes and I knew Sera was mine.”
“Eden could’ve had a relationship with another Asian male, you ain’t special,” Jay pointed out.
�
��Ok jerk, I know that. It’s not just the shape of her eyes, but the color. She looks like me and I see myself in baby pictures. She has this soft brown skin and the widest, cutest smile.”
“So, I’m getting that Eden is black, I guess that’s why your mother wanted her gone,” Jay said knowingly.
“You hit the nail on the head, and I love her. Jay, I love her so damn much, then I saw Sera and fell in love with her too.” Jacob’s voice was intense with emotion. “But I have to take it slow, because she doesn’t trust me and I get that, my mom fucked up the entire thing. I met her parents.”
“Both mom and dad?” Jay asked. “How did that go? Wait...I can answer my own question... you are still alive, so it went well.”
Jacob laughed. “Her dad is a retired cop of the Phoenix police department. I thought for sure I was going to get shot if he thought I wanted to hurt his daughter. But we talked and it won’t be easy, but I want her in my life. Hell, as my wife, if she eventually says yes. And I want her living with me by Christmas.”
Jay looked at him skeptically. “You do know that Thanksgiving just passed and Christmas Day is in twenty-nine days... exactly.
“That’s why I need to get to work and I have a plan,” Jacob explained.
“Uh, plans, this sounds like a sitcom that will go horribly wrong.” Jay chuckled.
“I have it under control. I knew that this time it had to be me to make the move.” Jacob watched the water condensing on the glass trail down the side to the coaster. “First step, I bought a house this morning and will have it decorated and set up by Monday. And this is why I need help installing a car seat because I have never done it in my life.”
“Well, if I ever thought it would be some boring story, I was wrong.” Jay grinned. “Let me show you how to make sure your daughter is safe in the car. What is your plan anyway?”
“Twelve days of Christmas.” Jacob followed Jay to the door. “You know, my true love gave to me thing. I plan to give her and Sera twelve gifts leading up to Christmas to show her, I do love her and won’t be leaving again.”