by E K Woodcock
I have on the matching apron Willow gave me when we learned she was pregnant with Everly. It says Kiss Me, I'm a Daddy and makes me smile each time I look at it.
As Everly starts pacing up and down the corridors of our basement suite, I realize my mistake. I never told Skylar we live in a basement suite and my mother lives on the main floor. It's too late now to message her to warn her about what she's about to face because the doorbell rings, signaling Skylar is here, upstairs, currently meeting my mother.
Ev runs, screeching, to the door in between our suite and my mom’s house and pushes it wide open. I catch a glimpse of her blonde curls and the red top she's matched with the black skinny jeans, and my insides do a jump. I haven't felt like this about a woman since Willow, and it scares me.
As soon as she opened the door, Ev ran upstairs to greet our guest. It’s been at least five minutes since Skylar arrived and no one is downstairs yet. I can hear the three of them talking and laughing upstairs. I think it's time to go and crash this party. After all, I may have forgotten to mention we live with my mother, but I still don't want to feed her to the wolves without landing a helpful hand to get her out of there.
The scene upstairs is nothing but comfort and is not at all what I was expecting. They’ve all moved to my mother's living room and there’s a glass of wine in everyone's hands. My mother is sitting next to Skylar, and Everly is on her other side. They’re pointing at an object lying wide open on Skylar’s lap and giggling. I clear my throat to announce my existence, and they all look up at me. My mom and daughter with sly looks, Skylar with a look that promises nothing but trouble later.
I approach them slowly, as if I’m about to pet a wild animal, trying to see what’s got them all giggly and realize the photo album on Skylar’s lap. "Oh, good God, Mom. Why would you pull this old thing out?"
To say I'm mortified would be an understatement. This is the photo album from when I was in my "I love my naked body" stage. Needless to say, half the pictures are of me half naked running around when I was five or six.
My mom just looks at me and smiles, but it's the menacing look and smile on Skylar's face that says it all. Payback is a bitch. Yes, this was a ploy on both their part because I forgot to warn her about my living situation. Alas, all is fair in love and war.
"So, ladies," I address both Everly and Skylar, "if anyone would like to join me downstairs, we've got tortillas to make."
Ev jumps up and runs downstairs in excitement. This is her favorite part, making the tortillas. Skylar gets up and gives my mom a hug. "Thanks so much, Mrs. Montgomery."
"You're welcome, dear, and it was a pleasure meeting you." They wave at each other and we head back down.
Parenting 101, never trust a toddler. Better yet, never trust a toddler who's too quiet.
Skylar and I walk into the kitchen to find the entire place covered in flour with Everly standing in the middle of it. I give her a questioning look. "Young lady, care to explain what happened in here?"
"Well, Daddy, you see… I saw all the ingredients ready, and all the measuring cups were sitting out too, and you guys were taking so long… and I didn't have the patience to wait anymore… so I decided to start without you, but then I got a sneeze attack and…" She points to the floor and the counter as if she's asking me to put two and two together and not make her say it.
I hear a stifled snicker next to me and glance at Skylar. She's turned red from trying not to laugh so hard and Ev is giving me her usual sheepish I'm the perfect picture of innocence look. I finally give in and laugh right alongside them. "Well, missy, how are we going to clean all this up and feed ourselves and our guest?"
Everly grins. "Leave the mess for later and start a new batch?"
"Oh, we can't do that, little miss," chimes in an amused Skylar. "Why don't you go and get me the broomstick and you can hold the dustpan while I sweep the flour into the pan. Sounds like a plan?" Ev beams at the suggestion. "Oh, yes! Let's do that, fairy Skylar."
Once the floor is swept and the counter is wiped from the excess flour, Ev and I try again. I measure the ingredients and hand them to her for her to put in a bowl and mix. We work in perfect harmony while Skylar watches us with her glass of wine
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do? I can brown the beef, cut the lettuce or shred the cheese?" Skylar asks.
Ev looks at her. "All those things are already done; fairy Skylar and you are our guest. Guests are supposed to sit and relax, not cook and clean.”
''She's right, you know," I chime in.
Skylar lifts her glass up in salute and makes small conversation with us. "So Everly, how old are you?"
"I'm three years old but almost four." Ev holds her fingers up to show how many.
Skylar smiles. "Oh, that's awesome. Do you know when your birthday is?"
Ev gives her a look. "Well, of course, I do. It's in the summer."
Skylar chuckles at this response. "Do you have any friends?"
"I have two!” she exclaims with excitement. “They are awesome. I think I like April better because she is nice, but I like Eleanor too. She's pretty cool."
"Well, that sounds great. Do you have a favorite food?" Skylar settles into a chair as she continues to watch us work.
"Yes, yes, yes. I do. It's 'za."
Skylar’s brows draw together in confusion. "Za? Do you mean pizza?"
Everly smiles. "Well, yes, of course. Do you have a favorite food?"
"Who doesn't? But yes, my favorite food is tacos. Tacos are like a beef love letter you mail to your stomach," Skylar says with a wink, earning a giggle from Everly.
"Hmmm, a beef love letter," I say and this makes both of them giggle.
Finally, the tortillas are ready. We set the table, I pour our wines into goblets, and we start to eat. Complete silence surrounds the table as we grab taco after taco. Making your own tortillas means smaller portions, so I'm on my third taco and Skylar is on her second. Everly is battling with her second when we hear a screech and a crash like dropped glass come from upstairs.
I look at Skylar. She motions upstairs with her head. "Go, I've got Ev. And please be careful."
I smile at her, drop my taco back onto my plate, and head to the dividing door. I open it and quietly shut the door behind me, taking the stairs two at a time. Once I'm in my mom's house, I realize I have nothing on me that I can use as a weapon and reach for the vase she's got sitting at the front entrance.
I quietly make my way into the living room with the giant vase raised up over my head, and I find my mom on the couch staring across the living room with a small smile and tears streaming down her face.
My mom sees me from the corner of her eye and waves me closer into the living room. "Look, Carter, look!"
I turn toward where she's pointing at. What I see knocks the breath out of me, and I drop the vase.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God! I'm totally freaking out. It's been ten minutes since Carter went upstairs and we heard a loud crash.
My brain immediately went into fight or flight mode and my first action was to keep Everly calm. "Everly, let's do something fun and play hide and seek while Daddy is handling what’s happening upstairs."
Everly clapped with delight. "Oh, Skylar, what a fun idea. I’ll hide first. You count to twenty-three and then you come and find me."
“Let's make it a little more challenging and you don’t come out of your hiding spot until I find you. Make sure you don't make any sounds because then you'll give away your spot and I'll find you sooner." She smiled and ran off to hide.
That was about five minutes ago. Now in complete silence, in a place I don't know, my brain is firmly nestled in the flight mode.
I have a million scenarios running through my mind. A zombie apocalypse. A mass murderer. A thief. Ted Bundy (even though the guy’s been dead for more years than I've been alive). Even Pennywise. Yes, I watch a lot of TV, but when you live alone, are unemployed (not for long), and have
a subscription to Netflix, TV becomes your best friend.
I pace as quietly as I can from one end of the living room to the other, trying to figure out what to do. My gaze falls on a baseball bat that's propped up against the wall. I'm pretty sure it's plastic, but it'll do the trick. I grab it and find myself a hiding spot behind the dividing door with the bat raised high above my head, ready to swing at the poor soul that's going to walk through these doors next.
I do a silent evil laugh to myself and mutter, "I pity the fool," just as the door swings open.
I’m ready, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I have Everly and myself to protect and to save the people upstairs. It’s occurring to me now that maybe calling the police would have been a better idea than to hide behind the door with a plastic baseball bat, but it is what it is at this point.
As the door swings open, I jump out of my hiding spot and swing the bat at the intruder’s head. Bullseye! My plastic weapon makes contact with his forehead in a solid strike.
The intruder groans and rubs his forehead. "What the hell!"
Uh-oh, I know that voice. It's not an intruder. It’s Carter and I've just assaulted the man I've been dreaming of kissing all freakin’ night. Ugh, what a disaster.
The bat hits the floor and my hands fly to my mouth in horror. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, Carter. I thought you were an intruder or a zombie or Pennywise," I ramble.
He's still rubbing his forehead when he starts to laugh. "Zombie or Pennywise? I think Pennywise hides in the sewers and is a lot shorter than me."
I'm ready for the ground to crack open and swallow me whole. I've never been so embarrassed in my life, not even when, in fifth grade, I spent most of third period with my skirt stuck in my underwear and flashed the entire classroom for a whole forty-five minutes.
"Where's Everly?" he asks, glancing around.
"Oh... Everly… She's been hiding for the last fifteen minutes." Oh, goodness, this is a disaster. She probably fell asleep in the spot she was hiding, and now it’s going to be a real challenge to find her.
Carter frowns. "Hiding? Why would she be hiding?"
"Well, I was trying to keep her safe from the intruder!"
"The intruder? What intruder?" A teasing grin tugs at the corners of his mouth.
He's way too amused for me to keep going with this conversation. "Help me find her."
"Calm down, Skylar… Everything is all right."
At this point, I’m freaking out. He trusted me to keep his daughter safe, and I failed miserably. "How can you say that? Where is she?"
"I know all her hiding spots. Let's go and we'll find her."
I follow him to Ev's bedroom, where he opens the closet door and looks inside. She's not there. He looks under the bed. She's not there. He flips the top of the toy box and voila, there she is, fast asleep inside her toy box.
I give Carter an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. She's been hiding in there for the last fifteen minutes. I heard a loud crash after you went upstairs and my immediate thought was to keep her safe. And I didn’t kn—"
"Shhhh." He places his pointer finger on my lips to end my rambling. I'm stunned for a second. I wasn't expecting the physical contact so I just look at him, and he lifts his finger off my lips. "Let's go to the living room and I'll explain everything."
Carter puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me out of Everly's room. "Listen, Skylar, I'm so sorry for tonight. I mean, first I forgot to mention we live in my mother's basement suite, then the flour fiasco in the kitchen and the so-called intruder…” He sighs. “This was not the first date I had hoped for us."
"It was bizarre, but I still had fun. I think the most fun was when you came upstairs with the apron that said Kiss Me, I'm a Daddy and saw me looking at the pictures with your mother. You should have seen your face." I smirk at the memory of his embarrassment.
He cringes. "I bet it was a good one. Listen, I'm going to skip another step here and invite you to join me upstairs for the rest of that wine. There's someone I'd like you to meet."
I give him a smile. "Oh, of course. I mean, what's one more important person… I've already met your mom."
We head upstairs with our glasses and the half-full bottle of Merlot. Mrs. Montgomery is busy with a dustpan and broom, cleaning up the pieces of the broken vase. The very one I've complimented her on when I first arrived.
"Oh, Mrs. Montgomery, what happened?”
"Don’t worry, dear. Everything is all right. Just our Bridget gave us a bit of a shock. And please, call me Anne." She smiles.
I turn toward the kitchen where Carter is filling up four wine glasses with a distant smile on his face. The vibe in the room is that I've stumbled upon an important moment for this family, and since I've just attacked Carter with a plastic baseball bat, I feel obligated to stay.
Either way, I can't hold myself back. "Bridget? Who’s Bridget?"
A new voice now joins us and responds, "That would be me, and you must be Skylar. It's very nice to meet you."
She's in Army greens. Even though they’re a baggy fit, you can tell she's very fit under there. She's average height, has brown shoulder-length hair, and ocean-blue eyes just like Carter.
“Nice to meet you, too, Bridget,” I say.
She smiles at me and motions for me to take a seat. I can’t just sit and make myself comfortable. I have way too many questions to ask this newcomer. Just as I’m about to protest and tell her she should be the one to sit, Carter comes out of the kitchen with our glasses of wine, hands one to me, and sits, motioning for me to take the seat next to him.
"Skylar, this is my younger sister, Bridget. She's just returned from her third tour in Afghanistan and surprised us. She's an Army doctor."
I’ve never been so impressed by a young woman as I am of Bridget, and it must show on my face because she gives me a smile.
In such a short time, the length of a very awkward first date to be exact, these people feel very close to me. However, I still feel like I'm intruding on a special family moment.
"You know, it was very nice to meet both of you, but I have a meeting with my mom's lawyer early in the morning, and I don't want to intrude any more than I already have on your family moment."
"Skylar, please, honey, you're not intruding," Mrs. Montgomery chimes in. Bridget smiles at me, and I can see how tired she is and how much she appreciates the gesture.
Carter smiles and stands. "I'll walk you out."
He runs downstairs and grabs my jacket and purse for me. Once properly dressed, he walks me to my car.
"Your family is lovely, Carter. I really had a great time cooking, cleaning and ‘clubbing’ with you tonight."
"It truly was an unforgettable evening."
We both chuckle and his focus shifts from my eyes to my lips. It's a silent question. Heart racing, I smile at him. That smile is all the answer he needs to jump into action.
That smile is my undoing. It promises mischief, fun and excitement. Once she gives me that go-ahead smile, I move slowly like I'm about to touch a wild animal. I take a step closer to her, place my hands on both sides of her lovely face, and tilt my head. She meets me halfway.
Our lips touch for the briefest second, and it's an electric shock to my entire system. It's been so long since I've kissed a woman, I'm afraid I might just fall over right here.
I pull back, and she makes a sound of protest. Smiling, I take a breath and go in for another taste. This woman tastes delicious, like Merlot and cherries. Her soft lips move in sync with mine as her hands run through my hair, the small whimpering sounds she's making at the back of her throat driving me crazy.
I can't contain myself and walk her back to her car. With her back pressed against the car door, I lift her ass and wrap her legs around my hips. I deepen the kiss and gently caress her tongue with mine. She must have reapplied the lipstick that made her lips look scrumptious. I'm totally and completely drunk by the kiss and the way her
lips move against mine.
I groan into her mouth, and when she moves her hips, I see stars. We lose ourselves in the kiss. Nothing in the world matters until the soft click of a door closing followed by a shocked “oh” breaks us apart.
I sign in disappointment and place my forehead against Skylar’s. But still, a beast in me has been woken, and all I want to do is to find that person and beat them to a pulp for breaking us apart.
Skylar slowly unwraps herself from my waist and stands up, going up on tippy toes to give me a kiss on the cheek. "I think I should head home before this date becomes a sleepover."
"Hmmm, now that's an idea," I say with a wink. "We'll call it saved by the bell. Next time you won't be that lucky."
"Who says I'm the one who's saved by the bell, mister?" There's that smile again, the one with so full of promises.
"Have a great night, fairy Skylar." We share a last, lingering look before she gets into her car and pulls away.
I stand staring after her car disappearing into the night for a few minutes. I haven't felt this way in a very long time. It both scares and excites me. How can I move on from the love of my life, the person who gave me the biggest gift of all but was taken too soon? How will Everly handle this if we decide to take it any further than a first date? And the bigger question is, how will Skylar handle knowing what happened to Willow…
I'm overwhelmed by my feelings when Bridget joins me outside.
"Hey. I’m sorry I broke the two of you apart earlier. I thought she had already left when I came out. Didn’t mean to walk into your intimate moment and cut it short." I can see the apology clear as day in her eyes, and I can’t stay mad at her for long.
I shake my head. "No need to apologize. I'm so happy to see you in one piece and back with us, Bridge. We've missed you so much." I think the wine went to my head, or maybe that kiss did, but I'm becoming a total sap.