The words hit me in the gut, to know this woman wants me to be a part of her life for the long term, means everything to me. It’s more than I’d ever dared to hope for. “I’m looking forward to that too, and Christmas morning with Sprite. I bet she’s crazy.”
“No, she’s pretty even keel, just like she is with everything else. I don’t know how I got such a mellow daughter. It’s fun though, all of it, and I’m more than excited to share it with you this year.”
Riley’s still looking through Netflix so I pull Hadley in my arms, kissing her softly. “I was never the type of person to make plans for anything besides my business. The professional, I can do. The personal is always where I’ve lacked focus and luck. I feel like I hit the fucking jackpot when I met you.”
“I think we all did, Trick,” she kisses me back, slipping me a little tongue.
“Are you two gonna kiss again?” Riley moans from the couch.
I pull back, a smile on my face. “Sprite, you might wanna play with Tux for a second. There’s about to be some serious kissin’ going on.”
She sighs, running towards the bedroom, looking for the cat.
“Thank you for not letting me be lonely anymore,” my voice is the most serious it’s ever been. I’m being as real as I can be, I hope she can hear it in my voice, see it in my face.
“With us, you’ll never be lonely again.”
With my lips a breath apart from hers, I make my own vow. “And she’ll never, in her life, have to wonder if she’s worthy of another person’s love. I’ll prove it to her every day.”
Hadley pulls me into the hottest, sweetest, most amazing kiss we’ve ever shared. I can tell she’s finally let the guard all the way down. “You good?” I ask her.
She smiles up at me, her lipstick smeared and says the words I know she wanted to say as badly as I did. “I’m free. For the first time in a long time. I’m free.”
We both are, and no one can take that away.
37
Trick
Five Months Later
Nervous doesn’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling right now. I’ve never checked Riley out of school, but today I’m doing it.
“Just sign here, Mr. Tennyson,” the secretary tells me, after they’ve checked my license against the sign out sheet for Riley. “She’ll be here in a few minutes, if you wanna have a seat.”
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a school office. I glance around, layout still looks the same, even if everything else is a bit more technologically advanced. These chairs aren’t made for someone with my height, and I check my cell phone, seeing how much longer I’m going to have to wait for Sprite. I adjust in the chair, right as the door opens, and in she walks.
“Trick!” She runs over to me, as I stand and grab her in my arms. We just saw each other this morning before Hadley took her to school, but Sprite and I, we have a bond.
“Hey Sprite,” I set her down, grabbing her hand. “You ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
She giggles, nodding as we make our way out to the parking lot where my truck is parked. “Why’d you come get me today?” she asks as she scrambles up into the back seat. Not long ago, she finally hit the height and weight requirement not to have a booster seat anymore. She’s loving the freedom, and I have to admit, I love seeing her reaction to everything now that she can look directly out the window.
“Well,” I back out of the parking spot and slowly merge into traffic on the main road. “I have something I want to talk to you about, and I have a place we need to go.”
I’m being vague on purpose.
Her eyebrows narrow, and she looks at me with the same look her mom gives me when she’s trying to figure me out. “Oooookay?”
“You’ll see,” I give her a grin, and turn up Radio Disney, just for her, as we make our way across the bridge into downtown.
My life has changed a ton.
We enter the jewelry store, and Riley gasps as she sees the shininess of the jewels flashing back at her.
“Trick,” she breathes. “Is this a princess’ castle? There’s so many shiny things here.”
I can’t help the chuckle that erupts from my throat. “Not exactly, but it’s the next best thing.”
“What are we doing?” she asks, as I reach down and pick her up, holding her against my side.
“Mr. Tennyson,” the man behind the counter sees me. “I got the pieces we talked about. Do you and your daughter want to come back here?”
Hearing someone call Riley my daughter stops my heart, and I never bother to correct them. For all intents and purposes, I’m her dad. She hasn’t called me the word yet, but I understand it’s a step she’s got to work towards. “Sounds good.”
We’re escorted to a back room. I did some work on the store owner’s rare motorcycle and he always told me he owed me a favor. Today, I’m cashing in. There’s two chairs, and I set Riley down in one before I take a sit in the other one.
“We pulled ones we thought you’d like from what you described,” the salesman says.
“Thanks, one second though,” I hold my finger up, turning to face Riley. “The reason we’re here today Sprite is because I want to ask your mom to marry me.”
“To marry you?” She breathes, a smile spreading across her face. “The way Prince Eric married Ariel? The way Prince Charming married Cinderella?” She’s so excited she’s stood up in her chair, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Yes,” I laugh. “Exactly that way, but I have a super important job for you.”
“What?” her eyes are huge, the energy she’s holding back coming off of her in waves.
“Will you help me pick out her ring?”
She squeals. “Yes!”
I grab her, hugging her tightly. “Let’s take a look,” I motion for the man to uncover the rings. They sparkle in the light of the room. “Which one do you think your mom will like?”
There’s a plethora of colors. No plain diamond for my girl, she’s all about the creativity. She’s brought so much color to our lives. “The pink one,” Riley points to one of the smaller stones, but the pink hue matches her Converse. “She’s girly like me.”
That she is – always wearing her lacy, matching bra and panties, tempting me with short skirts, and curling her hair so my fingers itch to tangle in the waves. “I think this one is a really good choice,” I tell her, pointing to the pink stone. “I’ll take this one, along with the other thing we talked about on the phone.” I’m getting earrings for Sprite. I thought for a really long time what I could give her to go along with something for Hadley, and earrings seemed timeless. She’ll never grow out of them.
Within fifteen minutes, Riley and I are heading back across town, towards our side of the bridge, and I know there’s no way the ring in the bag will stay there much longer. As soon as I see Hadley, I’m going to ask her to marry me.
Hadley
I check the clock on my phone, before I turn back to my computer. I took the day off work to get caught up with my Etsy orders. If it keeps up the way it is, I’m going to be doing the Etsy thing full-time. Trick and I have been talking about it a lot lately. Trick and Riley should be here soon, I just hope he hasn’t forgotten he had to go pick her up at school after he ran his errands.
It’s stupid I’m even thinking this way, because if there’s one thing about Trick, it’s that he’ll never forget his Sprite. The thought warms my heart. Just as I pick up my phone to call him, I hear their footsteps on the stairs leading up to the apartment. Next month though, we’ll have an inside entrance. The loan for the building next door went through, and we’re working on expanding our apartment. I can’t wait.
“Babe!”
“Mom!”
I hear their voices as they come through the door. “I’m right here,” I whisper from the kitchen table. Tux and I aren’t a full ten feet from the door.
They laugh, realizing they were screaming. “You two are a little late,” I wonder if they’ve
gone to get ice cream again before dinner. He keeps ruining her dinner, doing that.
“I swear we didn’t go get ice cream,” Trick crosses his finger over his heart. “Promise.”
I know this is one he won’t break. Trick’s never made promises he can’t keep. “You sure?” I look at Riley, checking her for chocolate around her mouth, ice cream on her shirt.
“He’s right mom, we went somewhere else.”
“Well where did you go?” Now I’m curious.
“Should we tell her?” Trick looks at Riley. The two of them gang up on me regularly and it doesn’t even make me mad. I love to see their little team.
“Yes!” Riley jumps up and down. I’m kind of scared at her exuberance.
He scoops Riley up, quietening her down. The two of them come over to the kitchen table, both sitting on either side of me. Trick moves his chair so he faces me, my body basically between his knees as I turn to face him.
“Babe,” he starts, before he leans down, kissing me softly on the lips.
“Yeah?” I pull back, not sure about this mood he’s in.
“Ask her!” Riley laughs from where she sits.
“Ask me what?” I’ve never been more impatient in my life.
Trick reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls two small boxes out. If I’m not mistaken, they’re rings and my heart starts hammering.
“Open this one first,” he pushes one towards me.
My hands shake as I open it, and I gasp as I see a pair of pink diamond earrings nestled against black velvet. “These are gorgeous,” I breathe.
“They’re for Riley,” his voice is low, as he glances at the little girl he has such a bond with.
I watch as Riley’s mouth opens wide and she inhales deeply.
“They’re princess colored,” her hands tremble as she reaches for them, holding them in the palm of her hands.
“Now open this one,” his voice is seriously quiet as he watches me with an intense look I’ve never seen on his face.
Again, my hands shake as I open this one. Inside is a ring. The pink diamond matches the earrings he’s given Riley. My eyes flash up to his. I want to ask, but I’m scared this isn’t what I think this is.
“I know you’re probably a little confused,” he grins as he looks at me and Riley. “But I knew when I asked you to marry me, I’d need to ask her,” he points at Riley. “To allow me to be her father, too. So,” he gets down on his knee. He gestures to the ring box held in my hand and the earrings held in hers.
I’m trying to control the tears that are streaming down my face. Glancing over at Riley, I see she’s got tears too; even at her age she understands the significance of what’s going on.
“Hadley, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you let me spend the rest of my life making you happy, sharing our laughs, our tears, and everything else that comes along with it?”
I know he’s not done as he turns to face Riley.
“Riley, will you allow me to petition the court for adoption of you when your mom and I get married – if she says yes,” he grins at me. “I love you, and if I’d been your real dad you couldn’t be any more my kid. I want you to have my last name, my protection legally, and I want to be able to tell people you’re my daughter and mean it in every sense of the word. You’re special to me kid, and I know you and your mom are a package deal.”
When he’s done, he looks at both of us.
“Will you two ladies have me?”
Riley and I look at each other, both grinning so wide I feel as if our cheeks are going to crack. I’m crying, she’s crying, but we both answer with the clearest yes anyone has ever heard in their lives.
As Trick gathers us both up in his arms, I know we’re all right where we’re supposed to be.
Epilogue
Hadley
Almost Three Years Later
I glance down at my phone, shifting in my seat as I cross my legs, and take a deep breath. Trick should have been here twenty minutes ago, and would have been if I wasn’t so damn forgetful. He’ll never forgive himself if he misses this, and it will be completely my fault. There’s ten more minutes before the lights go down and the rest of the recital starts.
Pursing my lips, I wonder if I should text him, but if he’s driving, he won’t answer the phone anyway. Not to mention for the past six months, I’ve already been a hell of a distraction. People are milling about, and I happen to be looking at the auditorium doors when they open and in steps my husband. I lift my hand up so he can see where I’m sitting, waving him over.
“You made it,” I smile over at him as he slides into the seat next to me, carrying the flowers I’d forgotten.
“I was worried I wouldn’t, traffic is crazy out there with it being close to Christmas and all. Did I miss her?” He reaches over, kissing me softly as he eases out of his jacket.
“No the eight to twelve year olds are up next. You got here just in time,” I look at the time again. “I really didn’t think it would take you that long to go back across the bridge to the apartment.”
He reaches into the pocket of his jacket and produces me a small bottle of milk. “I figured you might need this. You sounded a little sick when I talked to you earlier, but right now,” he does a once over of me, his eyes stopping at the slight baby bump I have in my tight black dress. “You look like a million bucks.”
We hadn’t necessarily been planning on getting pregnant, but we also hadn’t been taking steps to prevent it either. None the less, we were both pleasantly surprised when we found out we’re expecting a boy, due in a little less than three months. I’ve had morning, noon, and midnight sickness with him. The differences in carrying girls and boys I guess, and the only thing that puts my stomach at ease most days is milk. I grab the bottle he’s produced, taking the top off, and chug it like it’s dollar beer night at the bar.
“It’s almost arousing, when I watch you go to town on a bottle of milk,” he chuckles in my ear. “You drink it like it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted, and the way you smack your lips when you’re done?” He leans closer to me. “Is the same thing you do when I’ve come in your mouth and you’ve drained me dry.”
My face heats up, I shift in my seat, re-crossing my legs. “That mouth of yours is what got us into this situation to begin with.”
He smiles, and I know he’s thinking about the night we created the life that’s resting in my stomach. He’d been talking dirty to me that night too, after we’d both had a couple of beers out by our fire pit in the back of our apartment. I’ll never admit it to anyone, but our son was created in that back yard. We hadn’t even been able to make it up the stairs, and we were afraid of waking Riley up.
“I’ll take the ‘blame’ for it any day,” he kisses me on the cheek as he settles back in his seat. “You think she’s going to like the flowers?”
“I hope so, she loved the ones I made for my Etsy store the other day. She kept asking me why I never gave her the good-smelling fabric flowers everyone else gets. I hope she realizes I made these in her favorite colors and spritzed them with her favorite perfume of mine.”
My goal in life is to make Riley’s as good as hers can be, and if she wants the flowers I give everyone else, then by God, she’ll get the flowers I give everyone else. My stomach growls, causing me to reach in my purse, pulling out a package of peanut butter crackers. When I’m hungry I have to eat. “We’re going for dinner tonight, right?”
“You think I’d put on a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt just to head back home, woman? Hell no, we’re going to some place nice. I drove the truck, so we can leave your car here while we go.”
I grin over at him. He’s such a good husband and father. I’m about to say something to him when we’re interrupted by one of the other father’s. Trick recognizes him and stands up, shaking hands with him.
“How’s it going Dewayne?” he greets him with a smile.
I love seeing Trick in his element, his shop has grow
n bigger than either of us ever imagined it would. He’s had to hire on three guys. Surprise of all surprises, one of them is G. Under Trick’s guidance, G is becoming a good man, and I have no doubt Trick will always steer him in the right direction. I listen as these two talk shop, because I love to hear Trick excited about what he’s working on.
“It’s going good; did you get my message I sent you the other day?”
“About the Indian? Hell yeah,” Trick grins. “I knew I’d see you here tonight. When do you want me to come by and look at it?”
“Is tomorrow too soon?” Dewayne asks, checking his phone.
“We got anything planned tomorrow, babe?” Trick looks down at me.
“Nope, I’m working on orders tomorrow, with Riley’s help. You can go do your guy stuff if you need to.”
“Alright, let’s say noon?”
The two of them finish up their conversation as the house lights go down and the piano instructor comes out on the stage.
Trick
If anyone had told me three years ago I would be where I am right now, I would’ve laughed, called them names, and probably punched them in the face. Now? I’m just thankful that I can call this woman who sits on my right my wife and the little girl who’s going to come onstage very soon, my daughter. Giving my attention to the woman up front, I pay attention as she speaks.
“It’s my privilege to introduce to you some of our students who have moved up an age bracket this year to the eight to twelve-year-old group. Many of them started with me when they were four, and I’ve been incredibly lucky to see them grow. They’ve become amazing pianists, every day I’m constantly amazed by what I learn from them, and what I witness them do. Up first for the eight to twelve-year-olds is Riley Tennyson.”
I’m not going to lie, every time I hear someone say her last name is Tennyson, it gets me in the chest. Not long after we were married, the adoption went through and we officially became a family. In all honesty, I’d expected old Phillip to have an issue with me wanting to adopt his daughter, but he proved once and for all she wasn’t what he cared about when he signed parental rights over. It’s been the best decision we’ve ever made. Not even a last name separates us anymore.
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