by Ash, Nikki
“I’m sure they are right. Why don’t we start with pancakes and bacon, and we will see about maybe going out for lunch and dessert later?”
“Ok.” She stops abruptly and turns around, pointing her crooked pinky out at me. Damn, kids still do this shit? I give her my pinky and we hook them together for a good ol’ pinky promise. I hope Liz is ok with going out later because there’s no way I am breaking our first pinky promise.
We get to the kitchen and I’m glad I bought groceries once Liz agreed to move in. I grab the griddle and plug it in, then set about grabbing all the ingredients to make the pancakes. Bella grabs a chair and drags it to the counter to stand on. Even on a chair she is still so tiny.
“Can I put all the stuff in and mix it all up, please?” She looks up at me while batting her eyelashes.
Fuck! Are all women born with the ability to make a man do whatever they want through their damn eyelashes?
“Of course, you can, Princess.”
I put all the stuff out within her reach, and she begins pouring it all into the bowl carefully then mixes it all together. While she is doing that, I throw the bacon in the oven. I have to wonder if all kids are this cute and helpful. One thing is for sure; Liz has done a damn good job raising her. At eighteen, I was fighting and fucking. Liz was going to college and taking care of a baby. I wish I could do something to show her how amazing she is but I can’t think of anything that is anywhere near equivalent to this amazing woman caring for our daughter for the last four years.
I spoon the pancake mix onto the hot griddle as I listen to Bella rattle on about preschool and the mean boys who have cooties.
“…And then I told Tristan if he touches me one more time and gives me the cooties, I’ll punch him in the face.” Hmm… I don’t like this Tristan. I will have to ask Liz about this kid. I can’t have some little shit giving my princess any cooties.
“Good for you, princess. Don’t take no one’s crap.”
“Ahem. I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage our daughter to punch anybody.”
Bella and I both turn around to find Liz standing against the island giving us what I imagine is the mom look.
“Mom, you were supposed to be in bed. I can’t bring you food in bed if you aren’t in bed.” Bella is standing there looking all cute and mad with her hands on her hips just like her mom does, when she switches gears.
“Wait, Mommy. Am I Cooper’s daughter too? You said our daughter!”
Liz’s eyes open as wide as saucers when she realizes what she just implied and I grin. Now is the perfect time to tell Bella she is my daughter.
I take the pancakes off the griddle and pull the bacon out of the oven, setting it all down on the center of the table. I pour everyone some orange juice and we all sit down at the table, Bella and I both looking at Liz.
“Bella, how would you feel if Cooper was your daddy?” I tense up waiting for her answer.
Bella starts getting antsy in her seat as she grabs a pancake from the platters and says, “I would feel happy. Duh!” My entire body relaxes at her words.
“Good, Angel. Well, yes. Cooper is your daddy.”
I am wondering if she is going to go into all the specifics. I mean, how do you explain to a four-year-old a thirty-hour stand? Yup! I am still sticking to that. Liz was so much more than a one-night stand.
Apparently, that is all the explanation she needs. “Cooper, can I call you Daddy?”
And there goes half my heart… gone. It’s now been handed over to the four-year old sitting across from me, and I pray she never gives it back.
I have to take a second to control my breathing. I am suddenly choked up and there’s a lump in my throat. I’m afraid if I speak, I’ll start to cry. Bella is looking at me shyly and I know I need to answer her before she thinks I don’t want that. Screw it. If I cry, I cry. If that makes me a pussy then so be it.
Sure, enough as the words come out so do the tears. I get up and walk around the table to kneel next to Bella, turning her little legs to face me.
“Oh, Princess. I would love it more than anything in the world for you to call me daddy.”
Bella reaches her hand out and swipes at my face to get rid of the tears.
“Then why are you crying?” She asks in a sad voice.
“These are happy tears. I know it doesn’t make much sense but I promise you, I am so happy right now.”
I pull her into a tight hug never wanting to let her go. She is mine. This precious little girl is mine.
“Daddy, you are squeezing me so tightly my head is going to pop off!”
I let go of her and we all laugh. I go back to my seat, looking around as we all grab our food and begin to eat. This is my family and I am the luckiest damn guy in the world.
* * *
Liz
After breakfast Cooper announces today is Sunday-Funday Family Day. What that entails I have no clue. When Bella and I ask him, he tells us to go get dressed and be ready to head out in fifteen minutes. Ha! That’s funny. He clearly hasn’t spent enough time with women to know we don’t get ready in fifteen minutes. That’s ok, though. He’ll learn.
An hour later we are piling into his Range Rover to head out. I go to grab Bella’s booster seat from my car but he tells me he already has one. Is there anything this man hasn’t thought of?
The entire drive Bella keeps guessing where we are going. Cooper keeps laughing and saying he’s not telling her. About twenty minutes later we pull up to a grocery store and where he insists we wait in the vehicle for him. When he gets back, he is carry several bags and a whicker picnic basket. He loads the shopping bags into the trunk and then it sounds like he is filling the basket. When he’s done, we get back on the road.
A few minutes later we pull up to the Town Square. Bella is trying to figure out where we are but she can’t see beyond the parking lot.
“We’ve never been here. What’s there to do?” I ask as we get out.
“You’ll see.” He grabs the basket, slams the trunk closed, and we all head toward the buildings. As we walk down the sidewalk, in the distance, it looks like there are a bunch of playhouses. Bella starts walking faster wanting to see what’s going on. When we get closer, sure enough there’s a huge park filled with sidewalks and playhouses everywhere. To one side, there’s a huge Oak tree and connected to it, is a tree house with a rock wall and a fort. Just past that there, is a cool fountain that is shooting water up in the air. On the other side, is the most adorable princess tower playhouse with slides coming out of the sides.
“Oh, my god! Mommy. Daddy. Can I go play?” Bella squeals in delight. She is looking every which way not even sure where to begin. I see a couple benches nearby and Cooper must notice them too because he heads straight for them. I think he is going to sit down and watch her play but he shocks me once again.
He sets the basket down on the bench and says to Bella, “C’mon, Princess! Let’s go play.”
She is so excited he is joining her, she jumps up and down, grabs his hand, and then pulls him along. Mom who?
We follow Bella through the playground. She runs from playhouse to playhouse and Cooper keeps up with her every step of the way. It is hilarious to watch this six-foot-three-inch man try to go where the barely three-foot little girl goes. I have to give him credit, though. Cooper can barely fit in some of the tunnels and slides but it doesn’t stop him from trying. Where Bella goes, Cooper goes.
I pull out my iPhone and snap a bunch of pictures of them running around, climbing up the rock wall, and going down the slides. I am sure he will love to see these later.
After a while of playing, Bella spots the water fountains from earlier and asks if she can go play in them even though she didn’t bring a suit.
“Um, Bella, we don’t have a change of clothes. You can’t get back in the car wet.”
Of course, she pouts and looks right at Cooper. Little girl is smart. Cooper gives her pout one glance and of course comes up with a solution.<
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“Sure, Princess. You go play and when you are done, we will buy you a towel and a new outfit at a store over here.”
She takes off like a bat out of hell racing toward the fountains as we sit on the bench watching her.
“Coop, you can’t just give in to everything she wants. I can’t afford to just buy her a new outfit whenever she wants. I am going to take the job you are offering but I need to save for a place.”
Cooper’s jaw begins to tick and then his face softens. “I’m glad you are taking the job because I know you want to work but Bella and you aren’t going anywhere. I make more than enough money to support both of you and I have four years of her life to make up for, that I missed out on, on top of four years of making up to do with all the time you and I missed. You don’t want to work; you don’t have to. You want to stay home and take care of Bella, I am more than fine with that. Whatever money you make is yours. I don’t care what you do as long as you both are under the same roof as me.”
I want to get angry with him because I don’t appreciate him going all alpha-male on me but I can see it in his eyes. Guilt. He thinks he owes us because he wasn’t there.
While still watching Bella, I tell Cooper, “This whole situation, you not getting to see Bella, wasn’t either of our faults. It was a crappy situation but we are here now and you don’t need to make up for anything. I don’t want you to take care of us. I want us to be equal.”
He looks over at me and takes me by my hand. “Baby girl, I own several training facilities left to me by my dad. I have endorsements and contracts, and I make decent money fighting. I make more than enough to take care of you, and that’s my job. Your job is to take care of our princess. My dad’s life insurance policy was several hundred thousand and I didn’t even touch it. I put it in a trust account for Bella. She can use it to go to college, get a car, buy a house, whatever she needs or wants to make sure all her dreams in life are within her reach. If we have more kids one day, we will split among them. Please, just let me do this. Let me take care of my girls.” I glance over at him and see the need in his eyes and it’s obvious this means a lot to him.
I nod my head. “Ok, but don’t spoil her Coop. She needs to learn that getting handed everything isn’t reality. You, of all people know it takes hard work to accomplish your dreams.”
“Ok, I will try my best.” For some reason, I think he is full of it but I let it go for now.
We sit and watch Bella for a while until Cooper gets up and walks over to a woman giving her a big hug. She turns to face me and I see it’s his mom! What a nice surprise.
He calls Bella over to us to make introductions. “Mom, this is my daughter, Bella Faith. Bella, this is my mom, your grandma.”
“Oh, Liam! She is absolutely beautiful! And she looks so much like you.”
Bella looks confused and asks, “Are you my grandma like my mom’s mom? I call her Grammy, and who’s Liam?”
Ms. Cooper laughs. “Liam is your daddy’s name. All his friends call him by his last name, which is Cooper. And yes, I am your daddy’s mom so that makes me your grandma as well. You can call me grandma if you like.”
“Ok! Cool! Now I have two grandmas! Do I get another grandpa, too? I call mommy’s daddy papa. I can call daddy’s daddy… uhhh… grandpa.”
Everybody goes quiet, clearly at a loss on how to handle this, so I step in and explain the situation to Bella the best I can. Fortunately, we haven’t had any deaths in our family so I haven’t had to explain death to her.
“Angel, remember the fire that happened in our apartment?”
“Yes, all my toys and clothes and bed went away.”
I can hear Cooper suck in a loud breath at the same time his mom puts her hand to her heart. They can’t possibly think I would tell my daughter the whole story of that day. I rush out the words before they freak out on me.
“That’s right. Well, your grandpa was the one who saved you that day.”
“Wow, that was really nice of him. Can I say thank you? I was really scared and the smoke was choking my throat really badly.”
“He knows you are thankful but he had to go to heaven. Heaven is where people go when they die.”
Bella pouts out her lip. “Like Carl in the movie Up? When he takes the balloons, and goes into the sky?”
Leave it to my daughter to compare her grandfather’s death to a Disney Movie but she’s nailed it right on the head. “Yes, Angel, like Carl. Grandpa went to heaven so we can’t see him or thank him but he knows we are thankful he saved you.”
“Ok, I’m hungry. Can we eat?”
I can hear Cooper and his mother release an audible sigh, most likely thankful the conversation is over.
Cooper jumps in and says yes, but first we have to get Bella a dry outfit. In and out of a small children’s clothing store and Bella is all dry and starving.
We find a spot in the grass and Cooper pulls out a large blanket, shaking it open and laying it across the ground. We all find a place to sit and he dishes out the food. Subs, cookies, some fruit, and bottles of water for everybody.
“Ms. Cooper, I am so glad you were able to join us today,” I say trying to make conversation.
“Oh dear, please call me Lauren. We are family.”
“Ok.” I feel so blessed that Bella and I have another family member close by. I always miss my parents and brother since they live so far away.
After we have lunch, Bella is rearing to go once again. We spend the rest of the afternoon checking out a cool hedge maze, and then head to a sweet little bakery that looks like one of the playhouses. Cooper let’s Bella pick out a treat and then we walk around some of the shops until Bella is so exhausted she has Cooper carry her in his arms while she sleeps with her head resting on his shoulder.
I can’t help but snap another photo. It’s just too darn precious not to. His mom sees me snap the picture and gives me a wink agreeing.
We walk back to the car and say bye to his mom, promising to have her over for dinner soon. Cooper puts Bella in her booster seat and she doesn’t even attempt to stir. Precious little thing is knocked out from all that playing.
We drive home in a comfortable silence and as we are getting out, Cooper comes around to my side of the vehicle and blocks me in before I can get out.
“Thank you, baby girl.”
I have no idea what I even did. “For what?”
“For today. It was one of the most amazing days of my life.”
“Um, Coop. I didn’t do or pay for anything. I was just along for the ride.”
“No, Liz. You aren’t just along for the ride. You gave me a second chance even though I didn’t deserve it. You gave me that miracle sleeping in the back seat. You helped create priceless memories today. You gave me a family. Thank you.”
Damn this man. I put my hands to either side of his face and give him a soft kiss on his mouth and then it just comes out… “I love you.”
Cooper’s entire body stills and I want to back track. I want to take it back before he shuts me out. It’s not that I don’t mean it. I do. I love Cooper. I think I always have. I know realistically people don’t fall in love when they first meet but between the time we shared years ago, watching Bella grow up with his beautiful features, and listening to and watching him these past few days, I can feel it. I love this man.
Just when I think he is going to leave me hanging, he kisses me. It’s not a soft kiss like the one I gave him but it’s not rough either. It’s a beautiful sensual combination of both. His lips move over mine with ease, his tongue smoothly slipping in, and I swear this man is making love to me with his mouth. When he ends the kiss, he pulls back and smiles at me with a big cheesy grin.
“Baby girl, I love you, too. I love you so damn much.”
I can’t see myself but I’m almost positive I am mirroring the same cheesy ass grin on my face that he is still sporting on his.
After Bella’s nap, we spend the rest of the afternoon lounging around, playing
Uno. Bella beats us every game. We order Chinese for dinner, and then I give Bella a bath while Cooper excuses himself back downstairs.
After Bella is in bed, Cooper tells me to go get into my pajamas and meet him downstairs. When I ask him why, he tells me he has a surprise for me.
I get down to the living room and find a ton of candy, popcorn, and drinks spread out over the coffee table.
“What’s all this?”
“It’s an adult movie night,” he says as he grabs a DVD from inside the entertainment center, puts it in, and comes to sit down next to me. I grab the throw blanket from the back of the couch and spread it across our laps as I snuggle into his side.
After skipping through the previews, the title screen comes on and I squeal in excitement like my daughter. “You remembered?” I slap him on chest and he laughs.
“Love and Basketball is my favorite movie!”
“I know! I remember everything you tell me, Liz. You and that girl upstairs are my world. You mean everything to me.” Swoon!
“We might be now but I wasn’t five years ago. I told you this was my favorite back when it was just a one night stand.”
He looks angry at what I just said and says, “First of all, it wasn’t a one night stand. It was a thirty-hour stand.” He is so damn adorable!
“Second of all, I knew you were my world back then. I was just too stupid to do anything about it. I have never even spent the night with another woman. You were the first and you will be the last. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” I say, as he presses play on the movie. He may not know it yet but he is quickly becoming my entire world as well.
Seventeen
Cooper
I am at the gym training with Kaden but instead of training it’s more like I am getting the shit kicked out of me. I can’t focus and it’s not my fault.
“Coop! Put your fucking hands up. How are you supposed to beat this guy if you can’t even remember how to block a simple punch?” I hate to admit it but Kaden is right; I am off my game and I blame the sexy woman who is invading my every thought. My mind goes back to that first Sunday we spent together as a family when we got home from the Town Square, after we both declared our love for each other.