“No, you’re not most women. You’re my woman.”
“We’ll love her, honey. We will bring her into the family and wrap her up with so much love she won’t know what to do with it all. I promise.”
“Yeah, we will.”
32
My Sister
Ava
Once again life had thrown us a curve ball, not any old curveball, the five-year-old daughter variety. So much for the peace and quiet I had been enjoying.
I wasn’t sure what to make of all of this. I hoped for Reid sake, Valerie was reasonable about allowing Reid to be a part of Melody’s life. I didn’t want to voice my concerns just yet and freak Reid out, but there was a possibility that Valerie would fight him on custody. Depending on the kind of woman she was, this could go bad fast. I was just going to hope to God she was not that kind of woman.
There was also a real possibility Valerie would be the kind of woman who didn’t want her daughter around the ‘girlfriend.’ That would destroy Reid. I’d like to say I was the type of person who would be the bigger person and step out of the way if Valerie had issues. But, I’m not. I found my joy, and I wasn’t giving that up for anything. I would fight like hell to keep my new family intact. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, and Valerie was being honest with Reid. I would give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
We pulled into the driveway just in time for the carpool to drop JJ off. That was another thing that had changed. Once JJ found out a friend from school lived on the block, he wanted to start riding home from basketball practice with him. It was working out well. I took the boys to school, and Betty would bring JJ home. The new Ava was trying to let people in and take them up on their offers of help.
“Bye, Mrs. Stevenson. Thank you for the ride,” JJ said and slammed the car door.
I waved my hello as JJ came running up the driveway.
“Guess what?” JJ asked holding out a blue slip of paper.
“What?” I answered and took the paper. I already knew what this was, but I wasn’t going to ruin his fun.
“I got my progress report. Look at it.” He was so excited he was practically bouncing.
“Oh, maybe later. Did you have a good day?” I teased him and kept the paper folded.
“Mom!”
“Oh alright, let me have a looksy.” I smiled.
I slowly unfolded the report card and brought it up it to read.
“Mom!” JJ yelled.
“Not bad,” I told him trying to hold in my smile.
“Not bad? What do you mean not bad?” He stomped his foot, a pout playing across his face.
“I’m just yankin’ your chain, son. It’s excellent.” I laughed and handed Reid the paper.
“Not funny,” he whined.
“Straight A’s. Good Job, little man,” Reid said, giving JJ a fist bump. “Proud of you. What do you say we drop your bag, go get a bite to eat, and after we’ll get an ice cream?”
“Double scoop of chocolate chunk?” JJ asked.
“Anything you want, you earned it,” Reid told JJ.
“Yippy.” JJ took off towards the door.
“Hey wait a minute,” I called out to JJ. He stopped skipping and waited for me to catch up. “I’m proud of you. You worked really hard to get those B’s up to A’s. Good work.” I kissed the top of his head, and he smiled so wide and big it made my heart happy to see him like this.
“Thanks, Mama.”
Once we dropped JJ’s bag in the house we headed out to dinner. JJ picked a Mexican restaurant that was famous for its giant taquitos. Over dinner, JJ filled us in on his day and an upcoming science project he had. He and Reid went over the details of photosynthesis, bouncing ideas back and forth. I sat back and watched, enjoying the normalcy of their father/son banter. I prayed nothing came between them.
After dinner, we stopped at our favorite ice cream shop. It was a beautiful night out, still a little chilly, but nice enough to sit outside and enjoy our celebratory cones of chocolate chunk. Reid looked lost in thought while JJ went on and on about everything that had happened at school. God, I loved how animated JJ was when he spoke.
I debated whether or not to talk to JJ now about Melody or wait until later. Reid looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. I knew he was worried about how JJ would respond. I hoped I was right and JJ would be happy to welcome Melody into our family. Maybe if Reid knew that JJ was going to be okay, he would be a little less worried.
“Hey kiddo, we have some… unexpected but exciting news we want to share with you,” I said.
Reid looked at me in shock, his body went rigid, and he looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. Damn, he needed to relax. I reached over and took his hand in mine and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
“Oh yeah?” JJ asked as he took another lick of his ice cream barely paying attention to me.
“This is important. I need you to look at me for a minute.” His eyes came to mine and all of a sudden, I was at a loss for words. What seemed like a good idea a minute ago, no longer felt like one. I hadn’t thought out how I was going to explain how Melody came to be. “Today we found out that Reid has a daughter. Her name is Melody. She is five years old. She has been living with her mom, but now that we’ve found out about her, she’s gonna be spending some time with us too.”
“A daughter?” JJ murmured. “Where has she been? How come she’s never been around? Did you not want her?”
JJ suddenly looked horrified.
“No, JJ. Reid didn’t know about her,” I tried to explain.
“I didn’t know she existed until today. Do you think I am the type of man who would turn my back on my child and not want them?” Reid asked. He looked hurt that JJ would even think that about him.
“No, I know you wouldn’t do that. I’m confused. How do you have a baby and not know?” JJ turned fully to Reid and implored.
“I dated Melody’s mom a long time ago. We lost touch before she found out she was pregnant and she didn’t know how to contact me to tell me. None of that is important right now. The important thing is, I know now. I want to get to know Melody and I want to have her be a part of our family. How do you feel about that? Is it okay with you?” Reid asked JJ.
“Can I… will I… still be your son? I mean you’ll have Melody now. Do you still want to be my dad if you have her?” JJ whispered.
Reid mumbled a curse under his breath and quickly got up from his chair, stomped around the table and got down on one knee. Eye to eye with JJ, his hand shot out and went around the back of JJ’s neck, and he pulled him in, forehead to forehead.
“I want you to listen to me, and listen well. You. Are. My. Son. Nothing, and no one changes that. My love for you is yours and yours alone. I love you differently than I love your mom. My love for your mom belongs to her. And I will love Melody differently as well. Nothing will ever make me not want to be your dad. Do you understand that?”
“I understand,” JJ replied.
“You sure? I need to know that you’re a hundred percent on this topic. It’s important you completely understand that I will love you no matter what. That just because I found out about Melody doesn’t mean anything changes between us. I am your dad, always.”
“I am a hundred percent. Will Melody be upset if I call you dad too?”
“No, she will not be upset,” Reid answered JJ.
“Does that mean she’ll be my little sister?”
“Yes, it does.” I watched as Reid gave JJ’s neck a squeeze when he answered.
“When can I meet her?”
And there it was, all was right in JJ’s world. He needed some reassurance from Reid but other than that he was ready to meet her.
“Soon, buddy,” I answered. Both my boys looked at me and smiled. The relief on Reid’s face was evident. “She is beautiful, JJ. She has long brown hair, and is a cute little petite thing. I can’t wait to have her over.”
“We have to buy her a bed if she is gonna spend
the night. And she’ll need some girly toys too. I mean, she can play with my boy toys. But girls like pretty pink stuff, not Power Rangers. Kendall and Stacy both wear girly stuff in their hair, too. Does she have girly hair stuff? She’ll need some. Oh, and they talk about an American Girl doll, we need to get her one of those, too. Can I pick that out for her? I want her to like me. If I give her one of those and the hair stuff, she’ll really like me.” JJ rushed out in a hurry. He was looking at Reid with a hopeful expression. I thought I saw moisture in Reid’s eyes as he stared back at JJ.
“Little man, she’ll love you no matter what. You’re gonna be her big brother,” Reid said and cleared his throat.
“I want to be the best big brother. We need to get her the doll just to make sure. It will be a welcome to the family gift,” JJ explained.
“We’ll get her a doll and some pretty hair stuff, too. We’ll wait until she comes over before we decorate a room for her. That way she can help pick out what she wants,” I suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” JJ conceded. “Dad? Are you happy?”
Holy shit. That hit me like a ton of bricks. JJ had talked about wanting Reid to be his dad, and Reid had called him son. But I hadn’t heard JJ call a man ‘dad’ since Jacob died. The reality of that slammed into me. I tried to choke back the tears, but a few fell down my cheeks.
Reid tried his hardest to look unaffected, but he was unsuccessful. “Yes, JJ, I am more than happy. I have you, and your mom, and now we will have Melody. Life is good, son.”
“I’m happy too. Can we please go buy her the doll now?”
A low rumble of laughter came from Reid. “Sure thing, little man. Finish up your ice cream and we’ll go get Melody a doll.”
“You mean my sister. We’ll get my sister a doll,” JJ corrected.
“Yes, your sister,” Reid amended.
We quickly finished our ice creams and looked up where to buy American Girl dolls. Seeing as the closest store that sold them was an hour away at the Stanford Shopping Center, we decided to wait until Melody could go with us to pick out the doll. JJ settled for buying his new sister a variety of pretty hair bows and a few no name brand baby dolls.
As soon as we walked in the door JJ bolted up the stairs to the guest bedroom. “Mom,” JJ called from upstairs.
“Coming,” I hollered back.
Reid and I both went up to see what JJ was doing. There was a whole lotta ruckus coming from the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” Reid asked when we stepped into the bathroom.
“Making room in the cabinet for my sister’s stuff,” JJ replied. “She can have this side since it’s closest to her room.” He pointed to one of the sinks in the Jack and Jill bathroom. “That way she can keep her girly stuff in here. Mom, do you have more of that spray that makes your hair pretty? Melody may need some.”
“Honey, Melody is five. She doesn’t need hairspray yet. But it’s really kind of you to make room for her,” I told him.
JJ looked up at Reid completely perplexed. “Don’t look at me, little man, I don’t know anything about hairspray.”
“Well, just in case, you should put some in here,” JJ suggested.
“Alright, I’ll find some,” I relented. “Come on it’s already late, homework time.”
“Alright,” JJ grumbled and ran out of the bathroom.
“Told you.” I turned to Reid. “JJ is excited.”
“That’s an understatement.” Reid laughed. “Thank you.”
“Nothing to thank me for, honey.” I lifted up on my toes to kiss him. “Though if you’d like to show your appreciation later tonight, I wouldn’t turn it down.”
“You coming on to me?” Reid whispered in my ear.
“Oh yeah.”
“You want it fast and rough or soft and sweet?” he asked.
“Surprise me.” I kissed him one last time before I turned to leave.
Before I could make it out of the bathroom Reid grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop.
“I love you, Ava.”
“I love you too, Logan Reid.”
“Bedtime, JJ,” I yelled from the kitchen as I finished packing JJ’s lunch for tomorrow.
JJ and Reid were watching TV in the living room. Homework and showers done, and I was beat. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed.
“Five more minutes?” JJ called back.
“Nope, you already had five more minutes, ten minutes ago. Up to bed,” I shouted back.
“Fine.” I waited for JJ to yell back that he wanted me to read with him but the request never came. As a matter of fact, the TV had been turned off and the living room was empty.
When we officially moved in, Reid had all the furniture that was in this house, when it was used as a rental, taken out and donated. We bought all new stuff for the living room and bedrooms. I looked at my beautiful new chocolate brown over-stuffed couch with Tiffany blue throw pillows and contemplated plopping down and falling asleep down here. I was too tired to even make it upstairs. As tempting as the thought was, Reid was somewhere upstairs waiting for me, and that sounded way better than my beautiful new chocolate overstuffed couch that was totally comfy and easy to sleep on.
I checked the doors and turned on the alarm, flipping lights off as I made my way to the stairs. Whoever thought up two-story houses did not run their own business where they were on their feet all day. I hated stairs. I thought this with every step I took. My feet were killing me today. I wondered if I would hate them so much if I sold the café and found a nice desk job somewhere. I could sit all day, eat a proper lunch while sitting down at a desk, and maybe not hate stairs so much.
I walked to JJ’s room to give him a kiss goodnight and stopped short. Reid’s tall frame was squished into the twin sized bed, JJ tucked into his side, Reid holding a book reading to JJ. Watching the two of them was out of this world beautiful, and at the same time, a stab to the belly. Reading to JJ was my thing.
“Hi mom,” JJ said when he noticed me.
“Hey, bud. Whatcha guys reading?” I asked.
“Dad found one of his old books, Chronicles of Narnia, and he said we could read it. It’s super long so he said only one chapter a night.”
Dad. Sigh.
“That’s great. Which one did you start with?”
“The Magician’s Nephew. It’s awesome,” JJ answered.
I walked the rest of the way into the room, closing JJ’s curtains before I stopped at his bed and kissed his forehead.
“Sweet dreams, bud. See you in the morning.”
“Okay, mom. I love you.”
“Love you too, JJ.”
I was almost to the door when Reid’s words stopped me. “Hey, Ava?”
“Yeah.” I turned around.
“I’ll be another 20 minutes. You should take a bath and relax,” Reid weirdly said.
A bath? What do I stink? “I already had a shower,” I reminded him.
“I know, but a bath will be nice and relaxing. Restful even. You should definitely go rest.” He winked and went back to reading.
He was obviously trying to talk in some sort of code, but my tired mind couldn’t begin to comprehend what he was trying to suggest.
The moment I walked into our bedroom and shut the door I started to peel off my clothes. The bed was calling my name. I contemplated not even brushing my teeth but thought better of it. That was just gross.
When I walked into the master bathroom I fully understood why Reid had suggested a bath. He had lit candles all over the bathroom. There was water already in the tub with a thick layer of bubbles foaming at the top, and the scent of my favorite gardenia bath oil filled the room. Suddenly the bed wasn’t so appealing.
I loved this man.
33
We All Fall Down
Reid
“Goodnight, little man.”
“Night, Dad,” JJ replied.
That would never get old, hearing JJ call me dad. When he was first talking about want
ing me to be his dad, I was beyond happy. But, I never actually thought about what it would feel like to have him call me dad. In some twisted way, I was happy he had started calling me dad now. Before Melody found out who I was and started calling me dad. It felt right, that the first person to ever use that name was JJ. Melody might be my blood, but JJ was my heart.
I was scared to death to actually meet Melody. She was my daughter but there was no connection there. I felt like an ass even saying that. Shouldn’t a parent feel some sort of instant connection or bond with their own child? Sure, I felt an instant protectiveness come over me when I found out, but other than that nothing. And that scared the shit out of me. I hoped like hell that changed as we got to know her.
I still hadn’t called Damion or Mac. I needed their help in figuring out what Valerie had been up to the last five years and where Ivory and Kevin fit in. I had a bad feeling. Not about Ivory, I knew he would never harm Valerie, and especially not a child. I simply wondered how long he had been in my daughter’s life.
Kevin, now, he worried me. Valerie had said that Kevin hadn’t hurt them, but the marks on his face gave me pause. I had no idea where Valerie worked, who took care of Melody, if Valerie had any family. Holy shit, there was so much I didn’t know it was overwhelming.
“Hey, Dad.” JJ pulled me from my thoughts.
“Right here, bud.”
“You sure my sister will like me?” he asked.
“Absolutely. She will love you. You know, every little girl needs a big brother.”
“Why is that? Mama doesn’t have a big brother.”
“She doesn’t and she totally missed out. Every little girl should have a big brother to watch out for her and protect her.”
“Do you think I’ll be good at protecting her?”
“Yep. You’ll be great at it. You are a good kid, JJ. You are growing into a strong and respectable young man. I am very proud of you.”
“Can I ask you one more thing?” JJ looked like he had something heavy on his mind.
“Anything.”
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