Only Love (43 page)

Things got quiet all the sudden, and I looked up to see her holding something. It was a picture of a tree. She handed it to me and I saw her name at the bottom, the title:
My Family Tree
, at the top.

“Mom’s been helping me with this,” she said, pointing at the various limbs. “It’s for school.”

She had everything there from her mom’s side, Lia’s parents and on. There was even a thread for her stepfather, Alex, Lia’s former boss. I wasn’t surprised they’d ended up marrying, and though that was hard to see, I wasn’t in a place of hurt anymore. I had forgiven Lia a while ago, and I was happy about that. But what struck me was there was yet another thread; a thread that had my name.

Adam Holloway
, and underneath it said: Dad.
Dad
just like under her stepfather’s name.

Abby’s small finger landed on that spot. “Could you help me with that part?”

And just like that my heart squeezed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. I let her know my answer with a tight hug, telling her I’d love to.

Her hands found the small chain around my neck, and when I pulled back, the links guided her fingers to the silver cross. Her cross.

She turned it around in her fingers. “You kept it,” she said, and my eyes flashed.

“You remember?” I asked her, pushing a hand over her hair. “You remember giving it to me?”

Her hair swayed when she nodded. “It’s in my dreams sometimes. It. You.”

Putting a tight fist to my mouth, I didn’t realize how that would affect me. Lia hadn’t had to fill in as many blanks for Abby as I thought. Somehow my daughter had held onto the image of me. Somehow she hadn’t forgotten all on her own.

My hands went behind me to take the necklace off and return it to its rightful owner. It had been a loan after all. She didn’t want me to feel sad anymore and I now knew the necklace’s intended goal had been accomplished. I’d only gotten my nail to the clasp when Abby stopped me, placing her hand down on the silver charm.

“Keep it,” she said, looking up at me with a smile, and I brought her into my arms again, whispering to her that I’d get her one, too. We should only match.

“Abby?”

The voice came after we had pulled away from each other. My ex-wife stood there, Abby’s mother, Lia. I had seen her before Abby and I went on our long walk so her presence wasn’t a shock to me, and even still that initial introduction hadn’t raddled me. Maybe once upon a time it might have, but I had something I didn’t have before she left me. I had a new found strength in the form of Aubrey and our small family.

Lia smiled at the both of us. “Your guests want to swim now. You’ll have plenty of time with your dad later.”

Abby tore her gaze away and back to me, a worry lining her blue eyes. “Promise you won’t leave?”

I hugged her once again. “Never again.”

Only after hearing the words did her smile return. She looked at her mom. “Can I hold Rissa again?”

She had a couple times since we’d gotten here and how crazy was it to see how my worlds collided. How crazy wonderful.

Lia stepped back as Abby wheeled her way past her. She touched her head. “Just be careful,” she said, referring to our daughter’s question.

Our daughter… My daughter.
I smiled at that.

Lia cupped her mouth, speaking into the hallway after Abby. “And make sure it’s okay with her mom first.”

I laughed, standing up. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

Lia’s smile went my way this time. She nodded, letting me pass her next. When I got out into the hallway. Abby already had Rissa in her lap, the two playing patty cake with Aubrey and Gabby nearby. God, I just couldn’t get over the sight. Abby led the party outside, Gabby picking Rissa up so she could. Abby already had her suit on and a cover up while we talked. Rissa was in her swimsuit as well, a set of little pink floaties on her chubby arms, ready to swim.

Aubrey picked up Rissa’s diaper bag, slipping the strap over the tie of her sarong at her shoulder. She started to follow the girls, but then stopped, making eye contact with me. A silent question resided behind her eyes and I knew it right away. She wanted to know if I was okay. I had never been more.

Moments later, Lia and I watched the girls play from her back patio, the wooden outlook only feet away from the beach behind their home. Aubrey played with Rissa in ankle-deep water on the beach while Gabby and Abigail went further out, and this definitely wasn’t Abby’s first rodeo. Her chair sat off to the side of the beach while she swam like she never had need for such a thing, and I knew something instantly. She was at home in the water. She was free there.

“So is spring break okay then, Adam?” Lia asked taking my attention. We’d discuss Abby coming to stay with Aubrey and me in Michigan for a week during her spring break.

“More than okay,” I told her, taking a sip of my lemonade. I still couldn’t believe I was here and that this was happening. I asked Lia earlier about her husband, Alex, as I hadn’t seen him around. She told me that he was out for the day, that she felt that was best, but I honestly wouldn’t have minded one way or the other. I really was in a different place now than when we were together. A happy place.

“Your family is so beautiful,” she said, watching them play with our daughter.

I smiled at them, then her. “Thank you.”

She nodded, her smile so wide and bright. When I first arrived and she saw me, she couldn’t hide her anxiousness, and I didn’t blame her. The two of us had left things so badly between us. But now, that seemed to change. She was only comfortable with me and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. We watched the girls for a while longer before she spoke again.

“You never fought me for custody,” she said, staring at me. “Why? I see the way you look at Abby and the girls. How you look so alive. Why didn’t you fight me? You should have.”

Leaning back, I let out a breath, but I knew right away what to tell her. Why I didn’t fight. “I wasn’t in a good place. I felt she was better off.”

“And now? Are you in a good place?”

My lips lifted. I moved my gaze over to the beach, to my family. I nodded in response to her question. I think that was definitely safe to say, and once I did, Lia crossed her arms, her gaze so warm in my direction.

She placed her hand on the table. “We’ll work this out with Abby. That’s my gift to you. My apology to you.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” I told her. “I understand where you were coming from. I was a mess and our daughter didn’t need to be around that. I’m glad you did what you did. It was the best thing for her.”

“Even still. Please let me fix this.”

I placed my hand on hers, squeezing once. “Thank you. Truly.”

Squeezing mine back, she let go, and once again stared out at that beautiful sight on the beach.

“She seems okay,” I said staring at Abby. She was floating on her back now. So wonderfully, free.

“She is okay, Adam,” she said. “She really is.”

And so, my heart squeezed once again.

I checked in on the girls and breathed in a sigh of relief that it would be the last time tonight. I loved them dearly, but was glad they finally were asleep.

Gabby lain on her belly, arm hanging over the side of the bed with the sheets bunched haphazardly around her. She was definitely a wild sleeper that girl.

I adjusted her bedding so it was actually around her, then got in a glance at Rissa to her left, sleeping soundly—also on her belly—in her travel crib the hotel provided for us. Abby and Lia lived in a pretty big city so it wasn’t hard for Aubrey and me to find a hotel that had subtle accommodations for a toddler.

I backed away silently from them both. Again, I loved my girls, but it was definitely time for some alone time with my fiancée. It had been a long day. A long one, but wonderful. I called Abby shortly before I checked in on Gabby and Rissa, wishing her goodnight as well. She asked me to call before I went to bed, sort of tuck her in over the phone, and I felt nothing short of happiness at the request. I hoped we could make that sort of a routine with us. Maybe not every night, but often. Now, that we’d found each other again, there’d be no going back for us. I’d been blessed so much in the last year, and she was yet another gift.

Pulling the door to Rissa and Gabby’s adjoining room, I cut the light off from Aubrey and my room so it was dark enough for them in theirs. I left it open a crack, allowing them to have easy access to ours, but still made sure the baby monitor in their room was on so we could hear Rissa. After that, I turned around to go to Aubrey, only to shake my head. Lying on her stomach, she’d dozed off, a beautiful exhausted sight in little shorts and a tank top, the TV flashing light on her mahogany skin.

I turned off the TV, and then climbed into the bed with her, slipping my shirt off along the way. When I got to her, I crawled over her, encasing her. With a kiss to her shoulder, I attempted to wake her enough to get her all the way in bed so she could get some decent sleep. Of course, when I started I couldn’t stop, and my length went hard, the blood pumping to it and pressing against her round bottom.

“Mmm,” she moaned, so aroused in her sleepy state, but then she groaned, pushing her hand into her curly locks as she let out a breath. “I’m so sorry,” she said. Turning her head, she frowned at me. “I fell asleep.”

Chuckling, I pushed my hands under her shirt, kissing her neck while I gripped her warm waist. “I noticed. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.” She’d flipped over at this point between the space of my arms, and that frown never left her. Even still she was half awake.

Giving her one final kiss on the cheek, I let go of her, then reached over her, flicking off her table light. Obviously, tonight wasn’t happening with how sleepy she was, but that was fine. I just liked being near her. That was always enough. Always.

I got us both under the sheets, her in my arms while I brushed my fingers along the sensitive skin just below her elbow. She spoke again when I reached over to snap on Rissa’s baby monitor on my side.

“I’ll make it up to you, I swear,” she said, kissing my chest. She wrapped her arm around me, and I settled a hand on her skin.

“It’s cool,” I assured her, kissing her hair. “I’m tired too. It was a long day.”

I wasn’t lying to her. I was tired from all the events today, but definitely could have scraped up some energy for a couple hours of Aubrey. When I was with her, I never wanted it to end.

She stroked her fingers up and down my chest, stopping only to brush her fingers momentarily around the hair there. “How about I talk to you,” she said, giving a small yawn. “Help you get sleepy too.”

Laughing a little, I set my hand on hers. Her fingers were kind of tickling. “Okay,” I told her. “What do you want to talk about?”

She shrugged pressing all her softness against me. “I don’t know. About anything. What you want to do tomorrow before we leave? Where you want to eat? Or what about Lia?”

Dipping my chin, I gazed down at her. “What about her?”

Yawning again, she placed a hand over her mouth. “Mmmhmm,” she said, sounding much like another ‘I don’t know.’ She lowered her hand from her mouth. “How did you two meet?”

My brows jumped. “You really want to talk about that? My ex?”

I found that surprising. While Aubrey had been nothing but supportive about this reunion and being around Lia, I didn’t think she had any more interest about her. Lia was my past while Aubrey was my future.

“Not in particular,” she said. “Just something to talk about. Hey, I told you about Javi. How we met in high school.”

She nudged me with her shoulder and I could do nothing but smile at her. She really had no problem with Lia at all. It was just what she said, something to talk about. Dipping my chin, I pushed my nose into her curls, loving the soft scent that wafted from them when I did. “Same,” I told her. “That’s how we met. High school.”

The room went silent, and I thought Aubrey fell asleep, but then she spoke again.

“What’s that?” she questioned, lifting her head. “What’s that in your voice? Why did it do that?”

Confused, I gazed down, staring at her. “Do what?”

She rose up and placed her hands on my chest, resting her chin on the backs of her hands. “You said that as if you were happy, but sad at the same time.”

She
would
catch that. I guess I couldn’t hide anything from her, nor did I want to. I never would keep anything from Aubrey again. As far as I was concerned my life was an open book to her from now and forever on.

I placed my hand on her arm. “Lia was just a different person back then. Full of dreams, you know?”

“And you?”

And me…
“I wasn’t as clear as her. Didn’t really have a set plan. I would have been happy living the rest of my life in Troy, but Lia had bigger plans. She wanted to be a reporter. A professional one and living on the coast.”

And I found out that was exactly what she ended up doing just today. I was happy for her. Genuinely.

“So what happened?” Aubrey continued.

This question felt loaded, and I didn’t really know what she was looking for. Maybe she wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Maybe she just wanted to know how we’d gotten to the point where we were now, and I supposed I knew exactly that.