I have to do something.
Chapter
Eighteen
Highland
“Daddy, did you get Ms. Liv breakfast too?” Neela asked as I placed their orders at Morningside. Today was boys’ day so they were hanging with Olive while Jo-Jo would be with me. For the last couple weeks since Olive and I separated, I made it my mission to make sure Jo-Jo got solo time with me. Yes, he had a father, but he wasn’t here and I would never make him feel left out since the girls got time with his mom.
So since I was dropping the girls off early, I made a stop to cover breakfast for the whole family, Olive included.
You a sucka, Lando. First you offer her the beach house and now you buying breakfast.
I had to stop doing stuff before I blurred the lines between Olive and me. We weren’t together anymore and I needed to stand on that shit.
It’s just food. And the house is more for the kids.
That’s what I was telling myself even if I knew it sounded like bullshit. I was still moving on the accord of plans and commands for us. I was hoping that the more time we spent around each other, not together, would make her miss me enough to at least consider letting the job go or hiring other people to do the heavylifting…laying. I missed my damn woman but I couldn’t be with her knowing she was sharing a part of her that only belonged to me.
“Yes, Neela,” I said as I picked her up and maneuvered Cece on the other side of me so the next person could order their food.
“And you got my brother food too?” I frowned at her word choice until it hit me that she was talking about Jo-Jo. I had a feeling that the kids’ bond was growing stronger each day, but damn, when did he become brother?
“Yes. I got Jo-Jo food too.” Neela shot me a quizzical side eye as if she was trying to read me to see if I was lying. Once satisfied, she laid her head down on my chest while I glanced down at Cece who was on her phone texting.
My eyes scanned her screen to see it said Mommy as the contact name, sparking my interest even more. I paid close attention to the conversation, trying to figure out who she was talking to. When I couldn’t make it out, I just asked.
“Who are you talking to, Cece?”
“Mommy. I’m telling her that we’re on the way.” I looked again to see it said “on the way”. This was the second bomb of the new titles I wasn’t aware the kids were using now.
“When did Ms. Liv become Mommy in your phone?” I asked curiously as my eyebrows dipped in and I pressed my lips together. Cece didn’t even look up to acknowledge me while she kept typing. I looked at Olive’s response to Cece. All it said was okay and that she couldn’t wait to see her pretty girls with a bunch of hearts and smiley faces, like she hadn’t seen them yesterday.
She was too good to our kids.
“During camp, Daddy, duh. Jo-Jo said Neela and I could share Ms. Liv as our mommy since we don’t have one anymore.”
Why hadn’t Olive told me that the girls are calling her mom? Wait, Neela didn’t call her that just now.
“Do you call her Mommy?”
Cece looked up at me, giving me a horrific expression with her eyes bugged out as she frantically shook her head. “No, Daddy.”
I nodded as I tucked my bottom lip into my mouth to hide my amusement.
“Why not? Did Ms. Liv tell you that you couldn’t?” Even though I didn’t think we were ready for those titles, I was curious about why Cece felt comfortable labeling Olive as Mommy in her phone but not calling her by it.
“No. Ms. Liv doesn’t know that Jo-Jo told me we can share her. I’m scared to ask her if I can call her that. What if Ms. Liv says no because y’all aren’t married? Can you marry her so Neela and I can have Ms. Liv as our mommy forever?”
That was the plan.
“Uh…” I cleared my throat, unsure of what to say. We didn’t tell the kids anything because we decided to keep them together and help each other out with our work schedules. So they never missed a beat of time apart. The only people affected by this fucked up situation were me and my damn woman.
There you go again with that damn title.
“Marrying someone is more than just getting you two a mom. Of course, that’s my plan for when it happens, but I can’t say that’ll be Ms. Liv.”
“Why not, Daddy? Don’t you like Ms. Liv too and want to keep her forever and ever?”
