“Where do you want to go?” I ask.
“We can take Amari to the aquarium.”
I’ve never thought about taking Amari to the aquarium. I always thought that would be too young for someone her age to understand. She’s at the stage where she’s interested in different objects and colors.
“That sounds fun.”
Kai’s eyes widen in disbelief. “Really? You want to go?”
“Yes. That would be fun for Amari.”
“Okay,” he says, obviously stunned. I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect me to agree. “Let me go get ready, and I’ll be back.” I watch as he sets Amari down, and with a little extra hop in his step, he’s out the door.
I giggle a little at his reaction to me agreeing to go somewhere with him. This is what I wanted from him—to show me he wants to be a family.
A couple hours later,excitement bubbles in my chest. I’m so excited to be here with Amari and to see her reaction. Stepping into the first section of the aquarium, I notice a butterfly exhibit. The vibrant greenery and butterflies flying all around make the room feel as if you’re outside. A slight breeze blows, making the leaves sway.
“Look at the butterflies!” I say to Amari as I take her out of the stroller and place her on my right hip. “Look how pretty.” I point to a swarm of butterflies around us.
Her eyes widen as she concentrates on the flying butterflies. Her head jerks a little as she looks all around her.
“She looks like she likes it,” Kai says.
“Yeah, she’s been more interested in moving objects and colors lately.”
After exiting the exhibit, there’s a gigantic tank of colorful fish swimming in front of us. I hold Amari up to the glass. She reaches one hand out to grab the swimming fish. I step a little closer and her hand touches the glass. Her eyes widen as the fish get closer to her.
“Do you like the fish?” Kai asks Amari.
Amari looks over at Kai and coos at him. Her smile widens as she looks between Kai and the fish. She’s still holding onto the glass, staring at all the colorful fish in front of her eyes.
We move from tank to tank, stopping at each one to admireall the sea life. It’s a magical sight to see how curious Amari gets with each different fish we stop to look at .
We finally get to the massive tunnel tank that is filled with sharks. We walk underneath all the sharks swimming above us. Amari seems to be even more curious with how big these sharks are. Does she think they’re bigger fish like the ones we saw earlier? I walk closer to the tank, and her mouth forms the shape of anOas she watches the huge sharks swimming all around us.
I love being able to spend quality time like this with my sweet girl—even if things are less than perfect right now with Kai.
Kai pullsout of the aquarium parking lot after a few hours of being there. I peek over my shoulder, looking at Amari sleeping in her car seat. “The aquarium seemed to wear her out. She’s already asleep,” I say.
Kai looks into the rearview mirror. “I’m tired myself.”
“Same. That aquarium was huge. I didn’t think we’d be in there that long.” I shiver as I turn up the heat. This weather has been so cold. I can’t wait until it warms up and we can do stuff outside with Amari.
“Is there anything else you want to do today?”
With a yawn, I stretch my arms out in front of me. “A nap sounds good,” I say with a chuckle.
“A nap does sounds good. I can drop you guys off.”
A sense of unease washes over me, because I really want Kai to stay with us for the rest of the day, even if it’s just allthree of us taking a nap. “Do you want to nap with us?” I ask nervously.
The side of Kai’s mouth tilts upward. “Absolutely,” he says.
Butterflies swarm my stomach. “Thanks for taking us to the aquarium.”
“Anything for my girls.”
“Where is my beautiful goddaughter?” Paige asks as she walks right past me to my room. The smell of Viva La Juicy lingers in the air.
