He shakes his head.
I pull out my phone, and there are no missed calls or text messages from him. I send him a quick text to see if he’s going to make it.
The first set of girls go on. They’re so cute. They’re three to four years old. It’s fun to watch because most of them are so offbeat, but they make it work. After they finish their dance, I look around the crowd for Liam but can’t see him. He must be held up at work. After the second group finishes their dance, Amari’s instructor gets on stage and calls the third group on. When Amari appears on stage, we all cheer for her. I glance around one more time for Liam, but there’s still no sign of him. No messages or calls, either. I shove my phone away, not wanting to ruin tonight.
She does her routine, causing tears to fall from my eyes. I can’t believe how big she’s gotten—and so fast. When she’s done, we all start cheering. Kai whistles, making her smile even bigger.
He looks over at me, sets his hand on mine, and says, “Look what we created.”
With watery eyes, I say, “She’s so beautiful.”
The recital ends, and we head out to the front of the studio, waiting for Amari to be released.
Not long after, Amari comes running out to Kai. “Dad, did you see me?”
He hands me a pink assortment of flowers he bought for her and lifts her up. "Yes, I did.”
“You did so good!” I say.
Kai grabs the bouquet. “These are for you.”
She takes them out of his grasp, digs her nose into them, and does an exaggerated sniff. “These smell so good. Thank you.” She squeezes him tighter.
After she makes her round and says hello to everyone, Liam comes rushing in. “I’m so sorry I missed it,” he says out of breath.
“It’s okay. Did you get held up at work?”
“Yes. There was a complication with a surgery.” He walks over to Amari and bends down to her height. “Hey, sweetie. I’m sorry I missed your dance. I got held up in a surgery.”
“Were you saving someone’s life?” she asks.
“Yeah. Sort of.”
“Then that’s okay.” She shrugs her shoulders.
“These are for you.” He hands the bouquet of red roses to her.
She does the same thing she did when Kai gave her flowers; she digs her nose into them and does an exaggerated sniff. “These smell good.”
I can’t help but smile and feel full of love from everyone who came to support her. I look up, and Kai's demeanor has changed, his brow furrowing as his lips form a hard line with pain lingering in his eyes. He’s watching Liam and Amari’s together. The more time Liam spends with Amari, the closer they’re getting. He treats her like his own, and their bond only increases by the day. I see it firsthand, and I know Kai sees it, too. I can’t help but feel his pain. I don’t know how I would feel if I were on the other side of things, watching another woman love Amari as her own. Sometimes it makes me wonder if Kai and I should give it another shot—just to see if we can be the family I once wanted so badly.
Kai
Mother’s Day
I head up the stairs to Blakely’s mom’s house. The chime of the doorbell echoes as I wait for an answer. Brooke has always told me I’m welcome here, and there is no need to ring the doorbell. I still do. It took many years for my relationship with B’s mom to become what it is now. I don’t blame her, though. I was a shithead.
Bryn appears at the doorway. She reminds me a lot of Blakely when she was sixteen. A typical teenager that wants to be with her friends all the time. In much the same way, Amari reminds me of Bryn. Bryn was around Amari’s age when I first met her. She was into barbies and Disney movies, and now Amari loves both those things. Their genes run strong, too. All the girls have dark brown hair with brown eyes to match. “Hey Bryn,” I say. She was about Amari's age when everything happened. She wastoo young to hold a grudge, so our relationship has never been affected by everything that went down. Also, Brooke isn’t the type of person to showcase her feelings. So, I’m not sure if Bryn knew exactly what was going on at the time.
“Hi. Everyone is out back.” She opens the door wider for me to pass through. “Hi, Kevin.”
“Hey, Bryn,” Kevin says as he walks in.
The smell of barbecued hamburgers fills the house. Brooke started inviting me and Kevin over for the holidays once she found out that our mom had moved out of state. Even when our relationship was rocky, she still included us. That’s where Blakely gets her thoughtfulness from. Regardless of what’s going on, they always include everyone, so no one feels left out.
Our mom struggled a lot when my dad chose his next beer over her—and Kevin and me. It took her many years for her to finally walk away. When she did, she went down a dark path and hardly wanted to be around anyone. Then, when my dad passed, it took her down even harder than before. That’s why I moved in with Kevin when I was seventeen. But I went down my own dark path after my dad passed. I was so focused on myself that I didn’t consider how everything was impacting her. Kevin was trying to help both of us, but as two hardheaded, stubborn people, he had a hard time doing it. One day, my aunt came, picked up my mom, and took her back home with her to another state to get away from it all. She stayed there for a few months, and then out of nowhere, she called and said she wasn’t coming back. The sound of her voice sounded more cheerful than I’d ever heard before. She was finally happy and coming out of her dark place. I was still in my dark place at the time, but I at least realized how happy she was. Kevin and I helped pack her stuff and moved her out of the state. She’s really happy now. She’s gone on a few dates but always tells usthere’s nothing like love from your firsttrue love. Nobody has compared to our dad, she says. I guess that’s where I get my inability to move on from my first love.
We get to the backyard, and the brown-eyed beauty arranging the tables immediately catches my eye. Her white dress flows gently as she walks, and a soft breeze blows across her hair. I’m completely mesmerized by her. Her presence always mesmerizes me.
