“Youwill, Son, you will,” he assured me. “One day someone will walk into your life and rewire your whole damn being, and suddenly you’ll find yourself wanting to give them everything.”
I could feel him staring at me, so I kept my eyes trained forward. I knew what he was doing. I could hear it all in his voice and in his words.
“You can try not to look at me all you want, but I see the way you look at her.”
“At who?” I glanced his way briefly, doing my best to appear unfazed.
He chuckled. “You know who, Kiyan. That woman in your house, and that little girl.” I saw him point out of my peripheral. “You think I don’t notice the way you light up when one of them comes into the room or how gentle you are with her child?”
“They needed help,” I tried to minimize it.
“And what you’re doing is more than helping, but I get it.” He gripped my shoulder firmly. “When you know, you know. I get it.”
“I’ve known them for a few days, Pops.”
“Doesn’t matter. Time means nothing when something hits you right. Hell, I wanted to marry your mother after a week.” He chuckled as he released me. “I didn’t tell her that, of course, because I didn’t want to scare her off, but I definitely felt it.”
“You and Mama’s story is different.”
“Not as different as you think,” he countered. “You could know someone for years and feel nothing then meet someone else for three days and they shake your entire foundation. I’myour father, Kiyan, so I really know you and I damn sure know the way a man acts when hereally cares. Doesn’t matter if it’s been three days or three years. What matters is she’s brought out a side of you that I’ve never seen before. That’s definitely worth paying attention to.”
Thankfully, Ava called us over to check out what she’d done, but what he said was heavy on my mind. So much to the point that I didn’t really hear what baby girl was saying. I knew she was saying something because her mouth was moving and she was pointing, but my father’s words were ringing louder.
I did care for her and her mother. The way I found them had me losing sleep for many nights, and now that I knew why, all I wanted to do was make things better for them and give them both the life they deserved. I knew one hundred percent that it wasn’t out of pity, but because they literally deserved it.
Ava didn’t ask for the things she was dealing with, and I knew her mother didn’t either, but just because she was different from other people didn’t mean that she should be treated any different or robbed of the love of a father. If anything, her condition would make me love her even more because like my mom had said, her extra chromosome didn’t mean anything besides she needed a little extra love.
“Get some pictures of her with the snowman, Ki,” my mother yelled out of the door.
I glanced back and chuckled when I noticed her standing behind the closed glass door with her arms folded in front of her. My mother hated to be cold, so I was shocked that she didn’t knock on the window and just yell her instructions.
I instructed Ava to go over to her snowman and take some pictures. When I was done, she waved me over and asked me to take one with her. I handed my phone to my dad before kneeling on the other side and allowing him to snap a few pictures. She wanted him to take some too, so we switched places so I couldtake them then we headed back inside. My mom had already heated some soup along with a grilled cheese sandwich for Ava, so after I helped her out of her things, I got her seated at the bar with her iPad that I’d made sure was charging while she was outside.
“I’m going to go up to check on Leila and take a shower.”
“We’ve got her. Go ahead.” My mother shooed me away before focusing back on Ava’s tablet.
Chuckling, I grabbed my phone from the counter then turned to head for the stairs. My mother was like a kid in the candy store having a child around, especially a little girl. Kayla had two boys who were both preteens now, and Khalil and I had no kids, so she was eating Ava up.
Chapter Nine
The sound of a door opening woke me from my sleep. It took a few seconds, but when my blurred vision settle down and focused, I realized that Kiyan was standing in the doorway of his closet.Shirtless. I felt like a creep taking his tattooed, toned back in. It was literally a roadmap of muscle and obvious that he was no stranger to the gym. It was damn near impossible to look away. I found myself trying to count the droplets of water that I could still see sliding down his back.
I thought I’d get to lay there and enjoy the view for a while, but when my phone sounded, signaling that an email was coming through, he glanced over his shoulder, catching me red handed.
A smile spread across his face when we locked eyes and he said, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I returned the smile and he turned to face me completely.
“How are you feeling this morning.”
“Ugh, so much better,” I admitted. “I can probably actually get out of bed today.”
His brows dipped some as he studied me then he walked around the bed, and my eyes remained on him the entiretime. I spotted more tattoos and even more muscle with each movement. When he pulled the shirt that he’d gotten from his closet over his head, I was a little sad because it tainted my view.
“Let’s take your temperature.” He lifted the thermometer that was laying on the nightstand and hovered it in front of my forehead. “98.7. That’s a good sign.”
“I told you I’m all better thanks to the doctors of Ward Hospital,” I teased.
