“Ah, but think how awesome you could be after you eat! You need some fuel.” Brianna tucked a piece of hair behind Victoria’s ear. My daughter shrugged and slid into a booth next to Brianna.
My daughter.After three months, it still seemed surreal. At the same time, I couldn’t remember what life was like before her. All three of us just . . . fit together. In fact, at times I felt like the odd man out. Brianna and Victoria giggled like girlfriends with a secret I didn’t know whenever we were together, and I was never so happy to be ignored. We took her to all the fun ‘kid’ type places that I could possibly think of. It was as if Brianna and I were reliving our childhood through her eyes, and it brought me an odd type of peace. I loved going back to the old days of Brianna and me before everything went wrong. It almost erased all the bad memories that dwelled under the surface. I worried that Victoria’s very existence would be a constant reminder of how I failed Brianna, not by sleeping with her mother but separating us for so long. But to my surprise, instead of causing a rift between us, she brought us closer together.
This was the first time Sara let her stay the whole weekend with us. We cleaned out our tiny spare room and brought in a futon for her to sleep on. I hated that her room at our place was so small and wanted to look for somewhere bigger since I hoped she would stay with us more often. But, I tried not to get too ahead of myself and enjoy the moment—enjoyus—before I thought too far into the future.
“So . . .” Brianna gave me a side glance as she dug something out of her purse. “I found something that I thought would make you laugh.” She handed Victoria a small picture.
Her eyes widened as she gazed between us. “This is you and Josh?”
“And Mr. O’Connor.” Brianna pointed to the edge of the photo.
“Let me see that.” I scooted around the crescent-shaped booth to peer over Victoria’s shoulder. “Wow.” I chuckled. “Talk about blast from the past. We were, what? Ten?”
“Something like that.” The corners of Brianna’s eyes crinkled as she studied the picture. “I actually didn’t like Mr. O’Connor that much back then.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed at Brianna. “Why? Was he mean?”
Brianna shook her head. “No. Never. But Josh and I were best friends, and then he started sayinghewas his best friend, too.” Her eyes met mine as a smile tugged at her lips. “I didn’t like that.”
I reached across the back of the leather seat and squeezed Brianna’s shoulder.
“But,” she went on, “Reid—I mean Mr. O’Connor—became my friend, too. In fact, he’s been a pretty awesome friend.” Her gaze turned wistful as she laughed to herself. “Now, you can tell him at school on Monday that you know what he looked like in the fourth grade.”
Victoria chuckled before clasping her hands. “Can we have a big breakfast tomorrow?”
“Breakfast? We didn’t even have dinner yet.” Brianna eyes widened, making another laugh bubble out of Victoria’s chest.
“I know.” She shrugged before her cute little face scrunched up. “But I think I want French Toast.”
“Bri makes awesome French Toast. I think I want that, too. And bacon.” I winked and Victoria burst out in giggles.
“Okay, okay, you guys twisted my arm. But let’s eat now.” She opened the menu and set it in front of Vic, as if she’d done it a hundred times before.
It was a little funny. To an outsider, we looked like a typical family.
Even funnier, we felt a hell of a lot like one, too.
“I don’t think I can sleep in there.”
I jerked awake when I noticed Victoria standing at the edge of my bed.
“What’s wrong, sweets?” I croaked, half asleep.
“The nightlight isn’t bright enough. I’m too scared,” she whispered as she came closer.
“Aw, Vic.” I sat up and cupped her cheek. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise. We’re right here.”
“Hey,” Brianna whispered as she stirred next to me. “I can lay with you until you fall asleep, if you want.”
She answered with a big nod and scurried to Brianna’s side of the bed.
Brianna laughed through a yawn. “All right, girlie. I’ll show you there’s nothing to be scared about.”
They trudged out of the room and I lay back down. I didn’t realize I fell back asleep until my eyes opened and found Brianna’s side of the bed empty. The neon green glow of the clock on her nightstand said four o’clock.
I sat up and pushed off the bed, heading toward the spare room. When I creaked the door open, I found Brianna and Vic sharing the futon, both out cold. Brianna’s arm was wrapped around Victoria’s waist, and Victoria’s head rested in the crook of Brianna’s arm. I leaned against the doorframe as I peered at them for a long minute. A smile pulled at my lips as I shook my head.
My girls.
