Cecilia, Morgan, and I all eye each other, thinking the same thing.The twins.
We spend the rest of the night chitchatting and watching the game. Of course, Little Tulip is an angel per usual and onlyfusses once. All I had to do was give her a snack with her sippy cup, and the trick was done.
Greyson ended up scoring two goals tonight. The first, he looked directly at his daughter after getting slaps on the back by his teammates. It warmed my heart that he was thinking of her at that moment.He’s such a good dad.
The second time, he looked at me…I don’t want to think about what that meant.
Chapter eleven
Greyson
Horrible disaster it is.
~ The Next Day ~
I’ve been watching her. Emma. It’s weird, it’s like I now see her under a different light than the one I saw her under before our secret sharing last night. I can’t explain it, but I feel the need to watch her every single movement.
She’s not at all who I thought she was. I always pictured her as a self-centered, entitled little princess who likes to spend allof Daddy’s money, with a personality that overshadows everyone around her. But that’s so far from the truth.
Emma is a genuine soul. She cares deeply about people like they’re her responsibility. She’s kind, loving, and so thoughtful. Every morning, she makes sure I have a nutritious breakfast. She gets my suits dry-cleaned and sets them aside for game nights.I've never been so well taken care of in my life.
She always wakes up earlier to get my daughter so that I can sleep in. She thinks I don’t know, but I do. I know everything she does. Yesterday morning, I watched her with little Gracie on the baby cam, talking about making pancakes because it would make me happy.
She never does anything for herself, always for the happiness of others. All the money she’s spent since she’s been here was for me or Gracie. Maybe they were unnecessary things, but still, none of them were for her, with the exception of her room.
Emma has been amazing with Gracie. I know she’s not technically a real nanny, but she’s doing a better job than I could have ever asked for. She goes above and beyond with my daughter, and it does something to me every time I see them together.
Last night at the game, watching my friends with their wives and their kids, it made me crave it for a moment. I never realized it was something I could potentially want in the future. I was happy with my bachelor life.
But then I saw Gracie in Emma’s arms, smiling and giggling. The way Bunny looked down at her with fondness, as if she was the most precious and important thing in her life. But then she looked up at Cecilia and Silas, then Clay and Morgan, and that glimmer in her eyes dimmed. In that moment, all I wanted to do was go over to her and bring it back.
What’s happening to me?
It’s why I agreed to go with her to her parents’ today. She’s done so much for us, and I thought the least I could do is be there for her during a time of need. She might not admit it, but I know how much her parents’ opinion affects her. So if I can be there as a buffer, then that’s what I’ll do.
I don’t know her parents personally, but I did talk to Cecilia yesterday after our morning practice, and from what she’s told me, tonight could go either way. Either perfectly fine or a horrible disaster.
Her dad apparently is a pretty nice guy, but he tends to let his wife do as she wants, which includes insulting his daughter. And her mother, well, she seems like the devil.What kind of mom tells her kid she’s not allowed to cry at a funeral? That’s just heartless.
No matter what happens, I’m prepared for battle. I’ll support Bunny through it all. But if her parents do so much as say something inappropriate, I won’t hold back my tongue, because I know Emma will just accept their verbal hits.
She always wants to appear strong and untouchable to everyone, but when it comes to her family, she seems to let them walk all over her. And I won’t tolerate that shit.
It sucks to see this version of Emma when the one I know is so feisty, funny, and quick with her tongue. But at the same time, I’m glad she’s let me witness her softer side, and it only makes it harder not to notice her now.
It’s 2:00 in the afternoon, and we aren’t set to be at Em’s parents’ house for another three hours. I’ve been waiting around the house, constantly checking out the windows for an important package that was supposed to arrive this morning.I hope it gets here on time.
Bunny put Gracie down for her nap a little while ago and has been deep cleaning the house, even though I have a cleaning lady that comes twice a week. She’s nervous. Every time I ask if she’sokay, she tells me she’s great. But I know that’s bullshit, so I just let her do what she needs to do to help with the stress.
The doorbell rings, and I stand from the couch to get it. Opening the door, I see a retreating delivery man and two brown boxes on my doorstep.Finally.I gather the boxes and set them down on the living room coffee table.
“Bunny, come here.”
She looks up from the sink that she’s currently scrubbing down with question. She wipes her hands on a rag and walks over tentatively, taking a seat on the couch beside me as she eyes the packages, then turns to me. “What’s this?”
I look at both labels and grab the one I recognize first, passing it over. “This is for you and Gracie. Open it.”
She scrunches up her brows but opens it anyway. Her hands reach inside and pull out two jerseys with my team’s colors and logo. All blue, with two white bands and one gold in the middle that run horizontally along the bottom and biceps of the shirt. A big white ‘G’ sits in the center of the jersey with a golden griffin crawling through it.
