“No, Baye-Baye! Sweep!” Carlee yelled out.
He looked at me, and I shrugged. “You have officially spoiled her. Get in the bed, sir.” He laughed and climbed on the blanket, sitting up against the headboard.
“She’s special,” I said, gazing at my baby girl.
“She is,” he agreed. “You’re a good mother.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. You make sure they have everything they need, even if your job is demanding. They never miss a beat with you.”
I smiled lightly. “You know they only asked about their father once? Out of almost two months, they only asked when he was coming home. When I told them he wasn’t, they hadn’t said a peep since.”
“Kids know, Ms. Alicia. They all are smart. For them to not ask about him all the time lets me know that he wasn’t much of father to them when he was around.” He looked down at me. “I know you didn’t bank on being a single mother, but you got this, and you got me. I’m here to make your load light.”
“My kids love you. I feel like if I get rid of you now, they’ll hate me.” I laughed.
“They could never hate you, . . . and I’m going to make it so you’ll never want to get rid of me.” Our eyes locked, and I had to look away from him. Those eyes were doing things to me. I looked down at my baby, and she was fast asleep. “I’ll be downstairs with the kids if you need me.” He stood from the bed without looking back and closed the door behind him.
I picked up my phone and sent a quick text to Raeley. I prayed that she would find the time to call me back because I needed someone to talk to other than my mother. I needed someone to talk me out of falling for my damn manny.
Universal Studios
I had only been to Universal Studios one time, when I was twelve. The nostalgic feeling I got when we walked through those gates gave me an excitement I hadn’t felt in a long time. As soon as we got there, Carsyn wanted to ride the Simpson ride. Since Chloe and Carlee were too small to get on, Alicia took them to the magic show they were doing across from the ride. I could see the excitement on Carsyn’s face while we waited in line. He was talking a mile a minute about what he wanted to do after this ride.
“Mr. B?”
“What’s up, lil G?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here with us. My mom smiles a lot since you’ve been here. Can you please stay with us? My dad doesn’t want us no more, and I like having you around.”
My mind scrambled on what I could say to fix what was clearly broken. Alicia may have thought the kids weren’t feelingthe absence of their father, but it was obvious that she was misinterpreting their silence.
I didn’t want to disappoint my guy, but staying with them would be a process that I was going to work toward making happen.
I looked down at Carsyn, who looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
“I’ll tell you what. You got me for as long as your moms need me, a’ight?”
He nodded. “A’ight . . . I see all my friends at school with their dads, and it kind of makes me sad. I don’t want to tell Mommy, because she always gets sad when I mention my dad. I don’t want her to be sad anymore, so I don’t say anything.”
“I know, but whatever you’re feeling, I’m sure she will always make it right for you. Your mom may be sad, but she’ll be even sadder if she knows you’re hurt but holding it in. Just like you’re comfortable with telling me how you feel, I want you to do the same with your moms, okay? She’s there to protect you.”
“Will you protect me too?”
I smiled at him. “Always. And should there ever come a time when I’m not there, you can always call me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, can we get back to the fun? Sadness makes me itch,” I said, scratching my chest.
He laughed and nodded as we moved up in the line until it was finally our turn. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fit in the cart because of how tall I was, but we made it work, and Carsyn screamed his head off. When he grabbed my hand, I knew he wanted to feel protected, and I was happy to oblige him.
From there, we did the Mario Go-Kart ride, Jurassic World ride, and toured Hollywood behind the set. Walking around this huge park, we had worked up an appetite and decided to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., where her dad met us.
