Our daughter was a diva in the making. She loved getting her hair done and religiously went to the salon with her mother for manicures and pedicures. Oh, and when we were in the stores, she liked to pick out her own clothes. She’d begged for these little pink baby heels that she was obsessed with. She would literally wear them with any and every outfit because she liked the sound when she walked. Those were the heels she was currently pissed that she couldn’t wear.
Valleigh loved having another daughter, so she kept Harmony’s bathroom stocked with little lip glosses and blushes because she got tired of her always playing in her very expensive products. My baby would spend hours at her vanity, playing dress-up. It was a headache for me because it felt like she was growing up too fast.
Leigh appeared beside us with Harm’s bookbag. She handed it to her, but she refused to take it. “Harmony Renee, cut it out. You don’t need those heels or any blush.”
“But, Mommy, I do,” she argued.
Leigh shook her head. “No, you don’t. Now come on, ’cause you’re making your sister late to her dance.”
The little diva plopped down on the floor and began to cry. Leigh looked to me for help. I chuckled while going to pick Harm up, but she saw me coming and crawled away, screaming bloody murder. You would think we were in the house, whooping her ass by the way she was carrying on.
“Harmy, come on. You don’t need it,” Iylah said, trying to help convince her to head toward the door.
That didn’t work either. I frowned at Rhap when I heard him giggling behind me. He was leaning against the wall, thoroughly enjoying the show unfolding. Walking over to where Harm was sitting on the couch, crying, I tried to pick her up, but she slipped through my grasp. When I finally caught her, she stiffened her body straight as a board before flailing wildly. By the second punch, I was over it.
I placed her down. “Okay, okay. Go get the damn heels.” She took off running toward her bedroom before I could fully get the words out. Leigh gave me a disappointed look. “Look. I’m not about to be getting my ass whooped by a baby behind some kitten heels and blush. Rhap going to be the one cleaning up whatever mess she makes with it, baby. We good.”
“Oh, wait. . . What?” Rhap said, leaning up from the wall.
I chuckled while closing the distance between my wife and me. “Yeah, it’s not too funny now, is it? Good luck, playa.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her forehead. She glanced up at me with her beautiful ass, making my body all warm and fuzzy. After all these years, she still had that effect on me. If anything, it was stronger than ever before.
“You can’t always give in, Sym. She’s going to be a nightmare when she gets older,” Leigh warned for the thousandth time.
I shrugged. “So what if she grows up to be spoiled? I think that’s a compliment. It’s an honor to be able to spoil my baby.”
She mushed my head to the side. “You say that now until she’s asking you for a Bentley for her sixteenth birthday.”
I started chuckling because I could see that. I glanced at the wedding photo of us behind her. It was crooked, so I straightened it out, feeling pride bloom from my heart center. Leigh went out of her way to hang my awards from my time as a recording artist, but that photo was what I was most proud of. Father and husband was the reverse uno card combo no one was expecting.
We all glanced up as Harm came racing back down the steps. “Slow down, baby!” I called out to her.
She stopped running so she was less likely to trip herself up. I shook my head, looking down at the little princess heels. They weren’t much of anything, but my baby loved them. Bending down so we were eye level, I chuckled at the red blush on her cheeks. She was too serious. “You look pretty, baby. You ready to go now?”
She nodded with the most adorable grin on her face. “Yes, sir.”
Standing up, I took her hand and accepted the bookbag that Leigh handed to me. We walked with everyone out of the house because we were heading out with them. I opened the car door for my wife and closed her inside before going to put Harm in the backseat of Rhap’s car. She had a seat back there already because she rode with him often.
“Okay, be a good girl, baby,” I warned her.
She clapped her hands. “I always good, Papa.”
“Mhm,” I mumbled because I knew the truth. “Have fun, Doodle. Call us and tell us all about it before you go to bed.”
She turned from the front seat to look at me. “Okay, I will, Papa. Have fun on your date.”
I winked at her. “Oh, you know we always do.”
I stepped back and closed the door. I beat on the roof once, and Rhap pulled out of the driveway. Walking back to my car, I joined Leigh, who was busy on her phone. I couldn’t help but smile at her, forcing her to look at me.
“What?” she asked, locking her phone in the process.
“I just love the fuck out of you. You’re my heart, Valleigh.”
She blushed. “I know, baby. I love you too.”
I lifted our entwined hands to kiss the back of hers. Reversing out of our driveway, I made the short drive over to the arena. We sang along to our R&B playlist, which was so long we never made it through the whole thing. The closer we got to the rink, the more excited Leigh became in the passenger seat.
