“He’s sharing it with me,” she explains, smiling as she puts on her sneakers.
We walk out the door when Nora looks up at Kylie. “Do you love Daddy?” she asks her and then I see her smirking when she looks at me before looking back at Nora.
“I do. He’s pretty great.”
“Yeah,” Nora agrees, as if she gets what she’s saying. They pile into the SUV and I stand here looking at Kylie.
“You love me?” I joke with her as she rolls her eyes at me. I wrap my arms around her, and I pick her up off her feet.
“Yeah,” she confirms softly, “I love you.”
“Good,” I say, looking into her eyes, “love you too.” We share a look and it’s only interrupted when the door opens and we hear Vincent.
“Are we going to eat or?—”
“We’re going.” I let her go, watching her walk around the SUV and get into it. I open my own door. “Okay, let’s go eat.”
epilogue
Kylie
Four months later
“Okay, guys,” I say, walking out of the bedroom and shouting toward the kids’ rooms.
Nora comes out of her bedroom first, wearing jeans and her father’s jersey. “I’m ready,” she announces, and I smile at her as she walks down the steps to the front door.
“Westley,” I call his name, and he comes bolting out of his bedroom wearing the same thing as Nora.
I’m about to say Vincent’s name when he comes out of his bedroom. “Are we going to eat after the game?”
We walk down the steps together. “We are eating at the game,” I remind him, like we do every single time.
“Yeah, but sometimes we go to dinner after the game.”
“I don’t know, buddy. I guess we can ask your dad.”
“Cool,” he says as I grab my purse and head out to Knox’s SUV that he left for us to take to the game.
The kids get into the back seat as I get into the front, and we make our way over to the arena for the Saturday night game. I pull into the underground parking garage the players usually park in but since I’m driving his car, I have access to it as well. I pull up to the valet and he comes over to open my door. “Hey, Kylie.” He smiles at me as he opens the back door. “And kids.”
“Hey, Clive,” they say all at the same time as Clive talks to Vincent about who he thinks is going to win tonight.
Nora slips her hand in mine as we make our way over to the elevator that will take us up to the suites. As soon as we get into the suite, the kids look around to see if anyone they know is here.
I’m putting my purse down in the corner when the door opens and I spot Knox’s dad walking in, wearing his jersey as well. “Hey.” I smile at him and he smiles back.
“Hey, Kylie,” he replies and comes to give me a hug. For the past four months, I’ve gotten to know him a little bit more. Knox has slowly been trying to rebuild the relationship back to what it was. Things are still strained with his mother, but that is only because she’s being stubborn. She is still sticking to Josephine’s side, even though she has moved on and is now dating someone she met at a coffee shop. He’s a realtor and she seems happy with him.
It has made co-parenting easier at least. I mean, she still gives me the stink eye when she thinks no one is watching, but I get to go home with Knox, so I couldn’t care less. Even things with his sister are starting to become better. I’ve met her a couple of times. Of course that was only after someone showed up at her front door and told her she was pregnant with Jeremy’s baby. Needless to say, she finally left him, but not until after she threw a vase at him and he ended up in the ER with fifteen stitches to the side of his head. Her parents had to bail her out of jail when he pressed charges on her. The first meeting between the two of them was strained and awkward, as he told me, but they both have made an effort to talk a couple times a week. “Are the kids here?”
“They are.” I point over to the seats.
“Are you here alone today?” I ask, even though I know Knox’s mom won’t come to a game.
“Yeah, she has a headache,” he says, making an excuse for her and I just nod my head.
“I hope she feels better,” I reply, and we share a look that says it’s a fake excuse and we both know it.
