“For Sera,” he says, bending down to present it to her.
“I wuv howses!” She snatches it out of his hand.
“Sera, what do you say?”
“Thank you, Liam.” She beams up at him.
“That’s a special horse for a special girl. It came from Oklahoma, from where I used to play football. It’s a Walker Stallion.”
“I wuv it!” She bounces.
“You’ll give it lots of hugs?” he asks her.
“Lots.” She squeezes it to her.
Warmth fills me, and all the nerves I was feeling fade away when I watch them together.
“Ready for the park?” he asks her, then looks at me.
She nods excitedly. “Park! Slides! Ducks!”
I grab her backpack and take one last look inside, making sure I have everything we might need.
“Let’s leave your horse here so it doesn’t get lost at the park.” I take it from her and set it on the table near the door.
“You sure Central Park isn’t too crowded today?” he asks, unsure.
I shrug. “It’s New York. Everywhere is crowded outside, especially when the weather is nice like this.”
“Okay then.”
“We’ll stick to the quieter side if we can.”
“Sounds good to me.” He reaches for the backpack. “Let me take this.”
I’m not gonna argue, so I hand it over to him. “Thanks.”
We walk out, and I lock the door.
When we get into the elevator, Sera stands between us and takes both of our hands. I look over at Liam, and from the way he’s smiling, you would think Sera just hung the moon.
This all feels too easy. Too comfortable.
Like this is how it always should have been.
And a rush of regret hits me because I wish more than anything that it had been this way from the beginning.
Central Park is indeed alive today. Kids laughing and running around. Dogs barking. Musicians playing. The smell of pretzels and nuts drift in the air.
Sera’s eyes go wide the second we step on the path leading to the playground.
Liam crouches beside her. “You want to race to the swings?”
“Yes!”
“Should we let Mommy get a head start?”
“Hey.” I put my hands on my hips.
