I tweaked her nose, making her giggle more. “Not cool, kiddo. Making fun of your old man.”
Pushing my hand away, she said, “You’re not an old man. And it’s true, Daddy. You were all like…Vicky, you’re in my house. My house in San Diego.” She started howling with laughter, so I tackled her and pretended to bite her fingers.
“Stop, stop, Daddy, please, I’m sorry,” she yelled through her laughter. Letting her up, she pushed her braids away and kissed me on the cheek after catching her breath.
“What do you know about ‘gawking’ anyway? Oh, wait. Don’t tell me.”
“Jojo,” we both said.
I made a mental note to find her a new pottery class. Jojo was going down.
“Seriously, though, Vicky just started asking questions and writing in her notebook. Some of them made me and Mimi laugh. Like if I could be any animal, what would I be?”
“A koala,” I said with a chuckle. She had been enamored of them ever since I read her a storybook about a koala who traveled the world looking for his lost toy when she was four.
“Exactly!”
“That’s really cool. But I still don’t understand about our heart sign.”
“I’m getting to that, silly. Her last question was what was my favorite thing about you. I told her it was when we made our heart “I love you” sign to each other.”
Emotions clogged my throat as I asked, “And why is that, kiddo?”
She tilted her head and smiled. “Because when you do it back, I know how much you love me because you get this look on your face. You tell me you love me all the time, Daddy, but, I don’t know? When you do it back, I feel it. There’s a look on your face that makes me feel like I’m the most important person in the world.”
Her eyes were filling with tears, and for the second time that day, so were mine.
I pulled her onto my lap and held her close, inhaling her bubblegum scent from her shampoo.
“MJ, honey, you are and always will be themostimportant person in the world to me. That will never, ever change. I love everything about you, kiddo. From your braids on your head to your purple sparkly toes. You’re perfect in every way. I love you so very much.”
Sniffling, she said, “I love you, too, Daddy, and think you’re the best. Even if you won’t let me paint your toes to match mine.”
“Well, let’s see if we can talk Uncle Lukey into it, okay?” We both laughed at that. She pulled back to look at me as I wiped her ebbing tears.
“Daddy, is Vicky going to come over still and hang out with us now that the house is finished? ‘Cause maybe, I was thinking, we can have her decorate more of the house.”
I kissed her freckled cheeks and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
A text notification that I knew wasn’t mine rang out from somewhere in the hallway, followed by hurried footsteps.
“You finish getting ready. I need to talk to Mom for a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay. Is it all right that I love Mom and Vicky?”
My heart soared at her words, but my protective nature still wanted to be sure MJ didn’t get hurt.
Carefully considering my words, I answered, “God gives us the ability to stretch our hearts big enough to love lots of people. So, yes, it’s okay to love them both.”
She smiled and hopped up, beginning to gather her things. Her purse contained enough rations and supplies for any situation. I knew I had at least a few minutes with Katy while MJ collected her belongings.
When I entered the hallway, I leaned against the wall to collect my thoughts. It had been an emotional morning. Vicky recognizing the significance of my and MJ’s tradition shouldn’t have surprised me. As always, she saw what others didn’t. She was truly special. I couldn’t wait to talk to her and express how much that gift meant to me.
But before I could do that, I needed to talk to Katy. I was sure she had been listening outside MJ’s room. As I walked into the living room, I saw her leaning her elbows on her knees, with her head in her hands.
Without looking up, she said, “Sorry my phone interrupted your sweet moment.” She leaned back on the sofa and looked up at me, tears streaking down her face.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked as I sat down next to her. Even though she made me furious, she was still someone I cared about, and I always hated it when she cried.
