At Chloe.
At Finn.
At the cookie jar.
At the half-finished drawing…with stick figures I now realize are shaped like kittens.
“Okay.”
“Woohoo!” Chloe leaps from her chair and breaks into a celebratory dance, spinning in circles in the middle of the kitchen.
Finn laughs and joins in.
And as I sit there watching the two of them dancing around like adorable lunatics, their smiles bright and laughter in the air, I feel something shift quietly inside my heart.
Because for the first time since Anna died…
I know Chloe and I are finally coming back to life.
Five
Finn
“Do I want to know?”
I bite back a giggle, whisper, “Chloe picked it out for him.”
Chrissy grins. “Man’s a softie for his girl.”
The shirt Rhodes is wearing is Pink—and that’s with a capital P. It’s so bright it’s almost eye-watering and it clashes with…
Well, withallof Rhodes.
He’s still rocking it though, has been from the moment that Chloe brought it home from preschool this afternoon, the pink decorated with streaks of multicolored glitter paint.
I nudge her shoulder with mine. “Kind of like someone else I know.”
She glances over at her husband, Rome, and her smile softens. “Yeah, Idoknow.”
Chloe sinks onto the ground, dragging Rhodes down beside her and I can’t help but feel my face go soft too. Because the way he looks at his daughter, the gentle way he shows her how to stroke the kittens…
There’s a piece of me that wishes I could have had that too.
A parent who looked at me like I hung the moon, who made me feel like I was part of the family, not just a burden to be shouldered. A person who was valued and part of the decision-making process, and…
Who was never made to feel as though I wasn’t enough.
My parents—mentally, I shake my head—they couldn’t give me that, can’t be that.
But maybe I can have a man who?—
No.
I cut that thought off before it can fully form. Down that road lies only danger.
“How’s that going?” Chrissy asks.
I tear my eyes away from the pair.
