Mara scoffed. “Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive. Jussica and I were fine before you, and if you disappear, we will still be fine. You haven’t been in her life long enough for her to need you.”
Her callous words enraged me, and I hit the palm of my hand. “Don’t test me. I’ll fight for full custody and win, so I wouldn’t have to see your face ever again.”
Mara opened her mouth and then shut it and sank on the bed, staring at the floor. A slow tear trailed down her face.
“Shit,” I muttered softly. “Sorry. Listen, I’m not going to take Jussica away from you. You’ve done a good job with her. You did what I asked by adding me to her birth certificate, so she knows without a doubt she’s mine. I might be angry with you for keeping her from me, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to be happy or to have the type of love you desire. A happy mom is a happy child. I’m just not the man for you.”
A knock on the door interrupted us.
“Come in.” I inhaled peace and exhaled anger.
The knob didn’t turn. “It’s locked. Where’s Mommy?”
I glared at Mara, who wiped her eyes, as I threw on the sweatpants I kept at the bottom of the bed ever since I became a father. I jumped out of bed to open the door.
“I had a bad dream.” With her eyes barely open, Jussica reached for me, and I picked her up, cradling her to my chest. If anyone had ever told me that I could fall in love with another human being this easily, I wouldn’t have believed them. From the day she walked into my home, demanding to see her room, my heart belonged to her.
“It’s okay,” I soothed her and eased back in bed with her. She clung to my neck when Mara patted the space beside her, which only entwined our hearts even tighter. Whether her mother accepted it or not, Jussica needed me. She’d attached herself to me as if we’d always known each other.
Mara rose from the bed and looked down at us. “This makes my decision a whole lot easier.”
“What decision?”
“I’m going home. Juss can stay with you for the week.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I have a conference in San Antonio on Tuesday.”
“Daddy, don’t curse.” Jussica admonished sleepily near my ear.
“Sorry.” I rubbed her back and tried to keep the anger and panic out of my voice. “I’ll be back on Friday, and I’ll keep her for the weekend, okay?”
Mara lifted one eyebrow. “Jussica loves it here with you. You’ve already been taking her and picking her up from school most days. She has clothes over here, and her bookbag is in my car. If you want to be a single father, here you go. I’ll pick her up fromyouon Friday.”
Jussica’s arms clung tighter, and I wanted to curse her mother for putting us in this dilemma. Instead, I tried to talk reason to Mara. “I promise I can keep Jussica all next week or whenever you want me to keep her. I don’t have any help this week. My mother isn’t in town, and it’s a work conference. I need to be there. I can’t just drop everything.”
“Welcome to my world.” She then moved around the bed to see Jussica’s face. “Would you like to live with your daddy for a little while?”
She nodded and pressed her head on my shoulder.
Mara bent to kiss Jussica’s forehead. “That solves that.” She moved around the bed, and her eyes threw daggers at me. “I’ll get her bookbag from the car. Maybe it’s time for you to see what it truly means to be a daddy.”
When Mara walked out of my front door, I picked Jussica up. “Hey, let’s go back to your room. I’ll stay with you until you go back to sleep.”
She was already half-asleep as I tucked her back into her Princess bed that had been delivered last week, while I had my old bed moved to my rental property in the Third Ward of Houston. She hugged my neck once more and turned on her side, already comforted back into sleep. I kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Only good dreams. Love you.”
I closed the door quietly and rushed back to the living area as Mara walked back inside with Jussica’s bag. “You can’t justdump Juss on me like she’s some trash. Have you lost your mind?”
“No. I haven’t. For the last few weeks, you swept into our lives like a hurricane, demanding that we spend time with you and fuck whatever plans I had. Buying her with gifts and fun. For fuck’s sake, she has a whole bedroom meant for a princess just because she asked. She said what she wanted, and by the next week, she had it. I won’t be the bad parent because her father has more money and doesn’t know how to say ‘no’. So, for now she needs to stay with you, and I need to be free from responsibility for a while.”
My nostrils flared. “Does that mean you’re not coming to get her on Friday?”
“Maybe or maybe not. Whatever woman or plans you may have had will have to wait,” she said haughtily, placing her hands on her hips. “It’s time for you to really see all of what it means to be a father and not just the fun parts.”
Sarcastic laughter tumbled from my mouth. “Ah, I get it. You still think I turned you down because I have a woman when you can’t handle the truth of what I said. Now you trying to throw salt when there’s no need.”
“Not true.” She tossed her head. “Tired of feeling like I don’t matter to my daughter because she has you now. I’ve been here for her since the day I gave birth, and she goes to you for comfort and not me?”
“You’re so full of shit. She knocked on my door, looking for you. Jussica doesn’t trust yet I’ll be here, so yeah, she does cling to me, hoping I never leave.” I stepped closer. “You and I both know if I gave you what you wanted, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You wouldn’t be running out of here like you are right now. Go ahead and go. I got it from here. Thanks for proving why I would never give your ass a chance.”
