I quirk a brow. “Oh yeah? How’d you learn that one?”
She rolls her eyes and deep breathes. “On Halloween, I gummed up the keys with sticky fingers. Mommy was big mad!” The way her voice lowers and her brows lift when she saysbig madcracks me up.
“The sugar monster has a knack for making mommy big mad doesn’t she?” I’m about to ask what that is when Ash continues, “Maggie turns into the sugar monster when she’s all hopped up on candy.”
Maggie flops back on the couch in a fit of giggles. “It’s just too good!”
Ash tickles her before brushing her nose against Maggie’s.
Maggie brings her knees up, hooks her arms under her knees, and wiggles until she’s practically lying down. She looks like a roly-poly bug. “Mommy had to go real far away to clean a messy house before.”
“Yeah. I saw her. I live there too.”
“You live in the messy house?”
Ash laughs. “I wasn’t cleaning it; I was cleaning it out. And Gabriel just lives in a house close to it.”
“Do you live in Florida? Disney World is in Florida. One time we went to Disney World, and it was so far away we had to go on an airplane.” Every word comes out faster than the last.
“Uh, no. I live here in North Carolina. No airplane needed.”
“Have you been on an airplane? I’m not allowed to have gum, but the plane makes your ears pop like Rice Krispies, so Mommy let me have bubble gum that time.”
For an hour she rambles about places she’s been, movies she’s seen, and she even told me about a girl at school named Lydia. I’m still not entirely sure if they’re friends or mortal enemies.
She’s perfect.
I can’t bring myself to get up and leave. I’ve always been skeptical when people say they loved their kids from the moment they knew they were pregnant, but I get it now. I don’t even know her, but God, I love her.
“Gabriel has a pretty far drive, baby. He’ll have to get going soon,” Ash says in the gentlest voice I’ve ever heard.
Damn. I’ve always thought she was beautiful, but watching Ash mother our child is something else, entirely.
It’s everything.
“Will you come back?” Maggie asks, bouncing where she sits on the couch.
“Uh, yeah. If your mom says it’s okay.” I glance up at Ash. If I have to, I’ll get down on the floor and beg her to let me.
Luckily, that’s not needed because she smiles and says, “Yeah, he can come again.”
My racing heart leaps.
“Go play, I’m gonna walk Gabriel out. I’ll be right back.”
Maggie nods, running back the way she came, and I stand before following Ash out onto the porch.
She shuts the door behind us. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for letting me.” I offer her a smile, or maybe I’ve been smiling the entire time, I’m not sure.
As I hit the bottom step, I rest a hand on the railing and say, “Ash, I don’t want to make demands when you’ve been doing this without me all this time, but I would really like to be a part of her life.”
I’ve been trying to decide how exactly to ask her. I get that the club is a scary place. The last thing I want is to put Maggie in a dangerous situation. But I don’t care what it takes, I want to know my kid.
She swallows, crossing her arms over her chest before nodding. “We’ll work something out.”
On the way to the truck, my phone rings.
