Nikki’s eyes flashed to mine and back to Dolly’s. “Oh, lil potato, thank you so much for inviting me, but I don’t know if…” She looked at me again. “I think maybe your mom wants it to be a special thing for the two of you.”
“But, Daddy is coming and so is Miss Dom!”
My eyebrows furrowed.Daddy was bringing who now?
“You should come,” I said to Nikki. She took in my expression and raised a brow in response. I softened my features and tried again, “It’ll be fun.”
“And then, we can get ice cream after!” Dolly cheered as if she had won a grand prize.
“Well, let me give you a ride home so you don’t have to walk,” Nikki said.
I shook my head and took Dolly’s hand. “No car seat. We obey car seat safety laws.”
Nikki laughed. “Yeah, I know.”Was she blushing?“I picked up a car seat a few days ago at a children’s secondhand store.” My heart cracked. Nikki was the perfect woman, but I could never be with her for real. This was a farce, a pretend relationship, a means to an end. And I needed to be independent. I shouldn’t need someone’s help with my kid. Although, this was nice. It was nice to have someone dependable on my side. It felt like a gentle breeze on a hot day, a relief to know that I had someone in my corner.
Then I mentally kicked myself, how easily I forgot that none of this was real.
Dolly was overjoyed. “We can go in Nikki’s car, Mama! She has a car seat.”
My mouth was hanging open. “Why would you do that?” Something settled in my heart. It felt like a cat purring.
“Well, just in case of an emergency or something. What if you need help? It just made sense.” Nikki shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. It wasnotnothing. “Thank you,” I choked.
The sweetness of the gesture overwhelmed me. The selflessness of Nikki Thomas was overwhelming.
The next day, we loaded up in Nikki’s car once again, Dolly loved her car seat’s blue and pink design and insisted that the cupholders were better than her other car seat.
Dolly was in her costume with its blue and silver tulle tutu and glitter in her hair. The recital was taking place in an small, old historic theatre in New Haven. We signed her in, and she went backstage. There was still a half hour until the show started, so we decided to get some popcorn from the concession stand and find our seats.
Tristan was already sitting there with Dom, his brunette, athletic co-worker. She was the same age as us but had trust fund money which explained the name brand everything she had adorned herself with. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to bring the woman he had cheated on me with as a date to our daughter’s recital.
Nikki placed a hand on my back. “You ready?”
I nodded, then reached behind me to hold her hand.
We shimmied down the row to our seats. We sat with Nikki on one side next to me, and Tristan between my seat and Dom.
“Hello,” she greeted, reaching over Tristan to shake my hand. Her manicured square nails with French tips and a clunky silver charm bracelet that looked expensive hung there for a moment before I took it. “My name is Dom. I’m so excited to see Dolly’s dance! She’s so cute.”
“Oh, I know who you are.” I didn’t shake her hand. She was comfortable,toocomfortable. My Mama Bear instincts were on edge.
Dom clearly didn’t know how to respond either. She looked at Tristan.
“You don’t need to be rude,” he murmured. “Dolly likes her.”
“And, when exactly did you start bringing your mistress to family events?” I hissed.
“Who I sleep with is none of your business, right?” He hissed back at me. “Isn’t that what you said? Hypocrite. You started dating a lesbian, and I found out through social media.”
I didn’t have a rebuttal. Thankfully, the lights dimmed, and the show started. Nikki held my knee the entire time, I kept my arms wrapped around hers. It was comforting. The safety I felt in Nikki’s presence was dangerous. I tried to remind myself of that.
We cheered for Dolly during her dance number. Fifty minutes later, each class had performed, and the line to check out was already forming. When we collected our little dancer, we all cheered for her again.
“Ready to go?” Dom asked Dolly. My blood was simmering.
“No,” I said. “Tristan, we need to talk.”
