Page 31 of Wildflowers and Wide Receivers

“I like pink.”

“I can tell, look at your pretty fingernails.”

She looks down at her hands. “Uncle Jonah painted them for me.”

Be still my heart.

I already thought he was attractive, that’s a given, but the more I hear of the little details like nicknames, painting her fingernails, going to the puppy boutique, he’s starting to take on superhero qualities, which moves him to a whole new level.

“He did a good job.”

“Thank you,” comes a deep voice from behind us and my heart jolts.

She smiles at me and then turns to face him.

“Hi, Uncle Jonah,” Vivi says, her face lighting up.

His gaze skips between the two of us, before it lands on her. Meanwhile, I can’t tear mine off him. I don’t know if he’s coming from somewhere or if he dressed nicely to come inside, but he's wearing khaki pants that are molded to his thighs and a sage-green polo that is molded to his chest and arms.

“Hi, Wildflower. Having fun?”

She gets up to go to him, she jumps and he catches her. It’s then I watch the two of them hug like they haven’t seen each other in months. It’s a tight, long loving hug, and my eyes prick at the sweetness and the devastation of her needing a hug like this. Obviously, I understand there’s lingering trauma, but I never considered separation anxiety. Of course she worries that when he leaves her, she’ll never see him again. My heart aches for them both. There’s so much about what the two of them have had to deal with and overcome over the past two years, I feel nothing but admiration for him.

For her too.

She pulls back. “Yes, Ms. Sophie is teaching me about bones.”

“Is she now?” His hazel eyes land back on me and I almost stutter, as he’s half rendered me stupid by just one look, and I take a deep breath to pull myself together.

“Yes, she asked me what kind of doctor I was, which in turn led to a conversation about babies, her broken ankle, and how the foot has twenty-six bones.”

“Babies?” He looks a little panicked.

I follow where his mind has gone and have to roll my lips between my teeth for a second to keep from laughing. “Yes, babies are born with over three hundred bones.”

He looks back at her, she’s watching him and he says, “That’s a lot of bones. Try not to break any more of them, okay?”

She giggles.

“Why don’t you go tell Ms. Camille thank you for inviting you, and that I’m here for you. Molly is in the car and we don’t want her to get too hot.”

“Okay.”

He gently lets her down, she takes off, and Jonah and I end up staring at each other.

“So bones,” he says, breaking the silence.

I shrug. “It’s what I know.”

He chuckles. “I’m certain you know a lot more than that. How was the party?” he asks, as he looks around. Now that the presents are opened, people have scattered into their own conversations and are all about the house.

“It was good, you know Camille. She’s so happy today. I still can’t get over them not finding out the gender of the baby. My type A personality can’t handle that at all.”

“Right. My brother and his wife found out that Vivi was a girl during one of their appointments. She instantly had an identity, became known to all of us as Vivianne and was a full-time member of the family before she was even born. Before that, I don’t know, it was just different. She was just pregnant with a baby.”

“Did they want a girl?”

He tucks his hands into his pants pockets. “They didn’t care. Both of them were school teachers and loved all kids. John coached his high school’s football team, so I think maybe he might have wanted a boy, but he was the best girl dad.”