29
Wyatt
2018
“London, can you come in here?” Hayley shouts toward the room.
The little girl skips into the living room and looks from me to her mother. Her hair is tied in a ponytail at the top of her head, and she wears a pink T-shirt with a unicorn on it, pink leotards, and a frilly skirt over it.
“Hey, I know you.” She frowns, her smile dropping instantly as she eyes me. “Why’re you here?”
“Hey, London.” I cannot stop the grin from spreading into a full-on smile. She is just that cute and that feisty.
She looks at her mother again. “What’s he doing here?” She scrunches her nose and whisper-shouts even though I’m in the same room.
“Hayley, I’d like you to meet Wyatt. He and I grew up together. We used to be . . . friends . . .” Hayley looks over at me, unsure how to approach the subject.
“You were friends with this guy?”
I laugh. She is so straightforward for a little thing, and there is no denying Hayley is her mother.
“I didn’t realize you two met.”
“Yeah, we did. At the shop,” London clarifies.
“Oh!” Hayley say knowingly. “London, he’d really like to get to know you, and be friends, if you’d like.”
London narrowed her eyes at me. “If he smiles more.”
“I could do that,” I grin.
Hayley shrugs, and I look at my beautiful girl again. She looks so much like Hayley, but her hair and eyes match mine. London has a lopsided grin like mine too. She’s the most precious thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
“We didn’t get off on a good foot, did we?”
“Nuh uh.” She shakes her head.
“Let’s see if we can change that? I have something for you.” I reach for the gift behind me. Hayley told me she’s a sucker for board games, so I got her one.
“This is cool,” London exclaims when she’s ripped open the poorly wrapped gift.
“You like it?”
“Uh huh!” She nods and beams.
“Would you like to play?”
“I sure would.”
The three of us sit on the floor and start to play a game of Monopoly for kids. She winds up beating Hayley and me. It’s a nice icebreaker, and I’m glad for the hit. I look at Hayley, and she smiles at me sadly. I can’t believe that here we are, years later, sitting around her coffee table playing games with our daughter.
Our daughter.
The words, though foreign, are like a balm. I never knew I could love someone instantaneously until I met little London.
* * *
“That was great. Thank you.”I stand at the door with my hands in my pockets. Hayley stares up at me, her blue eyes are troubled. She gives me a small smile.
