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“I want burritos. I love them.” He sounds really reverent for making a food choice.
“Okay.” I make my selection, then hand him my phone. “Order what you want. I’ll put Isabel to bed.”
“I can do it.”
“I know.” I give him a sweet smile. “But I want to.” I pull her from his lap, and she’s already rubbing her eyes. “C’mon, sweets. Mommy doesn’t sing as good as Remi, but I’ll try.”
Isabel digs her nose in my neck, and I hum their tune again as I take her up to her room.
“Pretty, Mommy.”
Oh my heart. She is the cutest. I know I can’t hold a tune, but she’s giving me the encouragement to keep singing. It’s something she learned from Remi. A sudden burst of emotion fills my chest, and it’s hard to swallow. “I love you, Isabel.”
“Wovvu too.”
It’s not long before she’s fast asleep, but I’m not ready to stop holding and rocking her. As I inhale her scent and kiss her hair, I promise to be better. I promise to be there for her whenever she needs me. I want to be a homeroom mom, to pack her lunches and take her to school. I want her to feel like she can come to me for anything, good or bad.
After Ever Heart is stable for the future, I will do just that.
The doorbell rings, which means the food is here, so I set Isabel in her crib. It’s time she gets a big-girl bed. She’s growing so fast. It feels like yesterday that Jay was holding my leg and chanting, “Shaahh, push it. Oh, baby, baby.” A lot of mothers get classical music in the delivery room. I got Salt-N-Pepa.
I meet Remi in the kitchen, where he has us set up next to each other on the island.
“Mmm, smells good in here.”
Remi lays my plate in front of me with fanfare, then settles in next to me. “Check your phone. You got a text when I was ordering.”
When I unlock it, I see the messages I missed from Corissa. One I ignored this afternoon and one a little while ago. I know she means well, but she’s being a little pushy.
“Yeah, Corissa wants me to go out for drinks on Saturday. She’s not taking no for an answer.”
“Why are you saying no? Do you not like Corissa and her overly flirty friends?”
My head throws back with a laugh. “I like them. I just have responsibilities here. Plus, you’re off on the weekends. We already hog all your time.” I take a big bite of the soft flour tortilla, and the tangy taste of salsa verde explodes on my taste buds. I moan. “Man, I forgot how good these are.”
Remi has yet to take a bite of his food. His focus is solely on me.
“What? Do I have food on my face again?”
He swallows, and I swear the gulp echoes around the room. “Uh, no. I’m just waiting for you to take another bite.”
“Jeez. You do have a food fetish. Too bad for you I’m shit in the kitchen.”
“Maybe my fetish is to feed you.”
I almost choke on my next bite, but I don’t otherwise acknowledge his flirting.
“You said you had a headache earlier. Did the tea help?”
Chewing my porky goodness, I nod. “Are you going to eat that or can I have it?”
He scoffs. “No, it’s mine, woman. These things are bigger than your head. There’s no way you’d be able to eat two.”
“Try me.” I smirk.
Making a spectacle of taking his first bite, he rubs his belly and hums. “This is so good. Too bad you’re not getting any.”
Balling up my napkin, I throw it at his head. He catches it and tosses it back, bopping me in the side of the face.
