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“How about another strawberry?” James offered. She took it, squishing the wedge of fruit in her fist. I pulled a bib to me and slipped it on her, tying it in the back. I’d brought a red sundress just for this. If anyone ever says kids aren’t messy, they’re lying. She gets forty percent of every meal all over her. Some nights, I let her eat in just a diaper ‘cause I know we are going straight to the tub.
“Will you grab that blue container from the lunch bag? It has goldfish crackers in it.”
“Fisses!”
“Why are they all different colors? Isn’t it supposed to be orange?”
Grinning, I took the small bowl. “Originally, yes. But they have these now as well as some others. They’re the same goldfish crackers we know and love, they’re just a rainbow of colors.”
“Huh, that’s cool. I feel out of the loop.”
“Just shows you’re not a lifer in the junk food category.”
“I don’t consider crackers junk food,” he said, his gaze going behind me. I heard them moving closer.
“There you three are. We had to park all the way on the other end. Everyone had the same idea today it seems.”
“Mom, Dad, please have a seat.” James was laying out another blanket beside ours.
“I hope you’re hungry. Lola helped make sandwiches for today’s lunch. If you find a random goldfish on them, well, she is good at hide and seek.” I wanted to facepalm myself; I sounded like a doofus.
James reached over to squeeze my knee. Yeah, I was not going to talk; let him do that.
“Why are you acting so shy today, Lee?”
I shrugged.
“There’s something we want to tell you guys,” he started. “I knew Lee before she worked for you, Pops. Briefly, but…” He looked at Lola, laughing as she dropped another goldfish. She was great at playing hide and seek, I swear.
My attention drew back to the two people sitting before me when Mr. Whitman shifted in his place.
“We had a fling…” I blurted out. “I didn’t know he was your son at the time. Honest. Not a clue.”
Good lord, just kill me now. I’d be better off. Who just blurts that out? It wasn’t even that much to it. We had a few drinks, danced, and then went to his place and made a baby. Happens all the time.
It was Mrs. Whitman who broke first. Her laugh drew me from my panic. I just gawked at her. She held out a hand, waving off James’ “Mother.” His admonishment doing nothing to help the situation.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry. You just looked so worried. Don’t be. You’re both grown, and grown folks will do things. Even if you knew who he was, that is between the two of you.”
“We made a baby; that’s not just doing things,” I huffed out. “I didn’t know who he was, that kept him from knowing her.”
“You made a beautiful, precious baby. It may have come full circle in a roundabout way, but look at where you are now.”
“We put it together the day we saw you both in the office. One look and Carmen knew. Then my mom has been saying since Lola came along that she looked just like James.” Mr. Whitman chuckled. “I thought she was just living in a fantasyland. Seems she really does know all.”
“We are happy that you’ve been able to reconnect. I can only imagine how things have been, adjusting to a new normal. We are happy to have you in our lives. You’re more than an employee now.”
“You always have been. And this little angel, you know we already love her.” The Whitmans shared a smile, and something in me broke. Happiness rolled across me, whipping away the worry.
Chapter 4
Shaylee
My—our—daughter turned two today; unlike her last one, she had a house full of family to cheer her on.
Two. My baby was growing up so fast. Too damn fast. I wanted to keep her at this age, though I could do without her fighting sleep and staying up all night only to crash an hour before I had to be up for work. This stage sucked monkey balls.
What kind of bullshit was that anyway?
