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“Good afternoon,” he says with a smile.
“Good afternoon. I suppose.”
“So, I had a lot to think.” He pauses and waits for me to nod before he continues. “If it’s okay, I’d like to meet Kira…as her dad this time.”
Emotion wells at the back of my throat. I can’t believe this is happening. I held back the truth for so long, and it was all for nothing. “Sure, you’re allowed to. But she’s sleeping now.”
I expect him to ask if he can come back later, but he doesn’t. Instead, he says, “Can we talk about our next steps while I wait for her to wake up?”
Kira is a long sleeper, so she won’t be awake for a while, but I invite him in. “Come on.” I move aside for him to enter.
“Oh, you had someone over,” Brandon says when he sees Gianna inside.
“She’s not anyone important. Just my annoying cousin.” I grin and gesture for him to sit. “Do you want something to drink? Maybe coffee?”
“No, I actually wanted to take you and Kira for dinner later.”
“Um—I think I need to leave now.” Gigi stands up. “Call me if you need anything. Help with Kira maybe.” She gives me a knowing smile. As she walks away, I catch Brandon's gaze lingering on something on the couch where Gianna had just been sitting. It must be the lingerie she brought with her, and I can only imagine her intentions for showing it to him. I know her well enough to make an educated guess.
I quickly grab the lingerie and throw it into the shopping bag. “Sorry, Gianna is actually a little bit crazy.”
He huffs out a laugh. “I can say the same about you. I wonder if our daughter will be just like that.”
Our daughter.
My chest hums with joy. It’s actually so sweet hearing him refer to her like that. “Well, I already worked hard to give her good genes that she’ll thank me for one day. I can’t help it if she turns out a little crazy.”
He nods. “I’m okay with a little crazy.”
“Where’s Alessa? You didn’t bring her over the past few days.”
He runs a hand through his messy hair. "I was out of it. It's hard to believe. I'm happy, but at the same time, I feel regret for not being there on Kira's very first day."
My stomach twists as I see tears forming in his eyes. Brandon, showing this much emotion? It's so sweet.
"Her first word was Gigi," I reveal. "Not Mama, Gigi."
"Does she really like Gianna that much?" he asks, clearly taken aback.
I grin. “Yes. She loves her aunt, and Gigi loves her so much.” There are many firsts I want him to know, it’s a struggle to pick one out of that many. “She took her first step at eleven months, and I baked a Barbie cake for her on her first month. I have some albums I can show you.”
“I’d like to see them,” he says. His tone is a bit cautious. “But I’d like to know how you managed all on your own.”
I shrug. “I don’t know to be honest. It was a struggle before I moved down here. I felt frustrated sometimes, and I cried myself to sleep some nights. But whenever I looked at Kira, I knew she was the best thing to have ever happened to me, and that kept me going.”
Brandon hangs his head in his hand. He sniffles, but I really can’t tell if he’s sobbing or not. His eyes are red and misty when he raises his head again. “You should never have had to go through that.”
“I did, and it’s in the past now.”
He inclines his head. “Give me your phone.”
I take my phone from my pocket and give it to him. He types in his number and dials it before he returns the phone to me. “Call me if you need anything. I don’t care if it’s midnight, I’ll be here.”
Taking the phone from him, I smile. “Anything at all?”
“Any—” He pauses, skewers me with a suggestive look, and then he licks his lips. “Anything,” he concludes.
He knows I’m flirting and plays along with it. I know I shouldn’t be flirting, but I can’t help it. I’ve missed this man so much, and he looks so goddamn gorgeous that it’s impossible for dirty thoughts not to bubble in my mind.
