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“Well, I wanted to use that money to buy you a Father’s Day gift,” he said with a smile.
Aliyah stepped into the bathroom then, and I smiled as I dropped to my knees, wrapped my arms around Crew, and pulled him close.
And then, I let the tears fall into his little neck when he whispered, “I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, buddy.”
Two weeks later, Crew and I partook in one of the Father’s Day gifts he got me, and we shot paintballs.
Aliyah
And for Christmas that year, I had placed papers underneath the tree.
They weren’t legal or anything, but it was what mattered.
The papers were a printout I made on a family tree website, and I made Karen my mother and Daemon’s adopted mother. And I made Daemon’s parents mine as well. And I made myself Marcus and Van’s little sister.
It wasn’t just Marcus’s eyes that had teared up, no, it was also Van’s when they both opened the present.
But when Crew was ten, and Keely was six, we had agreed that we missed the area.
And we had all moved back.
And there was one person that I wished would’ve stayed in Los Angeles.
Epilogue
Daemon
I wrapped her in my arms and then smiled at our two kids carrying gift bags into the house.
“Wonder what they got us this time?”
Ever since Crew was four, he started paying for his own gifts to people. The first was for Aliyah on Mother’s Day. The second was on Father’s Day for me. And the third, well, he made a National Honorary Uncle Day. And yes, you guessed it, he used the swear money and bought Marcus an uncle's gift.
I never thought I would see a tear slip out of his hazel eyes, but when Crew announced what the day was and then presented the bag to him, I saw it.
He was adamant that he got dirt in his eyes, however, the laughter from everyone that had surrounded us said that we didn’t believe a word he had to say about the matter.
Aliyah
“Hey Mom, what are you doing?” Crew asked me from the open doorway to the closet.
I smiled at him, “Purging my closet. I’ve got so many things that don’t fit me anymore.”
“Cool, I hope you get rid of that top that I like; I want it.”
I looked at my daughter, and said, “Honey, all you had to do was tell me you wanted it and I would have given it to you. Why didn’t you ask me for it?”
“Because Daddy said he better never catch me in something like that,” as soon as she said that I knew what top she was referring to.
Grinning, I walked to it, took it off the hangar, and handed it to her, “You can wear it the moment you turn eighteen, but if I catch you wearing it before then, I will burn it. Do I make myself clear?”
She nodded immediately, and then wrapped her arms around me, and hugged me. “Thank you, Momma.”
“You’re welcome, sweet pea,” I smiled at her, and then looked at the top shelf.
And when my eyes landed on that familiar box, I grinned.
