Images 52

Chapter 52

I’m still humming the song as we pull back into the diner and I head inside and slip through the crowd of customers and all the way to Taylor and he’s flipping some stuff from the grill to plates and I let him put them up to the pick up window.

Then I kiss him before he has a chance to put anything new on the grill and I go over and over again leaning into him pressing close and go until some of our regulars at the counter start to hoot and holler.

I wave at them and I keep kissing him for a few more minutes.

Oh yum it is such a good thing to kiss him.

He breaks the kiss and does that thing were he has his arms around me but in that spot in my back where I can a do just lean back and let him take my weight. I love our little things.

“That was awesome.”

“So was the song. I love it when you do stuff like that.”

“Well worth it if that’s the reaction that I’m going to get.”

“Mmmm…” I kiss him again then break it and he sways with me in this little sort of dancing like movement in front of everyone. There’s a few sighs from the girls and honestly I do enjoy the fact that I’m the girl getting the sigh-worthy stuff.

“Very worth it Tay, you turned my day around.”

He kisses me again and he nuzzles me some too. God I love that that feeling, face touching kissing but not kissing thing. I can smell his cologne and him and it’s just…it’s very sensual and very emotionally yay.

“I need to take the day off.”

“Okay, we have things covered.”

“I’m going shopping because we’re all taking tomorrow off.”

“Oh?”

“Dad said he’d take care of Iggy and that we should all go to the West Edmonton mall and do the stuff there like the indoor beach and stuff and take Giselle with and do the family thing.”

He’s looking at me and for a second I’m wondering because if Tay has one thing it’s that he is very used to working. He nods. “We can do that.”

“We can?”

“Sure, I’m a dad and a husband now and we have staff that can do this stuff too while we’re out.”

I hug him pretty excited. “Really!?”

He laughs. “Yes Really, Look I came close enough to leaving this world all alone and with know one and all the stuff and the hard work that this place was just partly from going nuts. My family is more important to me than working.”

I kiss him again and yes we kiss a lot but he so, so deserves it. I know a lot of guys that wouldn’t do this, they either wouldn’t leave off work or let someone else do it or they’d just avoid their family as much as they want to have them and stuff…My Stepdad was one of those guys and he only took time from anything to be there for football.

I’m so glad that he’s the other kind of guy.

I break the kiss. “I’m going to go and get Iggy and Giselle and take them with me shopping. Ingrid needs to get out of here sick or not and we need bathing suits and stuff.”

He grins. “So…let me get this straight…I get to see you almost all day tomorrow in a bathing suit?”

I blush as I head upstairs. “We’ll see.”

I can’t help it but do that cross foot step walk thing that makes my bottom slip back and forth.

I’m smiling and biting my lip as I can feel him watching me go.

I head into the apartment and I’m leg tackled and Gisele’s there hugging my knee and doing the jumping “Heeeeeee…” Thing that she does. I stop and let her and then scoop her up and spin her once and air-plane her into the living room.

Iggy’s there watching me but on the floor with the comforter and pillows using the coffee table as a full on table and all sorts of kids books and stuff are out there and she’s actually coloring.

I take Giselle around the room once more and she squeals. “ I Tikabell!”

Oh that so…gives me the smiles.

I land us on the couch and she’s standing on it. “What’d you and Mum do today?”

She looks at Iggy and Iggy smiles a little, she’s semi-stoned but aware enough to look after her while someone is looking after her. It’s a self conscious smile though. Giselle though actually grins and points.

“We do colors and Dora an Liffwogs!”

“Show me?”

She’s showing me and she’s showing me Ingrid’s stuff too and they seem to be connecting more today. I look at them and praise Giselle’s and tell her. “You’re Mum is a really great artist y’know she used to draw the neatest things.”

Ingrid blushes. “Thanks Jen.”

I like the way that she said it. There’s a little of that her there that she guards so jealously slipping out.

“Hey it’s true I remember all the stuff that you used to have on your walls.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I never knew anyone that drew clothes…like designed them or tattoos.”

“I…I..I’ve been getting back to it some.”

“Really?”

She passes me a few sketches on a pad and while I’m not a fashionista type some of things though are nice there’s a sweater/tunic I like with three quart sleeves and a longer back.

“Oh this is pretty.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes I’d wear it.”

“Maybe I’ll leave the designs for you.”

I lean over and hug her. “Well that’s cool of you I’m sure they’ll be worth money once I can frame the work of a famous designer.”

She snorts. “Yaaaa as if.”

I look at her. “It might happen…you’re good at this, really good and you need to look into getting serious about it.”

“Why, I’m dying Jenn?”

“Dying isn’t dead…you got a wake up call Iggy, a big one and this is it…this is the time to be trying everything you want to do.”

“But I…I can’t.”

“I think you can…and you need to do this.”

“I need to?”

I point to Giselle who’s playing on one of the leap frog toys and she’s got her tongue out the corner of her mouth. “Need to, she needs to learn to get back up, to not let things stop her and hold her down. We need to teach her things and especially you.”

“Me?”

“Yes…Look Ingrid in case something does happen don’t you want her to look back at these times and say. My mum never gave up, she fought like hell and so will I.”

She’s looking at Giselle and there’s a few tears slipping out. (Sniffle) “Yeah….a lot actually…a lot I’ve so much to make up for.”

“Yes, yes you do.” No I’m not pulling punches with her.

She looks at me and she smiles a little sheepish smile. “I deserved that.”

“Oh yes and more and it’ll come too I’m not letting you off okay?”

“Yeah…”

I hug her and we…we’re not there yet but we’re getting there. It’s a whole lot like getting to know your best friend years later after a world class screaming match. Just like time can make bad shit matter less so does us sharing a daughter.

I look at her. “Get changed and put on some deodorant. We’re going shopping for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“We’re taking a family day. Taylor, Me, Giselle, You and Hunter and Angie and Dad we’re going to see and do some of the stuff at the West Edmonton Mall.”

“Sounds like you and G and Taylor.” She sort of hunches.

“Actually yeah, I’m due some time and she needs to get exposed to the idea or being with just us in case of…”

“And I’m coming along why?”

“Because you need people to look after you, because you still need to get out and you need to have fun with our daughter too while Taylor and I…” I raise my eyebrow and she get’s this wry smile on her face.

“Okay, okay…and for the record eeew to straight sex.”

I snerk. “Well it worked for you.”

“And I had to drug him and get the pair of us snapped to do it.”

“You know you just said him right?”

“Yeah well even with that, and this Jenn you are so not the same person, not even the same girl I knew then.”

I smile. “Thanks, I get what you mean too….So? Me now, a good thing or a bad thing?”

“A good thing, you’ve actually became an amazing woman.”

I blush and smile. “Okay lets all get changed and we can meet Angie and Hunter there.”

We actually get dressed together and we all opt for dresses because they’re easier to slip in and out of and I lend Ingrid one of mine that I bought awhile back at a thrift store hoping to slim into it.

Actually I give her all those clothes.

It’s something some of us do…maybe even regular girls and that’s get something we hope we can fit into.

Ingrid smiles. “Okay, it’s not like I actually own anything this girlie or pretty.”

She’s wearing this spaghetti strap tank dress that I loved the look of and it’s this yellow ochre color and it has flowers on it like goldenrod and yellow daisy’s and some humming birds.

We match that outfit with some flats and she looks at me. “Wig?”

“Up to you but I’d go with no, I wouldn’t hide it.”

“Okay, another lesson for G huh?”

“Yes and you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah facing up to stuff like this and taking ownership will help.”

“I’m pretty sure that I own up to having cancer.”

“Well Ig sometimes it’s like the cancer owns you.”

She rolls her eyes. “You sound like a self help book.”

I laugh. “Even so it’ll be good for you.”

“Okay…yeesh, you just don’t stop do you?’

“No not when my daughter is involved or my friends.”

“We’re friends now…again?”

“I told you we never stopped you were just being a colossal B.”

She cackles. “You’re just too much sometimes Jenn.”

I get ready and I go with a dress too but mine’s kind of nice. It’s a red tank dress and it’s kind of short and I’m not worried about people seeing anything since my snip what’s left minus the boys just sort of folds down flat for the most part anyway.

I really, really love the way that my clothes fit me right now.

I go with a large black purse and transfer a bunch of things to it and a pair of matching black shoes with a low wedge heel good for shopping and I’m set and we dress Giselle in a cute little outfit that sort of reminds me of Strawberry-Shortcake you know like from the cartoons.

We head down stairs and meet up with Tay at the bottom of them and he gives me a long kiss and the he puts a card in my hand.

“What’s this?”

“Your credit card.”

“I don’t have a credit card….”

“Well the account is linked to mine but this card is yours.”

“What?”

“You never shop, Jenn you just work and you save and you come up with all this new stuff for here and you’ve helped me grow the business and we’re doing good.”

He kisses me leaning in and does it really long and slow until Iggy coughs and we break it. “Jenna, you’ve more than earned it and you’re not that kind of girl to go nuts with this all the time so…yeah. Take it and go have fun and splurge on yourself okay?”

“Taylor…” I’m blushing and smiling and speechless.

“Will you just go.”

I kiss him really strongly and break it and tuck the card into my pocket book and Iggy and I head down to the parking lot and over to her van. She’s staring at it.

“Holy crap what happened to my van?”

“I know it’s clean right.”

“Yeah and polished.”

“I got some of the local street kids that stop around to do it in trade for laundry ad lunches when you first got here. And Tim took a look at the rest since then.” I look at her. “Y’know when you by a vehicle they work a lot better with things like clean oil in them and stuff.”

“Hey I’m an artist and that’s like stuff for the butch girls to do.”

I get us in and it’s been steam cleaned and wiped down inside and out and there’s Armor-all on the dash stuff and the windows are clean and it smells good and sounds better than it did when she turns the engine over and we pull off and head to meet Angie and Hunter.

It’s a semi fun drive with it sort of being quiet at first and Giselle starting to go. “Caa, twuck, twuck, twuck…yeeeeeee! Buggy!” and she’s kicking her feet.

I look at Ingrid. “Punch Buggy?”

“Sort of she sort of gets it.”

“It’s cute.”

“Wait an hour.”

“She’s my daughter, it’ll always be cute.”

“Yeeeee… (Giggles)…I’ma koot!”

I look back at her in the mirror. “Yes you are.”

She squeals and I grin and Ingrid is rolling her eyes. “That…that’s you still having some guy in you.”

I look at her. “How do you figure?”

“She’s got you wrapped around her little fingers.”

“No, I just love her, I’m patient.”

“You’re saying I’m not?”

“Yes actually I am saying that you never were patient.”

(Squeals) “Buggy!”

I laugh because it’s just actually to me it’s kind of awesome. The next VW Bug I see I say. “Giselle look.”

When she say’s it we both scream. “Buggy!”

Giselle’s squeal and laugh is off the charts.

Ingrid winces and I grin at her and we pull into the Tim’s where we’re meeting Angie and Hunter and they have coffees and teas for us and Angie grins and we talk bit about where we’re going to go to first and then Angie leads the way to some of the thrift stores first before they close.

We’ll hit those first and then the Mall.

The first place we go to is MCC Thrift store on 34th and I love Hunter’s reaction because she’s going shopping. She’s going shopping with a whole bunch of other women and the thought makes me smile.

And sigh a little.

Ingrid looks over to me. “You okay?”

“Yeah just doing the wistful thing.”

“Oh?”

“Seeing Hunter this happy is just sort of bringing up how much I would have loved a trip like this.”

“Uhm Jenna you’re on a trip like this now.”

“Good point, though it would’ve been nice to have just been raised doing it.”

“Yeah well you weren’t missing much…you’ve actually done better than the rest of us.”

“How so?”

“Married with a really supportive nice guy, a daughter and good parents and you’re in your own business. Heck just about everyone we know from high school just graduated or they’re still in school.”

“It hasn’t been easy Ingrid.”

“I never said it was I’m just saying you didn’t miss that much shopping for stuff that would be out of style the first moment that someone popular wore something different.”

I laugh at that and she’s right high school can so be like that.

We do some thrift shopping and for me shops like this have some really great things in them. One is purses…you can find some great purses here most will be meh but every once in awhile there is vintage or just as good a handicraft made bag.

Next is dresses. I love wearing a dress and like purses there are a lot of vintage and really nice dresses in these stores yes there’s a lot of garbage but there’s some that are just awesome and I buy about a dozen all for dead cheap and a good half of them are this whole 50-60’s pin up styled dresses and are just fun.

To me a vintage dress like that is girl fun kitschy like guys and bowling shirts. Speaking of shirts I get some for me and they have some things that look good for Taylor so I get those too.

And Ingrid has her own money it seems so right now I don’t offer to pay and she and I both buy a few things for Giselle and so does Angie.

Its fun too trying things on and watching the other’s try things on and Hunter is having a blast because she’s not just shopping but trying things on and though she’s still a tween Ingrid and I aren’t that far removed and we help by doing research.

It’s really easy to get a feel for the whole what’s in and what’s not by looking at the Facebook pages of the other kids her age and while Ingrid is right about stuff like this not mattering as much. I get that need to just be like the other girls and maybe a bit more.

So…we post stuff like a post about going shopping with her mom and step sister to be and Ingrid and we play up Iggy’s shaved head and several shots of her and Iggy doing the whole looking through toques and hats and stuff.

Iggy’s idea you can’t lose cool points if you’re hanging with the cancer chick.

And we do several pictures to post with her in cool outfits and she’s twelve so even getting to look like you’re drinking a Tim Horton’s coffee makes you look hipper than just a soda.

We do get a couple of hats and I am so getting some made with the diner’s logo on them and stuff.

I even get a whole bag of coloring books and buy a bag of cheap fifty cent old novels for Hunter.

Then we go to Value Village since it’s not too far away and we have some fun there too and we get some pretty good stuff there too.

Actually a lot of good stuff there.

And yes I am very much a thrift store girl credit card or not because there’s some stuff that doesn’t need a name brand or a label and I love some of the tops and tunics here and there are some things that we just get because…

Pillows, those little comfort pillows for couches and stuff. I wanted some for our place but it’s a fun and yet semi big girl kind of item so we get Hunter some of them and a few things from the household stuff for her room.

I never thought of just how squee it is for a tweenaged girl to have her own towels. Angie gets her a dozen towels but also a wicker laundry basket and laundry stuff and tells her it’s time that she has to learn to do her own laundry if she want’s the perks.

And places like Value Village are great to knick-knack girlie shop too. I get a whole resupply of combs and brushes, stockings and panty hose and all the elastics and things for my hair plus I want some of them for Giselle and we all kind of stock up on those things.

Hunter is over the moon with having these things and getting advice from us too. Like how every girl should have things like a mirror for her locker and make-up wipes and nail polish and all those little things that I had to learn about and didn’t have really.

Actually there’s a lot of these little girly things that I’m actually buying for me for my first time too.

But since Hunter now has a couple of purses that are age appropriate we do need to stock them.

What goes into a cool pre-teens purse?

Tissues, make-up wipes, a Tide/Stain remover pen, mini-tooth brush and tooth paste, lip gloss and chapsticks. Pens and a little hard cover address book a few packs of gum and breath mints, some hair things like comb and a brush and elastics and scrunches.

Wet Ones….I cannot stress those enough because sometimes you Need to clean something like a public toilet seat.

Lots of stuff but at the same time not too over the top.

We drive from there over town to a few cool places that I know actually from my time at the club. Yes there’s a lot of things that you can say about those girls that work in places like that but a lot of them really know their stuff and the few times I had gone to these place I was with them.

Never had the money then to get stuff but this time I do.

Rowena is a great place especially if you’re looking for stuff that looks good but that other people are wearing a lot of the time. It’s a seriously cool place and…they have this older stock bargain basement where you can get stuff for really cheap.

I get a red with black satin Chinese short sleeved tunic blouse for fourteen dollars. It’s just kind of cool and sort of trendy off trendy that I’ll wear it and it’ll look killer with a pair of black jeans or black slacks and it will be really hot with one of my black leather skirts and some really cool stockings.

Mars & Venus is right around the corner and that’s pretty much a vintage shop and not Hunters speed but I love it and Angie is just gushingly over the moon at some of these things here especially the dresses. I love the dresses here too…if you’ve ever seen Mad Men on TV this places sells women’s clothes like that.

Angie calls them date clothes, stuff you were out someplace when you’re not rocking an evening gown.

Okay so Hunter and Giselle do have a spazz over the hello Kitty stuff and they just have to get a few things. It’s pretty cool though to me too not to buy for me but to get it for them and see them have so much fun with it.

I get some things here too though there was some ladies dresses that came with the matching blazers that I wanted for something business casual and I get these really nice rust colored vintage chords for Ingrid.

“You don’t have to buy anything for my Jenn.”

“I know but I am and I want to.”

“I’m living with you on your charity as it is.”

“Yeah you are and you might have a short time of it as well so I’m asking you to let me do these things okay?’

She blushes and looks at me and I mark that as a win as she nods. Look she’s always going on about how she’s going to die and stuff. Now as far as I’m concerned the jury is still out on that depending on what she/we find of fro the specialists. But if she can use her “dying” so can I and heck yeah I’m guilt tripping her with that.

She is the other mother of my child so I do not have to fight fair.

So yeah this is where I break the cherry on my credit card and I do have to sort of explain and show my ID. The girl was kind of not seeing me as a Mrs. Winters but she was pretty cool seeing my ID and then she was really cool about the diner and that she’s been there before.

But it was kind of a non-issue.

We could so go and do more and I want to take Taylor here and honestly if you want to go shopping and really see stuff that’s cool and different this is the area this whole Whyte Ave. and out by Strathcona is a mecca for these kind of places but it is getting late enough and we all get in the vehicles and we head out to the West Edmonton mall.

Giselle is asleep for the ride kind of played out and needing a power nap while we’re driving there and we’re finding a parking spot.

Ingrid is getting really slow so I send Angie and Hunter ahead while I stop once we’re inside and get her on a bench for a rest and I go and get her a hot cup of tea. Okay I had to go and find a place that made tea and I got her a hot peach and ginger tea and by the time I got back Angie was sitting with her with a cool cloth and Hunter had gone someplace and she got one of the wheelchairs that they have for some people.

I look at her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, no I’m just really played out right now.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“Shop with you girls actually…it’s been a long time since…well it feels like a long time since I’ve done anything like this.”

Not actually surprising given my earlier conversation today with her ex. I can just imagine what living with her must have been like…and I’m pretty sure that Hanna was paying the bills which is why Ingrid showed up with everything she owned in her van.

I’ve been around to know that cancer or not that there are some same sex relationships that are very one sided.

Makes me wonder too if Ingrid left or Hanna kicked her and Giselle out.

No I don’t like that girl…woman…not that much at all.

I hold her hand and give it a squeeze. We sort of share a smile together. “You want to slip out side to med up?”

She nods and I look at Angie and she nods and I wheel Iggy out to the van and I sit with her with the doors open and keep an eye out for whoever might cause trouble while she has a joint and slowly drinks her tea.

“Jenn…?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for today, I mean after everything I’ve done and stuff.”

“Ingrid we’re friends. I still love you and I will always care about you.”

“But I…”

“Yes you did and y;know that really effing sucked and even after that the stuff that you did to eff with my life…I hate that but I get some of it, I get that you’re just as effed up as me if not a whole lot more and I’m putting all of those feelings there.”

“I don’t deserve it.”

I look at her. “But I do, I deserve it and so does our daughter so I’d rather have you as a friend and the mother of our daughter then waste time being vengeful and spiteful and holier than thou about stuff.”

We stare at each other for awhile.

(Sniffle.) “This is really good tea can we get some to take home?”

“Definitely, c’mon let’s go and join the girls.”

The first thing that I do is get us all some supper and we end up going to Harvey’s for a burger and stuff mostly because we can put on what we like and it’s pretty easy to feed Giselle and Hunter and the rest of us just sort of snack waiting to get home to eat and Ingrid’s not wanting to risk it in case it doesn’t agree with her.

We’re there all the way to closing at nine and we are all over the place mostly just exploring and looking. I can count the times that I’ve been here pretty much on one hand and this is one of the few times that I really have looked around.

And I found that credit card or not I am not a high end shopper.

And it’s not the fact that I don’t find the stuff in some of these store pretty there are some really lovely things that are really awesome but…it’s like I look at the item and I weight it in my head.

Is it actually worth what they’re asking for it?

Most times no…not in a lot of the shops we look in and I’m sorry I will pay forty or fifty dollars for a dress if it’s nice and I have bought some today that were even cheaper and then I seen something that’s three hundred dollars and it’s like…why is it three hundred dollars?

Name?

Most likely, but how insecure do you have to be when that’s the whole reason for buying something I’m not going to use?

Now there are some places that I enjoy and stuff and do some shopping at.

Addition Elle…nice clothes very nice clothes for the bigger girls and not in a bad way as a girl that has the whole thing with me still trying to deal with transition and stuff there are things here that will fit me. Its business and casual clothes and sizes from like tens and twelve’s at the smallest to well up towards twenties and thirty.

I’m so coming back here with Kendal, Dallas, Holly and Nin…we’re all not really these little waifs and stuff except that both Nin and Hol’s are short but Kendal’s like me but older and Dallas well she’s a big girl too and she’s a rugby and roller derby girl so no not big but she’s not small either and she’s been hitting the weights.

I will never be my cousin Angel who’s a size zero and a thin little waif of a girl.

Aerie we stop at and look because its sexy underwear and I like getting that stuff for Tay and me. I do like having and owning lingerie and I buy some pieces and actually a couple of nice full sets too but I think Taylor won’t mind that at all.

Hunter is almost vibrating being here…it’s a lingerie store and she’s a tween girl and I will say this they have a nice nightshirt and dorm wear section that we let her shop from and we let her get a few nice yet innocent things.

She’s super jazzed at that because her panties will be light years ahead of the other girls at school and she gets a picture done in the store with her hands full of bags with the store logo on them.

Angie bought some stuff too…a good chunk of change on a credit card and she had this smile there in her eyes like she was planning time with her and dad.

It was both odd and flattering the way that Ingrid would look at me as I was trying things on. She knows I’m not into the whole lesbian thing and she doesn’t push it at all either but there’s just something so different when you’re shopping with a girlfriend and she’s got that look.

Like she has no problem finding me attractive.

Fairweather was another place I splurged at and we all bought stuff there. Good clothes and kind of close to being a ladies only kind of department store but very affordable prices…like nice decent pumps for twenty dollars and Tee’s and tank tops for like six and a lot of cool accessories for like three things for ten dollars.

Ingrid schools Hunter in that, she was semi-nerd-goth-hawt so she knows the whole cool jewelry thing and Hunter’s that age where bangles and bracelets are okay and some kinds of necklaces.

We hit other places like Laura’s and Ricki’s and Reitman’s as well as The Bay and Target and Sears and we save enough time to hit Swim co.

Okay that place is expensive but at the same time it’s kind of worth it and we all get some stuff there and we head out with the rest of the closing crowd.

Poor Giselle though is out like a light about halfway through but Ingrid has her in her lap most of the time since we’re using the wheelchair for her.

It was likely one of Ingrid’s better mommy moments but when we’re leaving I’m holding her since Ingrid was starting to flag and do the same.

I get treated to some mum and daughter sameness though once we’re at the van and they’re both that mumbly sleepy kind of same way waking up and I look at Ingrid.

“You okay to drive?”

She blinks at me sleepily and she looks tired. “M’okay.”

“Nope, you’re not. Give me the keys.”

She lets me have them and she’s right back to passing out falling asleep once I get her in the passenger side.

Yes, I drive us home and I do pretty well for not having a license and I follow Angie and we keep off the busier streets until we get home.

Dad and Tim and Taylor and some of the others come out and help us unload things and I see Dad pick Iggy up and carry her upstairs and I hear her.

“John?”

“Yes Ingrid?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you being nice to me? I did rotten things to Jenna.”

“Ingrid?”

“Yeah…?”

“You’re sorry?”

“Yeah…”

“You hate all of that?”

(Sniffle-cry-whine.) “Yeah…..”

“Okay then…it happened it’s done we can’t change that.”

“But…”

“No, no buts. Look I don’t know you from then, do you know what I know?”

(Sniffle-whine.) “N..nn..no.”

“All I know is that you have been through serious stuff and you went from that to a really crappy relationship. Honey you could’ve been or done or become so much worse but instead you came looking for Jenna and you put aside all the stupid bullshit to do it no matter how scary it was or how much it hurt your pride.”

“But…but…”

“You can argue all you want Ingrid but in spite of it all you’re alright by me.”

(Sniffle-sob.) “I am…”

“Yeah, you’re the mother of my grandbaby, you’re family.”

(Sloppy-sniffle-cry.) “Family can…can hurt…”

I slip around the corner to see him on the landing to the second floor and he’s still got her in his arms and he’s looking at her.

“It can but sometimes we choose our family.”

(Sniffle.) “But you didn’t choose me…I just showed up.”

“Can I choose you now?”

They’re staring at each other and she goes from crying to shaking and crying and nodding and then…. “Y..yes…” and she buries her face into daddy’s chest and starts to sob.

I’m crying too…everything he said is the stuff I’ve been talking about and I’m hugging myself until I feel Taylor come up behind me and he wraps me up in his arms and squeezes me tight and I lean back into it with a happy sigh.

“Thanks honey.”

“Yeah, no problem…this is a hugging moment.”

(Sniffle.) “Yeah…”

“I made some pizza you want some?”

I smile just because it reminds me of the way he was when we first met.

“Yeah, I’d actually love some pizza.”