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She groaned with a smile. “Are you going to do this with every milestone? Last month, it wasmyfirst birthday as a wife and husband.”
“Get used to it.” I tweaked her nipple under the sheet and ducked before she slapped me.
“You better run.” Soraya threatened.
I headed out of my…our room. Soraya kept her condo, and we lived in both places as we adjusted to married life and decided on a house together for our soon-to-be-expanding family. We had a destination wedding in Costa Rica in December, eight months ago. Beautiful. Elegant. Romantic. All Soraya’s doing. I relinquished my need to control and showed up when and where she told me to be. Our friends and family attended, and Jussica made the perfect flower girl.
The smoke alarm blared as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. Nothing appeared to be on fire. She had the top of the stove turned up too high. With a furrowed brow, Jussica stood at the stove flipping pancakes. I opened the balcony door and grabbed a broom to push the smoke away from the detector until the annoying noise ceased.
Jussica smiled. “Happy Birthday, Daddy. I made you breakfast.”
I chuckled. “Thank you, little one. You can’t ignore the smoke alarm. We could’ve gone out to eat.”
“Nope. Ma told me how you prefer home-cooked meals.” She pointed to a nearby plate. “I need that for the pancakes.”
She proudly added my perfectly round, though slightly burnt, pancakes next to my crispy bacon and grapes on the plate. “Now, eat. I have to finish getting ready. Mommy is coming to get me for my Girl Scouts camping trip.”
“Alright, go get ready while I eat this delicious meal.” I took a bite and managed to hide my grimace with a wide smile. “Mm…good.”
Jussica beamed as she hurried away and bumped into Soraya in the hall, who exclaimed, “Hey, where’s my hug?”
“I give you hugs all the time, Ma.” She said before she embraced Soraya and hurried on to her room. The two of them were more like friends than mother and daughter, though Jussica would listen when Soraya became firm with her.
When my pregnant wife wandered into the kitchen, I pushed my plate toward her and pulled her onto my lap. “Since it was your idea for her to cook, we’re going to eat this terrible food together.”
She kissed my neck. “Or we pretend to eat it, toss it, and go to Breakfast Klub for chicken and waffles once Mara picks her up.”
“Your idea is exponentially better. Marrying you was the smartest decision I ever made.” I hugged her to me.
“Second best decision.” Soraya sighed and admired her surroundings. “Sometimes I wonder what if. What if I did give you that ride? What if I never walked past the pool with my Chick-fil-A?” She rested her forehead on mine. “I used to regret that we weren’t together sooner. Until I think about that day. We can want what we want when we want it, but God’s timing will always prevail.”
“Hewanted me to meet Jussica first.Heknew my heart and had to unlock the hurt of my father’s absence with the love for my daughter to fully embrace being with you.”
Jussica yelled, “Mama’s outside. She told me to tell both of you, ‘hey, and to you, ‘Happy Birthday.’”
“Tell her, ‘thanks,’” I replied, and I meant it.
Once Mara witnessed firsthand how her absence affected Jussica, Mara stepped back and allowed her daughter to visit whenever she wanted. We kept a polite distance. Keeping our conversations around Jussica’s needs and general pleasantries.
Mara found another higher-paying clerical job, and with her Reserves money, she no longer drove for Uber. Jussica lived with me full-time, attending the private school where she thrived, and she lived with her mother on the weekends on the other side ofthe city. After the dust of our fight had settled, Mara realized she loved the arrangement. She had the best of both worlds: a single mother who had time for herself to travel for work or at her leisure, and above all, a life outside of her daughter. She seemed more at peace. Maybe even happy. I didn’t know if she’d met someone and kept it from Jussica or hadn’t at all. Still, I wished her the type of love I’d found with this beauty in my arms.
“Let’s say we get it in at least twice before we go eat.” I grinned. “Haven’t challenged myself in a while.”
She slid off my lap. “One time, Jashaun, because I’m hungry and the line at Breakfast Klub is always long.”
“It’s my birthday.”
“Your point?” She flicked her tongue at me.
I tried to grab her arm, and she evaded me with a smug grin and rushed back to the bedroom, knowing I would always chase her.
And I would.
For as long as we both shall live.
