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“Who’s at the door?” I hear Lincoln ask as he walks up behind her. His blue eyes land on me and his brows lift. “Oh, Emery. Come in.” He waves me forward.
I have to shake the confusion from my head to make my feet work. The blonde who answered the door steps back, opening the door farther as I step inside. I look up at Lincoln and he offers me a smile before leaning in and kissing my cheek. That makes me feel a little better.
“Emery, this is Allison,” he says, motioning toward her.
“Allison?” I question, eyes wide.
He nods before looking at her. “Allison, this is Emery. She’s my next door neighbor. She works at Ava’s daycare and the two of us have been dating for a couple months now. Quietly, of course. Ava just thinks she’s my friend,” he explains to her.
Allison crosses her arms over her chest. “She must think daddy has a lot of friends.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I don’t have time to ask because Ava is running into the room. “Emy!” She wraps her tiny arms around my legs.
I laugh and pat her back, hugging her the only way I can in this position. “Hi, Ava.”
“I miss you today,” she says, looking up at me with those big blue eyes that match her father’s.
“I missed you too. Did you have fun even though I wasn’t there today?” I pick her up and she shakes her head. “No, Tommy took my dolly.”
“Did you tell a grown-up?”
She nods. “Yeah, but they no do anything.” She frowns.
I laugh and smooth down her hair. “Well, don’t you worry because I’ll be back there tomorrow and I’ll make sure nobody takes your dolly. Okay?”
She smiles now, nodding.
I set her on her feet and she grabs my hand, pulling me into the living room.
Lincoln chuckles. “I guess we should go have a seat.”
Ava pulls me into the kitchen. It’s easy to see this is where they’ve been sitting. There are a few toys on the table that Ava’s been playing with and there’s a glass of wine that I assume Allison has been drinking. Food is cooking on the stove. When we walk in, Ava takes her seat along with Allison and Lincoln heads to the stove to check the food.
“You want a drink?” he asks from over his shoulder.
“I’ll grab it,” I tell him, wanting this woman to realize that I’m at home here. I don’t know what it is, but something inside of me is jealous. Why should I be jealous? I know Lincoln doesn’t want her. She walked away from her family. I’m the one he wants. I’m the one who helped him heal from her loss. I take a deep breath and tell myself to calm down.
Opening the fridge, I grab a bottle of water. I uncap it as I stand at the island, watching as Allison talks quietly with Ava. They look so much alike. Both blondes, both with long slender fingers, the same shaped nose, and chin.
“Everything okay?” Lincoln quietly asks.
“Mmm-hmm,” is all I offer.
“We’ll talk later,” he assures me, kissing the top of my head.
I nod. We already have so much to talk about. Now with this visit, there’s so much more and that makes me worry.
I move over to the table and have a seat. Ava welcomes me with a smile as she tosses a doll my way, wanting me to play with them, but I notice the sneer that I get from Allison from encroaching on her time with her daughter. I politely hand Ava the doll back. “Me and you will play later, Ava.”
Lincoln stays busy at the stove as he cooks dinner and Ava and Allison play together, leaving me to watch them. Even though it’s been Lincoln, Ava, and myself for a couple of months now, I can’t help but to feel like I’m the outsider. I’ve been looking at them like they were my new family, but really, Allison, Lincoln, and Ava are the family here. She was his wife. She is her mother. I’m…nothing. Nothing but the woman who’s now pregnant with his child. What if Allison is back for good? What if she’s back for her family? Part of me knows that Lincoln would never take her back after the things she’s done, but part of me worries he might. I mean, what kind of father wouldn’t want his daughter to have her mother back?
“Alright, everything is done. Ava, let’s go get you cleaned up for dinner,” Lincoln says, holding out his hand for hers. “Grab your dolls and let’s put them up so we have room to eat.”
She grabs a couple of dolls and he takes what she can’t carry. Both of them walk from the room, leaving Allison and I alone. I feel exactly when her attention turns to me.
“So, you and Linc have been dating for a couple of months now?”
I give her a tight-lipped smile as I nod. “That’s right.”
