AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What is it, sweetie?”
She pointed out at the road. “I want to be in the parade.”
Before I could say anything, Bella tugged on Tori’s hand. “Mommy, I want to be in the parade, too.”
Tori lifted her eyebrows at me. “What do you say? We are in charge here. If we want to be in the parade, no one can stop us.”
Emery bounced up and down. “Please, Mama. Please.”
I acted as if I was contemplating it, even though there was no way I could say no to these three humans. “All right. Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Yay!” Emery and Bella yelled in unison.
Once we were on the road, Bella threw herself at Tori’s back. “Shoulders! Shoulders!”
Tori groaned and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You are getting way too big for this.” She still swooped Bella into her arms and put her on her shoulders as if it was nothing at all.
I cringed, because I knew exactly what was coming.
“Me too!” Emery screamed just as I suspected.
I couldn’t remember the last time I put her on my shoulders, and I had no idea how I was supposed to do it with how big she had gotten. Sure, she was smaller than Bella, but I wasn’t nearly as strong as Tori.
“I’m not sure if I can, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
When Emery stuck her bottom lip out at me, it just about broke my heart, so I was determined to at least try. I tried to lift her up and when that didn’t work, I bent down and let her get herself up onto them. Unfortunately, when I tried to stand, the extra weight was too much, and I couldn’t get up.
Willow would be able to. My heart shattered even more as that thought came into my mind. I was about to break down into tears when Tori cut in.
“I’ll tell you what. How about I carry Bella on my shoulders for half of the parade route and you on my shoulders for the other half? And whoever isn’t on my shoulders can give high fives to everyone sitting on the sidewalks.”
Emery’s eyes lit up. “Yes! I’m going to give the best high fives!”
“Nuh-uh,” Bella said from up on Tori’s shoulders. “I’m the best high-fiver.”
“I bet you’re both amazing high-fivers,” I said before looking over at Tori and mouthing Thank you.
Tori winked at me, and it was like the pieces of my heart that had cracked apart just a minute ago were suddenly glued back together. I would have kissed her if that was something that was okay for me to do. Trying not to fall for Tori was impossible when she always knew exactly what to say and do to make me happy.
And just when I thought it had to be impossible for me to like her more, she hoisted my daughter onto her shoulders and carried her through the second half of the parade route while Emery waved as if she was the queen. Tori didn’t only take care of me. She had stepped up and taken on a guardian role for Emery as well, and I truly didn’t think I could have done the single parenting thing without her. How was I ever supposed to look at this extraordinary woman and see her as just a friend when my heart had already decided she was so much more than that?
I shook these thoughts from my head because I didn’t want to ruin such a perfect moment worrying about something I couldn’t change. So, I watched the two of them laugh together. I ran alongside Bella while she high-fived every person we passed. I took in every smiling face and listened to the chatter of happy families, because I knew that’s what Willow would want. This was the way she wanted me to live—exactly as she had.
When we got to the end of the parade route, my parents and Willow’s were standing together, watching with proud smiles on their faces. My mother-in-law had a tissue in her hand and was dabbing at her eyes while waving us over with her other hand.
When we got closer, she knelt down and reached out her arms. “There’s my two favorite girls! Come give Grandma a hug.”
Both Emery and Bella ran over and dove into Mrs. Stone’s arms. When they were done giving her a hug, they gave hugs to their other three grandparents as well. By this point, Bella referred to them all in the exact same way Emery did, which made me happy since she no longer had a relationship with Tori’s mom or stepdad.
“When do I finally get to have a sleepover with these two again?” Mrs. Stone asked when all of the hugs were complete. “I can’t remember the last time they spent the night at our house.”
Emery put her hands on her hips and glared up at me. “Yeah, Mama, why don’t we ever stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s anymore?”
My mom put her hands on her hips and mimicked the face Emery was making. “And Meemaw’s house. We’ve been living here for two months now and still haven’t had our two favorite little girls over to stay.”
That’s because I can’t be trusted to be alone with the woman beside me. I forced a smile at all of the adults. “I promise you will all get the chance soon. We’ve been spending a lot of time together, just the four of us.”
My mom smirked at me, as if she could somehow hear what I wasn’t saying. “We know you have, and that’s wonderful. We just don’t think it’s fair for you to hog the world’s greatest little girls all the time.”
