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“I might just do that.”
“How do you handle tantrums?”
“Nothing can be resolved when a child is throwing a tantrum. It’s best practice to ignore. It might sound harsh, but they can’t cry forever. Once they’ve composed themselves, then we can talk it out. Sometimes, a tantrum is a cry for attention, and sometimes, it’s frustration over being unable to express themselves properly. It’s important to get down to the root cause.”
“Well said. Daisy is two, and she’s been throwing tantrums often.”
“That’s no problem. I had a two-year-old myself a year ago. Can you tell me more about your children?”
“Sure. Grant, aka Granny—”
“Granny? Who came up with that nickname?” I laughed.
“Casey. FYI, Grant hates it.”
“I’d imagine so.”
“Grant is a bit of a grump; however, I think he’ll grow out of it after some time. He is still adjusting after the divorce. He’s angry that his mother keeps canceling when it’s her turn to have them. He loves his mother, but she keeps letting him down.”
“That’s…difficult.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it.”
“I don’t mean to be in your business, but is there a reason why she doesn’t get them?”
Jonathan deflated against the couch and tossed the coloring book and crayon aside. “Honestly? I think she does it out of spite since I have sole custody.”
“Sole custody, huh? I don’t mean to get further into your business, but men rarely obtain full legal custody of their children. Do you mind sharing why?”
“Eliza did something vile…to Simone and Nori.”
I bristled. “What do you mean?”
“Long story short, Eliza hadn’t met Simone and Nori when they entered the picture. We were divorced by then, and there was no reason for her to meet them. Simone was shopping at one of the boutiques nearby, and Eliza decided to insert her nose where it didn’t belong. She started asking Simone if she was Nori’s nanny and who the parents were. Simone refused to answer, and Eliza called law enforcement and filed a false kidnapping report. Simone was briefly detained, and once everything was settled, Eliza was arrested and charged with a felony. She managed to escape jail time, but she had to pay a fine. She is also being sued for emotional distress.”
“Good for Simone. That’s horrible.”
He shook his head. “Simone didn’t want to proceed with the lawsuit; however, Anthony wouldn’t let that fly. I decided to go for full custody because I didn’t want that kind of influence on my children. Her acts were entitled and prejudiced, and I don’t want our children thinking that’s okay.”
“Wow. That’s insane. So, more likely than not, I might run into some baby mama drama with Eliza?”
“It’s a possibility. As I said, she hasn’t been picking up the kids, but I’ll handle the exchanges. The exchanges should be in public places, so we shouldn’t have to worry about her randomly popping up here. The gate should remain locked. I changed the code after she moved out and had the locks changed.”
“I hope you keep her handled, Jonathan because it won’t be pretty if I have to handle it myself.”
He smiled easily. “I had a feeling. You don’t seem like the type to lay down and take it.”
He spoke in that tone again that triggered a flash of heat to creep from my toes to my scalp.
Stop, Kierra. He didn’t mean it like that. It’s just a figure of speech.
“Casey is the exact opposite of Grant. He’s fun-loving, talkative, and a little daredevil, and as you witnessed, Daisy enjoys the occasional fisticuffs with Nori.” I cackled at his use of fisticuffs. Tears welled in my eyes and spilled over. He smiled warmly. “I thought you’d enjoy that. What is your discipline style?” he asked once I gathered myself.
“As I mentioned earlier, I’m a talker, and I don’t lay hands on Kiyah, so I can assure you it won’t happen with your children.”
“I appreciate that. How strict are you with bedtime?”
“Pretty strict on school nights, but the weekends are free-for-alls.”
