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“Thank you.” I walk to her and wrap an arm around her waist, bending to kiss her cheek. This time closer to her lips than before. “You smell nice.”
“So do you.” Her eyes brighten as she stays in my arms a bit longer than she should, but neither of us pays attention until we hear footsteps on the stairs. I look up to see Rain walking down wearing a white, long-sleeve shirt with a light pink skirt that ruffles and goes down to her ankles. Her hair is pinned back as she smiles at me.
“Don’t you look beautiful,” I praise, crouching down in front of her. “I got you this.” I hold up the clear container.
Her eyes go big as her mouth hangs open. “For me?” she asks, and I nod, taking it out and putting it on her wrist. “Mommy, look.” She holds her wrist backward to show her.
“Very pretty,” Koda says with tears in her eyes, but they are happy tears because her eyes shine bright. “We have to take a picture.” She pulls her cell phone out of her back pocket as we pose for pictures in the foyer. I pull Luna and Koda in for a selfie at the end, the four of us with huge smiles on our faces. “See you two later.” She puts her hand on my chest and leans in to kiss my cheek and then down to kiss Rain’s.
“Shall we?” I hold out my hand for Rain after she puts on her jacket and makes a fuss not to squish her flowers. I walk out holding her small hand in mine, opening the car door for her, helping her in, before I get behind the wheel.
I hold her hand even when we get to the restaurant, helping her take off her jacket. I sit in front of her and smile. Not sure how to start a conversation, but once the nerves wear off, it’s just me and her.
“Do you think I’m going to be able to play hockey on a team next year?” she asks as we wait for our food.
“I don’t see why not. Is that what you want?”
She nods. “I’m excited for the winter camp.” She mentions the winter camp that takes place over Christmas break. She’ll be on the ice every single day doing on-ice and off-ice training. “I’m going to skate every day.”
“You might get sick of it,” I tease, and she shakes her head adamantly, making me laugh.
We finish eating and head over to the school. The first thing we hear once I open the school’s front doors is the music. Balloon arches are set up from the school's entrance to the gym. We stop at her locker for her to put away her jacket, and she makes sure she looks down and her flowers are all right.
She slips her hand in mine as we walk toward the gym, stepping in and seeing that half the lights are on, while the other half are off. Round tables are all around the outside of the floor, leaving a big open space for dancing or better yet for kids to chase each other, which is what a couple of them are doing. White and pink lanterns hang from the ceiling, which is why half the lights were off.
“Do you see your friends?” I lean down to ask. She nods her head and points at a group of girls in the corner twirling in their dresses. “You can go and say hello to them,” I urge her. She nods at me and slowly slips her hand out of mine going toward them.
I put my hands in my jacket as I watch the girls all giggle together. I see Rain hold out her hand for all the other girls to see her corsage. “Did you upstage all the dads?” someone asks from behind me, and I turn to see Cole walking into the dance.
I laugh. “Not sure about upstaging.”
“I knew I was forgetting something,” he says, standing beside me. “I’m surprised to see you here. Thought for sure she would ask Eddie.”
“He’s in Florida,” I reply, my eyes never leaving Rain, making sure she’s in my sight the whole time.
She comes over to me when the DJ asks everyone to get on the dance floor. She puts her hand in mine as we walk over to the dance floor. I look down at her, the immense feeling of pride hitting me right in the chest.
She wraps her arm around my waist when a song comes on, and we dance side by side. She smiles up at me, and then the dance switches to a fast dance. I stand to the side with the other dads while the girls bop up and down.
Three hours later, we are walking out of the gym, and she’s going on and on about her friends loving her flowers. When I open the car door for her, she looks up at me. “Thank you for being my date.” She giggles when she says that. “It was the best.”
“Thank you,” I say, bending to hug her, my arms wrapping around her, pulling her to me. “It was the best night ever.” I kiss the top of her head while she gets into the car.
By the time I pull in the driveway, she’s passed out cold. I open the door and carefully unbuckle her seat belt. Picking her up in my arms, I rest her head on my shoulder, and the door opens before I have a chance to ring the bell.
“Hi,” Koda says, standing there in her loungewear set, “is she out?”
“She is,” I confirm softly as I walk up the steps toward her bedroom. It’s been a couple of times when I’ve been over, and they’ve fallen asleep, so I carried them upstairs. Her night-light is on in her room, and when I put her down on her bed, she wakes up just a little.
“Watch my flowers,” she mumbles as I slip her shoes off.
“Should we leave her in the dress?” I look over at Koda, who nods. I move Rain enough to get her cover over her, then slip her corsage off her wrist and put it on her bedside table.
I follow Koda out of the room, wishing I wasn’t going home to my house. “How was tonight?” she asks as we walk down the stairs toward the front door.
“It was the third-best night of my life,” I tell her honestly, standing in front of the door. She looks down blushing, hopefully thinking of the other two nights I was talking about. “She’s the best.”
“She is,” she agrees with me. I take a step to her, wanting to kiss her with everything I have, but instead, I lean down and kiss her cheek. “Thank you for taking her.”
