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Our second stop was to visit Mara at work. Finley loved that, and she cried when it was time to leave. She perked right up when I told her we were going to visit her toys and to pack them to bring to my house. I’m not really sure she understands the concept of them moving in with me, but she was excited all the same.
Packing was… time-consuming. She’d show me what she wanted to take and I would put it in the box. Only to turn my back and find her playing with it in the middle of her bedroom floor. I managed to pack up two boxes of toys, and all her movies before she took a nap. I set her up on the couch, stacking pillows on the floor in case she rolled off and her fuzzy unicorn blanket that we found in between her bed and the wall. She’s been hugging it tightly ever since.
We had some lunch, which consisted of SpaghettiOs and crackers. Grilled cheese would have been better, but Mara brought all the perishables to my place last night. I wanted to make use of what Mara had in her kitchen—fewer items to move over to my place. Besides, who doesn’t love SpaghettiOs?
While she was napping, I was able to take her bed apart and load it and the packed boxes in the trailer. I managed to also pack up all her clothes, books, and another box of toys. I have almost her entire room packed, minus her dresser, and some art on the walls. Luckily, I borrowed Dad’s dolly so I can move the dresser on my own. I have it on the dolly and am rolling it outside when I hear her start to cry. Shit. Backing up inside the house, I set the dresser by the front door, close the door, and go back to the living room. “Hey, Finny, did you have a good nap?”
“Sef.” Her bottom lip juts out, and big ole tears fall down her tiny cheeks. It pulls at my heartstrings.
“What’s going on, sweetheart? Are you still tired?” I pick her up and set her on my lap, and that’s when I feel the wet soak through. Looking down, she’s soaked through her clothes and now mine. Damnit. I forgot to have her use the potty before she crashed. She’s in a pull-up, but it looks like it didn’t do its job.
“That’s got to be uncomfortable, huh?” I ask like a dumbass. Of course it’s uncomfortable for her. I stand to take her to her room to change her when I realize all her clothes are packed. I turn to put her down, and she starts to cry, only louder this time. Panicked, I don’t want to leave her in here to cry on her own, but I can’t take her out in this rainy cold weather wet either. My eyes scan the room, looking for an idea when I spot a small laundry basket. Lifting her in my arms, we go to the basket, and sure enough, there is a sweat outfit in there for her. Remembering Mara told me there were pull-ups in the bathroom, I take her down the hall and into the bathroom.
“Let’s get you out of these clothes,” I tell her, setting her on her feet. I get her stripped down, and I’m about to redress her when I realize I can’t let her walk around the rest of the day smelling like piss. “You ready for a bath?” I ask. Luckily for me, she loves bath time. Mara and I had a talk a few weeks ago when Finley asked for me to give her a bath. She helped me realize that it’s not something she can do on her own, and that as a caregiver, it’s my job to do that for her. She went as far as saying that I’m her father figure. That gave me the confidence I needed to put my reservations aside. I’ve watched Mara do this often enough, so it should be a breeze. I turn on the water, letting it get warm, not hot and set her in. I hand her a mesh bag full of toys and she smiles up at me.
I reach for the bubbles, thinking she’d enjoy that, when I remember Mara told me to never let her sit in bubbles too long. Female anatomy and all that. I guess Finny is prone to infection or something. To be honest, I glazed over in that conversation, not really knowing the rules of men, and little girls who are not their daughters. It felt weird getting that kind of information. However, here I am now using it. That makes me smile. She may not have my blood running through her veins, but I couldn’t love her more if she did.
“Okay, kiddo. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I grab the cup that has a soft side that Mara uses to keep the water out of her eyes. Filling it with water, I place it to her forehead. “Tilt back for me.” I explain what I need her to do. Only, she doesn’t do it. I try to dump the water anyway and it doesn’t begin to get the rest of her hair wet.
“No.” Finley shakes her head.
“Finny, we have to wash your hair. What’s the point of a bath if you don’t?” It’s not like she’s going to negotiate with me. She’s two and a half. That doesn’t keep me from trying again. “Hey, how about after bath time, we finish packing up what we can and then go to my place and watch movies and eat popcorn?”
“I want potcorn.” She nods.
“Okay. But we have to wash your hair, finish your bath, and I have a few more things to load in the trailer. Can you be a good girl for me while I do that?” Scooping the weird-looking cup full of water again, I repeat the previous process, only this time she tilts her head back for me. I make quick work of washing her hair while talking about movies and popcorn. It works and I feel validated I’ve got this dad stuff down.
Dad.
I want to be that man for her. I run my hand over the crown of her wet head. “All right, Finny, let’s get you dressed.” Helping her stand, I wrap a towel around her body and toss one over her head. “Wait, where’s Finley? Finley? Where are you, Finley?”
Her giggles go straight to my heart, warming my entire body. She pulls the towel off her head. “I wight hewer.” She laughs.
“Oh, there you are,” I say dramatically. “I thought I lost you.”
“Sef.” She laughs even harder.
“Sorry.” I raise my hands in the air and grin at her. “Let’s get you dressed so I can finish loading up. Then it’s movies and popcorn.”
“Yay!”
Just like that, she’s the most cooperative child on the planet. Sure I might have bribed her a little, but it’s not like I offered her unlimited ice cream. In fact, I know popcorn is a snack that Mara won’t lecture me about later, and I know it won’t keep her bouncing off the walls well into the night.
After she’s dressed and her hair is combed, I set her up on the couch with her princess blanket, a sippy cup of milk that we picked up on the way here, and a movie. Eyes glued to the screen, she drinks her milk while I pack up a few more boxes and load them on the trailer. Checking in on her, I see she’s still watching the movie, engrossed in the story, so I keep working. This time I go to Mara’s room. I make up a few boxes and start emptying her dresser drawers. Her underwear and bras, pajamas, T-shirts, shorts, socks, and scarves. She has an entire drawer full of scarves. Taking the three boxes out to the trailer, I still have room for more. I check in on Finley, and she’s still engrossed.
An hour later, I have all of Mara’s clothes packed and loaded and everything under the bathroom sink, and in the drawers as well. The trailer is at max capacity, and I don’t want to put anything in the bed of the truck because of the rain.
“Sef,” Finley calls out and my heart leaps in my chest because she’s asking for me. This little girl has her tiny fist around my heart.
“Hey, sweetheart. How was the movie?” I ask, sitting on the couch next to her.
“I want potcorn,” she answers.
“You were such a good girl. I’m ready to go when you are.”
She crawls into my lap and latches onto me. “Sit tight. I need to get your coat and shoes.” Reaching for the remote, I turn off the TV and get to work putting her snow boots on her and her coat. Lifting her into my arms, I hand her the princess blanket she’s held onto all day and walk through the house to make sure I have all the lights turned off.
“All right, kiddo, let’s go home and get some popcorn.”
“Yay!” she cheers.
We make it home, and as promised, I pop up a bag of microwave popcorn. A bottle of water for me and a sippy cup of milk for Finny, and we’re posted up on the couch watching Shark Tale. That’s how Mara finds us.
“Hey, you two look like you’re having a good day.”
“Mommy, potcorn.” Finley points to the
half-empty bowl.
“I see that.” Mara kicks off her shoes and comes to sit next to us on the couch. “Did you have a good day with Seth?”
“Wook.” She holds up her princess blanket.
“I see.” Mara kisses her cheek then focuses her attention on me. “How was she?”
“Good. We had a slight pull-up malfunction at naptime, but we took a quick bath and all was good.” I go on to tell her everything I got packed up and loaded.
“Wow, on your own?”
“I told you. I’m a man on a mission. I want you both here and the sooner you feel settled, the sooner this place will feel like home to both of you.” As I say the words, Finley stretches out on the couch, getting comfortable.
“I think we’re good.” Mara laughs.
“Perfect. I’m going to start unloading the trailer. You ladies just chill.” I lean over and kiss her quickly.
“My want kiss,” Finley says, sitting up and kissing my cheek. I return the favor. I watch as she snuggles into Mara. Leaving my girls to cuddle, I get busy unloading the trailer. I back it up to the garage and open the garage door and start unloading into the second bay. This prevents me from having to walk through the cold-ass rain and keeps everything dry. I’ll worry about getting it into the house after everything is unloaded.
Half an hour later, the trailer is unloaded and I’m a sweaty mess. I close up the trailer and pull the truck up far enough that I can get the garage door shut. Taking off my shirt, I wipe the sweat from my face and head into the house for a clean one. As soon as I step into the house, the smell of dinner hits me. Dropping my shirt in the laundry room, I enter the kitchen to find Mara standing at the stove, and Finley sitting on the floor over by the refrigerator, coloring.
“That smells delicious.”
“Tacos.” Mara smiles. She makes zero effort to hide the way her eyes rake over my body.
“What can I do to help?” I ask, coming to stand behind her. My hands land on her hips and I press a kiss to her neck.
“Nothing. It’s ready.”
“Finny, let’s go wash our hands for dinner.” I don’t give her time to get up before I scoop her up in my arms and race down the hall toward the bathroom. Her laughter trails behind us.
After dinner, Mara pushes me out to the garage to start bringing in boxes while she cleans the kitchen. I start with Finley’s bed. It’s a princess bed with the headboard being a castle. She loves it, so I want to get that set up first. She and Mara are sitting on the bedroom floor reading a book while I put it back together. It’s a simple process. “All right, Finny. You’re all set.”
