Brooke skipped beside him. They made it to a designer shoe store catered to kids, and the worker knew exactly who they were as soon as they entered. Moolah spared no expense for the day.
“Oh, Princess Brooke. I hoped you would stop by today. I found your shoe at the ball and wanted to return it to you.”
She produced a sparkly shoe from behind the counter. It matched one of the shoes Brooke had on her feet.
“Thank you!”
“Why, of course,” the employee said, and then she frowned. “Oh, but we must do something about that other shoe. Hmm, . . .let me see.” She snapped her fingers and then pulled another shoe from behind the counter. “This should do it!”
“Wow, thank you!” Brooke said in awe.
Moolah loved that his carefully crafted plan was all coming together so smoothly for Brooke.
“Of course. You have a good day now!” The lady waved at them. Moolah nodded at her. He’d already paid for the shoes, so their business there was complete.
Next, he led her to a jewelry store where he let her pick out a tiara and some earrings. Then, they went to a kid’s clothing store, and then a toy store. By the time they were finished, Moolah had so many bags in his hand, he wished he’d hired someone to simply run bags back and forth to the carriage from the mall.
As they walked toward an ice cream shop, Brooke asked, “Are you going to marry my mommy?”
“Yeah.” He said it with no thought and then realized he should be more careful about how honest he is with Brooke. Iskyiah surely didn’t play about her, so she wouldn’t want him to fill her head up with nonsense. Then he realized he couldn’t fill her head up with nonsense even if he tried. Whatever Moolah said, he meant.
“Does that mean you’ll be my daddy?”
Yeah.
He couldn’t say that though. This was a moment where he needed to stop and think about what he said.
“You feel like you need a daddy, lil mama?”
She thought about her answer before she spoke. He liked that about her. It meant she was a smart kid who had a mind of her own and didn’t just go based on feelings.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Once again, Brooke thought about her response before she spoke. “Because I deserve one.”
She shrugged as if that explained everything. Moolah couldn’t argue with that. Brooke came from Iskyiah and was named after him. Shorty deserved the world, as far as he was concerned.
Moolah stopped walking just in front of the ice cream shop and stooped down so he was eye level with Brooke.
“Look, lil mama, I’ve loved your mama for many, many years. You know what that means?”
“What?” Brooke looked at him with eyes full of curiosity.
“It means anything that comes from her has my love too. You know what that means?”
She thought about it, her face scrunching in concentration. Finally, she pointed a finger at herself. “You love me?”
Moolah nodded. “Just met you and I love yo’ lil ass.” Through gritted teeth, he said the sentence. “Yo’ mama and daddy created you, but since yo’ daddy ain’t here no more, I’m more than happy to step in as long as you’re comfortable and good wit’ it. I don’t want you to be good wit’ it ’cause you want a daddy. I want you to be good wit’ it ’cause our bond is solid. You understand that?”
Brooke’s head bobbed up and down slowly. “I understand.”
Moolah pinched her chin. “Good. Let’s get some ice cream and then call ya mama. We got lunch plans.”
“Ice cream before lunch?” Brooke asked happily.
“Don’t tell ya mama. Order whatever you want.” He nodded his head toward the counter of the shop as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Iskyiah’s number.
