“It’s okay, she needs time.” Hayes stands up as Lola continues to stare at him in awe.
“Better be nice. Otherwise, I’m not sure teddy cookiesand mac n’ cheese are on the menu, missy,” I playfully tell her.
“Banana?”
I bring my finger to my chin. “Hmm. A negotiator.”
“Like her fath…” Hayes stops himself.
The mood suddenly thickens, but Lola has no idea and totters back to her toys on the floor.
“Yeah. Like him,” I rasp to myself.
“She doesn’t want ravioli?”he asks, as I have a lot of leftovers that I brought home.
I pat my hand on his shoulder. “Yeah,given a choice between fancy ravioli or bear noodles with cheese, what do you think will win?”
A wide grin spreads on his face. “Solid point.”
“But we can have the ravioli left from lunch. Am I assuming you’re staying for dinner? I mean, if you…”
“Yeah.” He only watches Lola. “I would like that a lot. I need to meet the leadership team for drinks, but that’s not until later.”
Lola continues to stare at him, completely bewildered as she holds both bunnies close, and she sits on her knees next to her tea set.
But my daughter isn’t afraid, nervous, or shy.
There’s a connection.
No doubt about it.
She just knows.
He isn’t a stranger who walked in. The man looking on with so much interest and love that I already see is her father.
Hayes takes the plunge and cautiously approaches her before joining her on the floor. She glances at me, and I nod assurance to her, and she looks at Hayes.
And when they begin to play with the teacups and stuffedanimals, flutters inside me warn me that this is the image of a family that could break me, or we could all be exactly where we’ve always belonged.
5
HAYES
“She goes to sleep that easily?”I wonder. When I hear Elodie patter back into the living room, where I’ve been perusing the wall of photos of Elodie and Lola, I unstuff my hands from my pockets and bring my gaze to her.
She smiles angelically. “Normally not but having a visitor over after a day of daycare can drain some energy.”
“All she did was stare at me,” I deadpan, and it causes her to hiccup a chuckle.
I did my best attempting to play with the bunnies with Lola, but she just kept hugging them and looking at me with curiosity. At dinner, we were in a deadlock, and she kept filling her mouth with food with that cute little spoon, but her eyes never drifted away from me. A multi-tasker, I guess. And when Elodie told her that it was time to go to bed, Lola gave me a little wave and continued her long appraisal of me as her mother towed her away.
I took a peek into Lola’s room once she had her pajamas on. There were unicorns everywhere. Even if it was a giraffe,bear, or whale, they all had unicorn horns. I waved good night to her when Elodie set her in the crib, then let them be. She mentioned that Lola is moving to a bed; she was going to do it in the next few weeks. I make a note of it in my head for my place because these little practical things keep trickling into my brain.
I've looked over the rest of the home. Everything here exudes love.
How the hell am I going to fit into this picture? I don’t know.
“Well, she announced her other bunny is called Berry. That's something. You’re new and interesting. Plus…” Elodie seems hesitant to say what she’s thinking. “I don’t know. Kids are more intuitive than we think. She’s aware that you are not just a friend stopping by. Who exactly, not sure. But it’s just… different. I haven’t seen her like this before, but she’s happy.”
