Just like the one I’d set up at my place, everything in her room was pink. There were even pink curtains, which I hadn’t thought of getting.
“Reed, how many freaking dresses are in this bag?” Faith asked from the other room.
“I think there’s like twenty.”
“Twenty dresses? Are you crazy?”
“I wanted to get thirty. I was trying to get one for every day of the month, but you called and said she wanted to see me while I was in the middle of shopping. I pretty much dropped everything and came over here.”
“Tell me about it. You didn’t even text back to say OK, hey, bye, cat, dog, or nothing.”
“I’m here now, though. And I’m never letting y’all go, Faith. I mean that.”
For thirty whole minutes, I stood in the doorway of Jada’s room watching her and Reed play with dolls. She had a crown on his head and a feathered boa around his shoulders, and he looked happier than I’d ever seen him.
Jada was having a ball. Every time she called Reed daddy, he looked like he was about to cry, but he refrained. My heart was so full, watching them together. I wanted to give them time to bond, but I wasn’t ready to leave my baby alone with someone she didn’t know, father or not. I trusted that Reed wouldn’t do anything to her, but Jada was my baby too.
Was this what it would be like for her to have a dad? All my hate and bitterness toward Reed was slowly fading away, and I didn’t know how to feel about it. Part of me still wonderedwhy he never came for me if he didn’t get married like he was supposed to but that was neither here nor there. This was about our daughter. Hell, he could also wonder why I never told him he had a daughter in the first place.
Actually, if I were him, I was almost certain that I would hate my guts. Reed hadn’t come to that conclusion yet, and I could only pray that he never arrived there. Just in case he did, we really needed that DNA test. I didn’t need any more disappearing acts. Knowing for sure that he had a daughter might help deter him from ghosting us once the novelty of seeing me again wore off. Yet another knock on the door tore my attention away from my crew. Who the hell could it be now?
I wasn’t expecting anyone. If Jasper had come back, I wasn’t sure I would be able to talk Reed out of doing something to him this time. Reed might have been a rich, pretty boy on the outside, but growing up in a mafia family had made him tough. I was blown away the first time I saw him and Nicholas get active.
They knocked some dudes out after the club and stomped them out wearingParabootsandPurple Labelsweaters.I didn’t think I would be able to calm Reed down, but as soon as we heard sirens, he swept me up in his arms and ushered me to the car like nothing had ever happened. That was why it was so easy for me to believe that their asses were corrupt. They could put up a good front, but they had another side to them.
Pushing off the wall, I walked over to the door to see who my surprise guest was this time. I learned my lesson the first time I opened the door without looking out or checking my app, so this time, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket as I made my way to the door.
My camera loaded just in time for me to see a delivery driver sprinting back to his truck. I was convinced that it was a requirement that you had to run track to be a delivery driver. I rarely ever saw them in action. Packages just magically appearedat my door most of the time. This time, I had the feeling a certain new father was the culprit for my unexpected delivery.
I couldn’t even get out the door because of the huge brown box with an etching of a doll house on it. I didn’t even look at the other boxes because my head was already swimming. Reed was so hardheaded.
“Reed!”
“What’s up, my love?” he quizzed, sticking his head out into the hallway.
“Can I speak to you for a minute?”
“Sure. Come on, baby girl. I need to show you your gifts before your mom tries to ruin it.”
I shook my head, knowing there was no use in trying to reason with him. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to talk some sense into him though.
“Reed, what is all this? She doesn’t need all this stuff.”
“I was wondering if the bike would be put together. I was ready to get my tools out.”
“Ooo, Mama, can I ride my bike?”
“Let me get this stuff in the house, and we will go in the backyard.”
“If you pick up either one of those boxes, I know something,” Reed threatened.
“I’m trying to get them off the porch.”
“And I said you better not lay a hand on them. Take my baby to the back. I’ll put the boxes inside.”
“Is that a dollhouse, Daddy?”
“Yes, it is. I wasn’t sure if you had one, but just in case, I wanted to make sure you did.”
