“Daddy, can you open this computer for me?” Jada requested.
“Computer? What computer?” I asked, moving around Reed to walk over to where Jada balanced a box in her lap. “Reed, I know you did not buy this girl a laptop. What in the world does she need with a laptop?”
“There better be two of them,” he said, showing up at my side and removing the box from Jada’s lap as he sat down beside her to open it.
“Two?”
“I got you one too. They said this is the newest one. I figured it didn’t make sense for her to have the latest edition, and you not have it too. I want both of my babies to have the best.”
“Ooo, Mama, my daddy called you his baby,” Jada sang.
I tried to bite back my smile since Reed’s eyes seemed to be glued to my face. Of course, it didn’t work. No matter how hard I tried to fight it, I liked having my family together. It felt good for Jada to have a dad, and it had only been a few hours.
Reed and I had been out of touch for years, but I knew he would do what it took to put a smile on my baby’s face. That’s all I could ever ask for. He winked at me as he stood and walked over to the stack of boxes he’d brought into the house.
“I got you a new desk chair too.”
“Who said I needed a new chair, Reed? I keep telling you that this is too much.”
“You might as well change my name to Too Much because I’m going to do whatever I feel is necessary for my babies.”
“I’m just asking why you thought I needed a new chair.”
“Because you keep stretching and rubbing your back every time you get up,” he responded.
“That’s because my back gets stiff from sitting so much,” I explained.
Shaking his head, he replied, “I can’t have my baby with a bad back.”
“See, I can’t with you.” I shook my head.
“No, seriously, though. A new chair worked wonders for my back.”
I giggled. “I don’t have a bad back.”
“Well, this way you won’t get one. I need your back in full working order.”
“You know what? I’m not doing this with you.”
“Be honest. Do you like your job, or do you just like working yourself to death so you don’t have to live life?”
“I live life. Much of that life just happens to revolve around work.”
“Life isn’t all about work. You have to find a balance.”
“Like you did with Paula?” I questioned.
Damn. I didn’t even know where that came from, so I damn sure didn’t know how it came out. It was out now, and the shit-eating grin on Reed’s face showed just how much I would regret letting that slip.
“You don’t have to worry about her, baby. Anything I had going on before the moment you walked back into my life is dead.”
“I’m not worried about anyone, and I didn’t exactly walk back into your life. I’m trying to take you down.”
“You know damn well the real reason you came back was because you missed me.”
I had to laugh at that. “You’re so full of yourself.”
“I want you to be full of me.” He smirked.
