“Mommy, phone,” I hear Sera say. I looked down to see her using her hands to sign that it was ringing. It’s only then that I notice it vibrating in my hands. I turned the phone slightly, and she gasped when she saw my dad’s picture. “Pop Pop!”
“Hey, Dad,” I answer the phone, taking a seat on the nearby sofa. Sera crawled into my lap, her ponytails hittingme in the face. “Dang, Sera, you bouta take me out, whipping your hair like that.”
“Sorry, Mommy,” she giggled, signing it as well. I shake my head but smile before placing a kiss against her temple. She giggled some more before turning her attention to the phone again. “Hey, Pop Pop!”
“Hey, my beautiful baby,” he says, a smile mirroring my own stretched across his face. “How are you doing?”
“Good!” she exclaims. “Pop Pop, new sign! See!”
She shows him the one she learned at school today, and he watches, mimicking her moves. She cheers excitedly when he does it right and tells him that he did a good job. He thanks her, and she asks if she can get a snack. I nod, and she hops up, running ahead to the kitchen as I follow. After she had her snack, we returned to the living room, and she busied herself on her learning tablet as I turned my attention back to my Dad.
“I should be packing to get on the road because I know I won’t want to go anywhere if I don’t leave before nightfall,” I sigh, but settle back into the couch.
“Oh, that’s why I called you,” he replies, and I sit up again. “I wanted to tell you that we’re going to have to reschedule the visit because I’m heading out of town with your brother and his wife. You know they’ve been down here for the last few days, but they wanted me to come back and stay with them for a while longer. That way, I get to see baby boy’s first game of the season.”
“Ah, so my brother is stealing my Dad once again. He hates me, I see,” I joke, placing my hand to my chest. He chuckles, shaking his head at my dramatics.
“You see me every other weekend, Zee,” he points out. “Between you and your sister, I am never alone, because she’s always over here watching over me like I’m her damn child. She swears that I’m just gonna fall off the face of the earth one day.”
I laugh, but I know he’s not joking. My younger sister was a chronic worrier, and it only got worse after my dad had a health scare a couple of years ago. He’s since retired and has had a nurse come by to check on him every day. Each of us invited him to move in with us, but he declined each time. He stated that he was a grown man and that we had lives of our own. He didn’t want us to worry about him when we all had kids and careers of our own. But how could you not worry about the only parent you’ve ever known?
When I was younger, it never bothered me that there was no mom in the picture. Honestly, we didn’t really notice for the longest because our dad was everything we needed and more. It wasn’t until about five years ago that we even started questioning how we were related, especially because none of us really looked that much alike. He explained to us that my sister, Zaiyre, and I were his nieces and he’d adopted us after our parents passed, but that was as far as the conversation ever went. I could always tell that talking about it brought up some grief, so I never pushed the topic.
All I knew was that it wasn’t going to change the fact that he was my dad and the one who was there. One day, he’d hopefully tell us more, but until then, I was fine not knowing.
“We just love you and want to make sure you're good, Dad,” I reply, and he nods, his bright smile back. “I’m glad you called me before I got on their road, though. I think I’m gonna just relax for the weekend.”
“And by relaxing, do you mean inviting Kay over so she can spend time with her two favorite girls?” he teases.
“Whatever, old man,” I laugh. “And I don’t have to invite her, for your information. She shows up whenever she wants. She has a key.”
“Of course she does,” he chuckles. “She’s literally the love of your life, right?”
“Dad, please,” I groan, closing my eyes as I lean my head back a bit. I could hear him chuckle once more. My heart beat rapidly as I thought about Jakayla.
I thought that I’d gotten over my crush for her years ago, but as it turns out, all I’d done was bury it. Over the last year, I noticed that my feelings for her had started to grow more intense as the days went by, but how could they not? She’d stepped up more than I’d ever expected, keeping her word when it came to being there for Sera and me. We were like one little family at this point, and as much as that excited me, it also scared me shitless.
I knew that she’d never do anything to hurt my daughter or me, but Sasha had really done a number on me. Anytime I’d even think about what it could be like to actually have a relationship with Jakayla, all of my anxieties would bubble up, and I’d try to think of something else. Hell, I hadn’t been in a relationship withanyonesince Sasha because of how much that fear ate at me. It was tiring because I wanted a loving relationship, but what if that just wasn’t in the cards for me?
“Zee, sweetheart, please stop overthinking,” my dad says, and I open my eyes to look at him once more. He wears a saddened expression, and I feel bad for making him worry. “I promise, everything is going to be okay.”
“Dad, what if I never admit my feelings to her because I’m scared? What if I do and she doesn’t feel the same way?”
“Bullshit,” he says. “That way that woman goes out of her way to make sure you and my grandbaby are okay is just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone can see how much that woman cares for you, Zee.”
I don’t reply as I let the words settle around me. There was a part of me that knew that what he was saying was one hundred percent factual, but there was still that bit of doubt in my mind. I sighed, shaking it away as I heard the front door unlock. I look up just in time to see Kay stepping through the door with a few bags in her hands.
“Hmm, I can tell by the way you’re smiling that Kay just materialized like she always does when you mention her,” I hear my dad joke, and I glance back at him with narrowed eyes. He just laughs.
“Oh, hush you,” I roll my eyes playfully.
“Hi, Kay,” he shouts as she strolls over to where we are. She leans over the couch and places a kiss on my forehead before peering at my dad with a smile. “There’s my favorite bonus daughter.”
“Hey, Pop,” she replies. “You’re looking good, old man. Not a day over 45!”
“Ah, always the charmer,” he laughs.
She flashes him a smile before winking and walking over to where Sera is. They greet each other with their usual handshake, and I can’t help the smile that spreads. I loved watching them together. It reminded me of just how grateful I was to have Kay in my life. Sera loved her, and so did I.
