“Can't forget this.”
Cadence gasped so loud that Kareem laughed.
“Daddy!”
I walked over and crouched in front of her.
“Hold still.”
She froze, smiling so hard her cheeks puffed up. I settled the tiara over her curls and straightened it with both hands.
“There we go.”
She looked up at me. “Do I look like a real princess?”
I kissed her forehead.
“Sugar, you been a real princess.”
“She’s a menace.”
“Both things can be true.”
Kareem stepped aside with a grin and swept one arm toward the open limo.
“Your carriage awaits, Princess Cadence.”
Cadence climbed in, clutching her wand, careful not to knock it against the ceiling this time.
Skye caught my eye.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“There's a TV in here!” She squealed, pressing her face to the little screen. Skye laughed and climbed in behind her and settled the emerald skirt around her legs. I got in last, pulled the door shut, and for a second just watched them.
“Tell me, brain, what’s on your mind?” she asked.
I reached over and pulled her hand into my lap, thumb running slowly over her exposed thigh.
“Honestly? Same as you. Happy to be here with y’all.” I looked out the window, watching the streets change from residential to downtown lights. “Just hoping happy is still the word I’m using by the end of the night.”
“Only we can control our happiness. So we go in as a unit, heads held high, and we remove ourselves the second the vibe no longer fits us. We…”
“We pivot.”
“Exactly. But I have a feeling Ruben’s going to be on his best behavior tonight. He’s a chameleon, you know that. We’ll let him silently stew. That’ll be fun.”
“You really hate him?”
“Oh, very much,” she laughed, covering her mouth. “But not really. If anything, I feel bad for him. Something, somewhere, happened, and you were just a casualty of that. It doesn’t absolve him of his wrongs. It just gives it context.”
“So wise.”
“I know, I can’t believe I said that. Don’t tell anyone.”
“My lips are sealed.”
Cadence found the button for the little disco light in the ceiling and shrieked when it lit up, and for the length of that whole ride to the gala. With my wife’s hand in mine and my daughter dancing in her seat like the limo was her own personal stage, none of us thought about what was waiting on the other side of that door.
