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“Mama’s friend?” She looked over at me, and I nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Alex.”
“My name is Kadence, but Mama calls me Kadie.”
Alex smiled softly. “That’s nice.” He squatted. He still wasn’t at eye level, but at least he wasn’t towering over her now.
She tilted her head the other way and pointed at his arm. “I like your arm pictures.”
He chuckled and held up one arm and then another. “My tattoos? Yeah, they’re pretty nice.”
“Mama,” she called to me. “I want some arm pictures.”
I laughed. “When you’re older, sweetie.”
Kadie stuck out her bottom lip. Everyone laughed.
She pointed at her blocks. “Help me, please. I want it tall.”
Alex grinned. “Sure, I’ll help you.”
They started stacking blocks together. I teared up at the sight. It wasn’t anything special, just a little girl playing with blocks and her daddy helping her, but it did make me realize the kind of thing she’d been missing out on. I looked the other way and wiped my eyes, taking a few deep breaths.
After a few minutes of building block towers, Alex rose and waved to Kadie. She waved back as he walked to me.
He nodded toward the door. “We should talk.”
I glanced over at my mama, and she nodded.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she said. “She’s doing fine. Take your time.”
Alex opened the door and gestured for me to enter.
Once we were both inside, I stood against the wall, watching him.
He didn’t say anything for a long while. Instead, he stood staring out the back window. I wondered what he was thinking and if he found Kadie annoying or something. The thought pricked my heart.
“Thanks,” Alex finally said. “Thanks for letting me do this.” He shook his head. “I know how hard this all is.”
“You’re welcome,” I said softly. “So what do you think?”
“She’s cute and smart.” He gave me an abashed grin. “At least I think so. Not like I was hanging around with a lot of kids at my own job.”
We both shared a quiet laugh.
“Well, I guess the next question is how often do you want to see her?” I said.
Alex watched Kadie get up and run after another kid before responding. “All the time?”
I shook my head. “I—”
“I know,” he said, shrugging. “Can’t really make up for lost time. Y’all stayed behind here, and I left. I just want my chance.”
“We’ll work something out,” I said. “Now that you’re here and know, I don’t want it to be a problem.” I peered at him. “You’re planning to stay, right? If you aren’t, then you can see her, but I don’t want to get her little heart all set on someone who isn’t going to stick around.”
Alex frowned. Maybe it was unfair for me to say it, but he didn’t exactly have the best track record for sticking around Livingston.
“I’m staying,” he said, nodding. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I know I screwed things up with you, but I owe it to my daughter to be around.” He sighed and furrowed his brow. “Look, we both know how hard it can be to grow up with only one parent, even one who really loves you. I don’t want our daughter to have to go through that.”
