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“You’re lucky I’m dressed at all. I’m supposed to be naked when Brent gets back.”
I swear, she almost gags and that only makes me smile behind my glass. The front door opens again. Brent finds us in the kitchen with our standoff going on. He kisses Kayla’s temple with a hello before walking over to me for a kiss on the mouth.
“I didn’t know you were coming over,” he says to her as he sets our food on the counter.
“I couldn’t find one of my dresses. It wasn’t at Mom’s and it turns out it was here.”
“If you keep having to go to your mom’s to find clothes, Logan might think you aren’t fully moved in and committed to living with him,” Brent says.
“Well, I have more clothes than I thought and I somehow keep finding that I don’t have them all. Is she moving in?”
Brent glances at me as if I might know why she’s asking this question. I shrug, and he focuses on Kayla. “Why?”
“She has stuff in my room!”
“You’re an adult who lives with her boyfriend; that’s not really your room anymore, though it’s always there for you to use if you need it. But no, she’s not moving in. However, if I decide to ask her and she agrees to move in, I expect not to hear shit about it from my kids.” He returns his gaze to me. “Have you two been getting along while I was gone?”
“Perfectly,” I a
nswer.
“Good,” his focus is on Kayla again, “because I’m tired of a certain little girl forgetting who’s the parent and who’s the child, who shouldn’t question my decisions.” He takes a deep breath. “Did you pass all your classes?”
“Yes, of course,” she answers as if it should be obvious. Maybe it should be. “Well, I’m going to go.” She walks over to hug him, tell him she loves him, and she says goodbye to him. She doesn’t say another word to me, which is fine.
The moment she’s out the front door, Brent turns to me. “Perfectly, huh?”
“You don’t believe me?” I drag a plate of food over and grab one of the plastic forks.
“Nope. Not even a little, hon.”
“Well, you should. I’m still in a good mood, aren’t I?”
He seems to consider this as we eat. “I guess I’ll take one out of two for the time being.”
If I can fight fire with fire like I did tonight, I think I’ll enjoy myself just fine on the cruise. At this point, Brent’s and my enjoyment is the only thing I care about anyway.
Finally, we’re on a plane to Seattle. I’m more excited about being back with Jamie than how we’re about to go on a cruise. After she graduated, she went back to Charlotte to carry some of her things to her parents’ house because she felt bad about them taking up space in my house, even though I told her it didn’t bother me. She also had to pack for the cruise. Based on some of the phone calls we had, things were better with her parents, so she didn’t want to be in too much of a rush to leave.
Jamie has the window seat, I have the middle, and Gregory has the aisle seat. Kayla and Logan are in the row behind us. Gregory has his headphones on, listening to music with his eyes closed. Jamie has nodded off with her head on my shoulder, and the two behind me are whispering, but I can still hear them.
“Do you think you’ll finally get along with her?” Logan asks quietly.
“I don’t know. There’s something about her I just don’t like. Dad told me I have to behave.” Things are quiet for a moment and then I hear Kayla ask, “Do you think I’m judgmental?”
Logan chuckles. “When it comes to the people you care about, yeah, baby, you’re quick to judge. Don’t give me that look. You did the same thing to Carey, and look at what happened after you got to know her? You like her a lot more. I hate to break it to you, sweet cheeks, but time to act like a grownup, play nice, and get to know her. No better time than when we’re about to be stuck on a ship with her for a week.”
“Fine. But what happens when it turns out I still don’t like her?”
“Suck it up because I don’t think Brent is getting rid of her.”
She sighs. “Sometimes, I don’t like you.”
I hear him laugh. “I don’t care because you love me anyway.”
I really hope that Kayla finally gives Jamie a true chance. That will make this trip one of the best. Plus, it’ll mean I can return to getting along with my daughter instead of repeatedly reminding her that my girlfriend isn’t going anywhere despite her current feelings toward her.
“Brent?” Jamie mumbles in a half-asleep voice.
