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“Absolutely.” No longer is nervousness crashing through. I’m excited to hang out with the little girl who will be such a huge part in our lives.
The front door opens after Maliki knocks, and Molly stands in front of us with an eager grin spread along her face. Her eyes travel from Maliki to me, her smile growing wider.
“I remember you!” she squeals. “You’re Auntie Ellie’s friend! Sierra! You were nice and colored with me!”
I blink at her, taking in the similarities between her and Maliki.
I see it.
She has his nose.
His lips.
I grin down at her. “And I remember you! You color so well and watch the best cartoons!”
I like kids. My mom had our family regularly volunteer with them, growing up. It’s one of the best things she ever did for us. All my siblings have hearts of gold when it comes to children.
She hops from one foot to the other. “Are you my daddy’s girlfriend?”
“What’s she doing here?” Jessa snaps, coming to the door, standing next to Molly, and breaking our warm vibe. Her arms are crossed as she fixes a glare toward me.
I ignore her, not even firing a fake smile her way. Today is about having fun with Molly.
“I don’t know if Molly should go, given you brought your flavor of the week. I made it clear I want to be careful who my daughter is around,” Jessa barks before anyone replies.
“You had no issue when Sierra babysat her with Ellie,” Maliki hisses.
“That’s different. She was Ellie’s friend, not her new father’sgirlfriend.”
Maliki tenses at thenew fatherblow. “I won’t argue with you in front of her. We can talk later.” He leans down to Molly’s height. “Ready to go?”
Molly squeezes between her mom and grabs Maliki’s hand. “Yes!”
She skips hand in hand with Maliki to the car.
I don’t peek back at Jessa, but there’s no doubt she’d stick a knife in my back if she could.
* * *
Maliki helpsMolly into her seat before we get in and turns to look at her. “Did you decide what you want to do today?” He told Molly she could choose.
Molly straightens in her seat. “Can we go to the movies, and can I get a gigantic bucket of popcorn, and then can we paint my nails like Sierra’s, and then she can maybe braid my hair later? Ilovemy hair braided.”
Maliki eyes me in question.
I twist back in my seat to smile at her. “Sounds like we have a plan.”
She’s giggling when we turn around, and I snatch my phone from my purse to check movie times. The theater is thirty minutes away, so we have plenty of time to decide. I rattle off the movies and let her pick.
We raid the concession stand when we get to the theater, scoring a bucket of buttery popcorn, M&M’s, Mike & Ike, and slushies.
Molly will definitely be in a sugar coma.
With me right alongside her.
Molly takes the seat between me and Maliki, and I can’t help but crack a smile at Maliki. He’s about to sit through a two-hour-long animated children’s film for his daughter. He doesn’t complain once, even when he watches the movie trailer with a horrified look on his face.
As soon as I fall down in my seat, I pour the M&M’s into the popcorn and offer it to Molly.
