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“Casey begged her not to have an abortion. He said he’d keep the baby and raise him or her himself, that she could go on with her life and not be involved in any way. It took him two months of convincing before she finally agreed. She was just awful. He’d catch her talking to her stomach, calling Vivi stupid, saying that she hadn’t fixed anything like she was supposed to.
“The week before she went into labor, she decided she wanted to give Vivi up for adoption. She didn’t want Casey to have her if she couldn’t have him. He was a wreck. She actually lined up a family and everything. He scrambled to get a whole bunch of legal documents together with help from a lawyer, paid out the ass for help, and then she backed out at the last second and gave him the baby anyway. She didn’t even want to see Vivi. Didn’t look at her once, didn’t touch her. She signed over all parental rights to Casey and took off two days after she gave birth.”
Avery’s quiet for a few minutes, his heavy hand resting on Vivi’s back as it rises and falls gently in her slumber. “I can’t imagine anyone ever turning their back on her,” he finally whispers. “She’s perfect in every single way. I can’t believe how much she makes me smile.”
I beam up at him. “She’s the best at making people smile.”
The way Avery’s mouth turns up in the corners, the way his eyes flicker as he looks down at me, dropping for the briefest of moments to my lips before bouncing back to my eyes, makes my stomach dance, my heart thrum wildly against my chest.
His fingers splay out over my waist, his grip tightening just marginally, enough that I can feel that zing of electricity that passes between us, reminding me of the power he has over me, the control of unwillingly and unknowingly handed over.
“You’re pretty good at making me smile, too,” he tells me, his voice low, husky.
Oh, crap. My heart. Yep. I like him. Like, a lot. A lot, a lot. It’s official. Super official. As if it wasn’t before.
“Can I kiss you, Claire?” He’s already leaning toward me.
“You never take no for an answer, so why are you asking me now?” My question comes out barely more than a wispy exhale, and I blame it on the fact that this wasn’t the direction I imagined my day heading in.
His gentle smile splits into a crooked grin. “You’re right. No has never been an option when it comes to you.”
The tip of his nose sweeps across mine before he presses a kiss to my lips, delicate, like he's testing the waters, giving me one last chance to change my mind. But I don’t think I want to change my mind. I just want to stay like this, wrapped up in him, forever.
His hand leaves Vivi’s back and comes up to cup the back of my head, holding me to him while his tongue slides along the seam of my mouth. When my lips part, his tongue sweeps inside, caressing, laving. He tastes sweet like the peach iced tea and white chocolate macadamia nut cookie he had with lunch, and I lean into his touch, his kiss, craving more, wanting it all.
Pressure pushes on my knee before tiny hand grabs at my shoulder.
“You guys kissin’,” Vivi’s voice mumbles, raspy with sleep. She stretches out like a sleepy kitten. “I wanna kiss.”
We break apart, laughing when she crawls into Avery’s lap, sticking her face between ours. Avery grabs her cheeks in both his hands and plants loud, sloppy kisses all over her face. She eats that shit up, giggling and kissing him back before throwing her arms around my neck.
“Now you, Care Bear!”
I fall into Avery’s lap while Vivi climbs onto my belly and attacks me with kisses. I’m laughing so wildly I almost miss when Avery aims his phone at us.
“My turn to take a picture.”
After we pack up our picnic and tuck Vivi into the stroller—she’s out again within minutes—we make our way through the park. The afternoon sun is hot and bright with June’s arrival, and being the fair-skinned girls we are, a day in the sun always drains Vivi and I.
Pushing the stroller with one hand, Avery slips his free hand into mine, our fingers lacing together. It feels so natural, so right, I don’t even question it or the butterflies that slam against the walls of my stomach.
“What are you guys doing for dinner?” he asks.
“Probably just gonna order a pizza.” I swipe my fingers across my eyes and stifle my yawn. “I’m too tired to cook.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, being a parent for a day is exhausting, isn’t it?”
“I always admire Casey so much more after I have Vivi for a day or two. I don’t know how he does it.”
“He’s a good dad.”
My head bobs. “He’s the best. She’s his whole world.”
“Well, if you’re too tired to cook and you’re planning on pizza, you should know I make the very best homemade pizza.” He flashes me a cheeky, all-too-enticing grin.
“Is that so?”
“Yup,” he replies, chest puffing with pride. “Think I even have all the ingredients at home.”
