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Axel is eating a snack and watching his favorite cartoon while Kyla and I sit back and relax. I have questions for her, but I don’t know how to approach the subject. I need to know what I’m up against.
“Can we talk?” I ask her. She nods and puts down the clothes she was folding to come and sit next to me.
“What’s up?”
“I just wanted to ask you a question. This Striker guy? What’s he like?”
“It’s not like that, Jake. We were never together.”
“I just need to know what I’m up against with him.” She moves, climbing in my lap before pressing a kiss to my lips.
“There is nothing to worry about. Striker’s a friend. He wanted more, but I couldn’t give it. I didn’t have it in me.”
“But you have it in you to give me more?” I ask, needing to hear her say it. I need to know she’s with me on this. That I’m keeping her, and she agrees.
“Yeah, I do. I think that’s what held me back so much. The thoughts of you. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again, and I know a one-night stand doesn’t usually come out to be anything, but I couldn’t help but think about Axel having both his parents.”
“He was a good friend, though,” she admits. I nod my head when her hands come up and cup my cheeks. “I mean what I said. There is nothing to worry about, Jake.”
“I just can’t help it. He got the time with you that I should have had. He got that time with Axel,” I tell her.
“I’m sorry. I wish things were different for us. I wish we had more time to be together and get to know each other. There are many things I wish were different back then, Jake.”
“Me too.” She leans in and rests her head on my shoulder as I hold her body close. After what happened, I never thought I’d have this again. I never thought I could care about someone like I do, Kyla and Axel. Maybe this is my redemption. Maybe this is my second chance. I don’t really know what this is, but I plan on keeping it.
After what seems like hours, Axel comes out of his room, and I realize Kyla has fallen asleep in my arms. I lift her off me and lay her on the couch as Axel smiles.
“Daddy? Can we go out by the water?” he asks. I place my finger to my lips to keep him quiet as I nod. He claps his hands softly as he smiles, and it does something to my chest. I see her. I see Jenny smiling back at me, and it breaks me inside.
Ignoring the urge to cry, I walk toward Axel and hold out my hand. He slides his tiny hand in mine as I walk us out the sliding back doors and onto the beach. The waves are crashing on the shore as we walk closer to them.
“You have to take your shoes off,” I tell him. He lets go of my hand and kicks his shoes off before looking to me for further instructions. I hold out my hand once more, and he gladly takes it in his. Then we walk closer to the water just as it hits. Warm water washes over our feet as Axel squeals.
“You like it?” I ask him.
“Yes!” He lets go of my hand, wades further in, and splashes the water. My heart swells, and my chest is tight. It’s exactly how Jenny used to be. She loved the water. She loved everything about it, but she isn’t here. Axel is. And I need to focus on him.
“You having fun?” I ask him as he splashes around the water.
“Yeah, Daddy. It’s the best!” I smile when he calls me daddy. I didn’t think I’d ever hear those words again, but now I have it. I have him. I have them.
“What are you doing out here?” I hear Kyla ask. I turn and look over my shoulder and smile as she walks closer to me.
“He wanted to see the water. Who am I to tell him no?”
“Um, his dad. You could have said later.”
“And deny him this?” I ask as I motion to him, splashing and having a great time. I throw my arm around Kyla and pull her into my side as we watch Axel have a blast in the water.
“He’s never been this close to the water,” she tells me.
“Never?” She shakes her head. “Glad I could be here for it.”
“I’m glad too, Jake. He’s so unafraid of anything. He meets new people like he’s known them for years,” she says, laughing a little.
“He’s like me. I was like that when I was a kid,” I tell her. She looks up at me and smiles.
“You were?”
