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Six abandoned his bone and trotted off after Kennedy with Kujo following along. But we didn’t have to fear. A tall, handsome man with kind green eyes entered the backyard, carrying Kennedy in his arms. She had a bright smile on her face with her tiny arms tangled about his muscular neck.
“I take it everyone knows Angelo Levi.” Daniel introduced them.
When Angelo turned to me, he smirked and I knew—he knew.
“Abeke, is it?” Angelo asked.
“You can call her Abi.” Kennedy pipped up.
Grinning, I shook his hand. “Or Kokou is fine.”
“It’s lovely to meet you.” Angelo assured me.
For the rest of the gathering, Kennedy didn’t have eyes for anyone else but Angelo and Six. He even borrowed swimming trunks from Daniel and played about in the pool with her. When Kujo took Six and the other protectors, Angelo stayed behind.
Kennedy eventually fell asleep, lying on his chest as he lounged on one of the deck chairs.
“Let me put Kenny to bed,” Daniel said.
“I can do it.” I stood.
“Kokou, you were shot.”
I smacked his shoulder. “Sit.”
Daniel sighed, stole a kiss but flopped back to his chair.
Angelo laughed softly as I scooped her into my arms and carried her to bed. For a moment, I held her in my lap, feeling my heart soar at the very thought of having her as my own. But I was quickly brought back to earth when I remembered she wasn’t in fact mine—and I couldn’t just take another woman’s child.
No matter how big of an ass that woman happened to be.
Sighing, I set to work removing her slippers, braiding her hair out of her face and tucking her in. Long after she’d settled into sleeping, I sat on the floor across from her bed in the light of her bedside table, watching over her, wanting to know how I would ever walk away.
If it was so impossible for me, how could Cassandra have done it?
In comparison to Cassandra, I knew nothing about Kennedy. Cassandra had carried Kennedy inside her—knew what it felt like to have Kennedy kick.
In the end, that hadn’t made her a mother.
“There you are.” Daniel’s voice was soft. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I was just wondering…”
Daniel didn’t move from where he’d been standing at the door. “About?”
“Cassandra.”
He sighed but made his way over to sit beside me. “Maybe I can clear up some of the confusion.”
Lacing my fingers, I stretched my legs out in front of me, and leaned my head back to the wall. “She carried Kenny for nine months. Felt her move, felt her kick, suffered through the cravings and labour and she just walked away.”
I blinked away the tears burning my eyes.
“And here I am—barely knowing anything about her—and it kills me at the thought of losing her.”
“You do know about Kenny.” Daniel’s voice cracked. “You know she loves popcorn. That she loves a snack after school and that if you let her, she’d only eat chicken fingers with apple juice.”
I chuckled.
