AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look over at Ellie. Her eyes are bulging but thankfully she remains quiet. I’m not sure what is happening or what I am supposed to say.
Syd being Syd continues, “Jared’s dad had an affair with their nanny and now he is going to live with her.”
Ah! I see what’s happening here. “Sweet Pea, I’m not married. This. . .” I’m not even sure what to say. “Ellie is important to me and you. I want to make her a part of our family,” I explain.
“Does that mean she can be my mom?” Syd asks sweetly, and her words fracture my heart.
Ellie clears her throat. “Your dad and I care for each other, and we care for you. I love you very much, Sydney Donaldson, but you have a mommy. I’m going to be more like another adult who cares for you and is here to support you.”
“My mommy isn’t here,” Syd retorts. “Jared also said his grandma died. Did my mommy die?”
“Syd,” I cut in. “You know your mommy isn’t dead. You spoke to her last month.”
“She calls to say hi for five seconds. Other kids’ mommies pick them up from school. They take them to lunch. They do nails together and fun things. Can I start to do fun things with Ellie?”
I blow out a breath, feeling very out of my element.
“I would love to go for lunch with you,” Ellie says. “And I’d love to get my nails done with you too. It’s been a long while since I had my nails painted.”
“What color do you want to do?” Syd asks.
“Can we talk about the fact I plan to marry Ellie? We can discuss nails later,” I redirect.
“Okay, Daddy,” Syd says. “Can I be the flower girl? Rena’s sister got married and she got to walk down an aisle throwing pretty flowers. She also wore a white dress. I’d love that.”
Ellie laughs. “You’re so adorable and you can absolutely be our flower girl.”
I cock a brow.
“I don’t know if we are having that kind of wedding,” I cut in.
“What do you mean?” Ellie asks.
“Yeah, Daddy, what do you mean?” Syd adds.
“I thought we could go to city hall,” I mutter, even though I know Ellie has something else in mind to please her Nana.
“City hall?” Ellie gasps.
“What does that mean?” Syd inquires.
“It means your daddy wants us to have a simple wedding, which I am fine with, but we need a venue. I have to wear a fancy dress and we need pretty flowers. I was actually thinking Syd could be my maid of honor.”
Oh dear.
“What is that?” Syd asks.
“It means you would be my most important person. You could help me with all the major decisions like which flowers I should choose to what kind of cake we should order,” Ellie explains. At the mention of cake, Syd slides off my lap and begins to skip in circles.
“There’s going to be cake,” she cheers.
Ellie is smiling. She stands and walks over to me and she takes my hand, which kind of startles me for a moment, but I see what she is doing. Syd needs to understand we are together.
“Why are you guys holding hands?” Syd inquires.
“When people are married that’s what they do. They hold hands and kiss,” Ellie says.
“Bleh,” Syd replies, sticking out her tongue.
