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“’Cause you’re movin’ in with us?”
Lawson smiled down at her, appreciative of the excitement he heard in her voice. He and Nora-Jean had told her the night before, after they’d gotten home from Wayde and Darlene’s house. She’d taken the news in stride, her exhaustion from a packed day making him question whether or not she fully understood. It was nice to hear how appealing she found their future.
“That’s right.”
“And you can take me to school with mommy?”
“I bet I can sometimes. If I don’t have to go to work. Or sometimes I can take you instead of mommy.”
“Okay. I want you to take me to school sometimes.”
Chuckling softly, Lawson replied, “You got yourself a deal.”
“Will Nana have more cookies?”
“One thing you should know about Nana—shealwayshas cookies.”
Evelyn giggled, smiling up at him as she stated, “I like Nana.”
“Me too, pretty girl.”
Upon arriving at the truck, Lawson had Evelyn buckled in her booster seat in no time. Knowing the drill, as soon as heturned on the truck, he made sure he had some music playing. Having had enough of the Christmas tunes, he hoped she’d be content with a little country. When he heard her start to hum from behind him, he smirked, shifted into drive, and pointed his truck toward his parents’ house.
His thoughts shifted to Nora and the many exchanges they’d had that morning. She’d seemed so hesitant to leave Evelyn in his care. He knew without her having to say it, it had nothing to do with his ability to look after her daughter. He didn’t consider himself an expert when it came to children, but he knew how to protect people, and that would do for the time being. Rather, her hesitation came from a more self-conscious place. It was as if she wasn’t sure whether or not they were at that time in their relationship where she could pass along the burden that came with being a parent.
He knew how precious his backseat cargo was. Light as she might have been, he felt the weight of responsibility with which she came. But she wasn’t a burden of inconvenience. He needed Nora to understand that. He’d told her as much a few different ways, but it hadn’t sunk in yet. He was beginning to think there was only one way it would.
“Lawson?” asked Evelyn, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yes?” he replied. He glanced into the rearview mirror before focusing his attention back out onto the road.
“Do you love my mommy?”
“I do. Very much,” he admitted freely.
“Do you loveme?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I think you’re pretty special. Why?”
“Well…I was thinkin’…will you be my daddy?”
Her question was like a sucker punch to the gut, and Lawson lost his breath for a second. When he looked into the rearview mirror a second time, her golden-brown eyes were staring right at him—big and round in anticipation.
In the back of his mind, he hoped they’d have this conversation one day; but he thought it would go down differently. He never imagined it would beheraskinghim. Now that she was, his gut told him he had to be careful. There would be no do-overs.
Wanting to have this conversation face to face, he put on his blinker and pulled off onto the side of the road. As he shifted into park, switched on his flashers, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out, he didn’t have the capacity to realize this was the second time he’d pulled off the road to have a conversation with a Barton he was ready to call his. Evelyn watched him silently, locking eyes with him as soon as he opened her door.
“Are you mad?” she murmured, studying him closely.
“No, of course not. But you asked me a really important question and I wanted to give you my full attention. What made you ask me that?”
Evelyn looked down into her lap, where she fidgeted with the bottom of her sweatshirt as she explained, “Um…well, mommy said sometimes families have just mommies and sometimes they have mommies and daddies. I never had a daddy. But mommy loves me, and I love mommy and, if you love mommy and you love me then I can love you too, and I can have a mommy and a daddy.”
“Hey—look at me, pretty girl.” He waited until he had her eyes and then said, “It means a lot to me that you want me to be your daddy. But I need you to know somethin’.”
“What?”
“Daddies are forever. If I say yes, I’ll always be yours, no matter what—just like your mommy will always be your mommy.”
