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Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him. “I’m sorry, Harrison, but I have to take her feelings into account before I consider yours. For now, I understand their wants and needs more than you do. One day, you will too.”
“What is Emma telling? I want to know too!” Violet demanded and forced him to put her on her feet, which were shoeless because of Sera’s haste to leave.
“How about we go eat, and Harrison will tell you everything,” Sera said to the girl.
“Why can’t Emma tell me since she’s telling everyone else?” the little girl demanded of her mom.
“What if we go out, and you can order anything you want?” Harrison asked Violet.
Sera glared at him. Was he offering rewards without consulting her first?
“I’m not hungry.” Violet folded her arms.
“How about a toy store?” he suggested.
“Harrison!” Sera turned on him. “Do not bribe her. Is that all you have? Buy her stuff?”
“I’ve never dealt with kids before, remember?”
“You can’t just bribe them. If you do, then every time you want them to do something, they will want something in return.” Lesson one in parenting, it seemed.
“Kids understand that it doesn’t work that way.”
“Because you’re an expert on kids?”
“I could have been, except I wasn’t allowed.”
Sera looked at her wrist, which didn’t contain a watch, and snarled, “Less then twelve hours before you brought that up. I said I’m sorry, but I told you why I didn’t tell you.”
“I still missed a lot of time with them. They don’t even know me.” His words were barely out of his mouth before Violet rushed from the house and slammed into him in a hug. Sera hadn’t even noticed she had left.
Harrison instantly dropped low and hugged her fully for the first time, and Sera’s heart melted at the sight—a sight she had been sure she would never see. Suddenly, nothing he did was wrong. He was a great father.
“Are you really my daddy, Harrison?” Violet asked him. The smile on her face went from ear to ear.
“Yes, I am, Violet. Is that okay?” His voice cracked even though he could tell she was excited about it.
“Yes! I have always wanted a dad, and you are very nice, so I am glad it’s you.” She hugged him again.
Emma flew out of the house and looked at the scene in front of her. “I am so sorry, mom! I didn’t even know she was there. I was explaining everything to the girls, and there she was. Did she hear everything?”
Sera gathered her into her arms and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay. She’s taking it pretty well.”
Harrison looked up from Violet and said, “Let’s go introduce them to my mom. She’s going to love them.”
“I guess since everyone has eaten already,” Sera replied, grabbing Emma’s arm, who looked ready to bolt.
“We’re going to grandma’s, everyone,” Buzz called over her shoulder from the doorway.
“Not everyone, not today. Let’s ease her into the Lovelys,” Sera said. Nobody needed her seven girls showing up unannounced on their doorstep before eight in the morning. That was too much.
“But by Christmas, right? I bet she makes a ham.” Buzz was nearly dancing.
“I make a ham!” Harper said indignantly from somewhere behind her. “What’s wrong with my ham?”
“I just think a grandma would make it better. Your hams are just, meh. Grandmas always make the best hams. And cookies,” Buzz said and was suddenly gone from the doorway as it swung shut.
“Let’s go. No need to see what is happening in there,” Sera replied and started for her car, praying Harrison would follow. The girls usually got loud when they were fighting, and Buzz’s remarks had definitely sparked an altercation.
“Yeah, no need,” Emma agreed with a grin. The teen knew exactly what was happening inside.
Sera smiled as she walked arm and arm with her daughter to the car, and Harrison carried their other daughter. Harrison pointed to his car, and Sera decided that since it was his day, so she would let him drive.
Slipping into the passenger seat, she wondered if they all would be here together now if Kylie Nash hadn’t made her accusation. That suit was what had made him see her for the first time as something more than the HR director, as someone who had been there the entire time and would be there forever. She just felt lucky that she and her girls were beside him now.
