“You poor thing,” Amelia coos. Well, she tries to. Her laughter wins out.
“Finny, you see the way they treat me?” I ask, leaning in close. Her reply is to laugh dramatically and shove her spoon in my mouth.
“That’s one way to shut him up,” Amelia quips.
I swallow my bite and grin at Finley. “Thanks, Finny.”
“Anks,” she replies.
We laugh and talk while eating our breakfast, and it’s after eleven, later than we wanted to leave the house. Amelia declined our invite to join us, claiming she had to help her mom with a few things. So, me and my girls headed off to buy a big-girl bed. If you had asked me a year ago if this is where I would be, I would have denied and laughed at you. Now, there is no other way I’d rather spend my day than with the two of them.
Chapter Eight
Mara 8
* * *
It’s hard to believe today is my third week at Beckett Construction. These past few weeks have flown by, but I must admit I’ve loved every minute of it. I love my job. Ridge is great to work for. Kendall’s mom, Sonia, has my daughter on a pedestal, and she’s thriving because of it. She’s always babbling about whatever it was they did during the day. I went from it just being the two of us to feeling as if I have this huge support system.
Every day since the day he helped us move in, I’ve seen Seth. He’s been a constant in our lives the last few weeks, and already I know I don’t want that to change. Tonight, however, he had to help his dad move some things around in the garage, so Finley and I had dinner just the two of us. She asked for Seth multiple times. That alone speaks volumes that I’m not the only one growing attached to him.
“Time for bed, Fin,” I say, turning off the TV. I let her watch about twenty minutes of her favorite movie after her bath.
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “I want Sef.”
“Honey, Seth had to help his daddy. He couldn’t come and see us tonight. I promise you’ll see him tomorrow.”
“No.”
At two and a half, there is no reasoning with her. “It’s bedtime.” I stand and lift her from the couch. She begins to cry. The closer we get to her room, the louder her cries are. “Look, you get to sleep in your princess bed Seth made you.” He didn’t really make it, but he did assemble it and that’s all she cares about.
“Sef,” she cries, her bottom lip quivering with her tears.
My heart splinters when I see her big fat tears roll over her cheeks. I try to put her in her bed, and while she clings to me, her cries are for him. For the first time, I’m not who she wants, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. I rock her back and forth in my arms, but it does nothing to console her. My mind races with how to calm her down. How can I console her? Then it hits me. Reaching into my back pocket, I grab my phone and swipe at the screen. “Finley, how about we call Seth? You want to talk to him?”
Her cries quiet and she nods. Deciding that a video call is the better option, I tap on the screen and it starts to ring.
“Hello.” His face appears on the screen and Finley calls out for him.
“Sef,” she says in her pitiful, heartbroken voice.
“Finny? What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he asks soothingly.
“Night night.” She shudders as she tries to catch her breath.
“Mara?” he asks, his eyes darting to me.
“She’s upset that she didn’t get to see you tonight. She’s been asking for you since we got home.”
“Finny. I miss you so so much,” he says, focusing back on her. “I’m sorry I had to miss tonight. I’m helping my daddy. You want to see him?” She nods and he turns the phone toward his parents. It appears that they’re in their kitchen. “Finley, this is my mommy and daddy, Steve and Shannon Jennings.” My heart stutters in my chest as we’re introduced to his parents for the first time. From their expressions, they know all about us. I don’t know why that surprises me; he’s been open and honest about not hiding this relationship from the very beginning.
“Hey there, Finley. Why the tears?” Steve asks.
“My Sef,” she says, pointing at the phone screen.
That small declaration does something to him. He stands and our view becomes the floor. I hear him tell his parents he has to go, then he’s back on the screen. “Finley, I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Pick out a book and I’ll read you a story, okay?” he asks softly.
“’Kay,” she replies, sniffling.
“Babe, I’m going to head your way. I’ll see you soon.” With that, the screen goes black.
“Sef story,” she says with another shuddering breath.
“Yeah, sweetie. Seth can read you a story.” She wiggles out of my arms and runs to her bookshelf and takes her time digging through her books. In the end, she chooses her Five-Minute Princess Stories and races back to her bed. I watch as she pulls her soft princess blanket over her and up to her chin. She hugs the book to her chest and looks up at me.
“Sef story, Mommy.”
“He’s on his way. How about I read you a story until he gets here?” I offer. Again, reasoning with a two-and-a-half-year-old is not the easiest thing in the world.
“No. My want Sef.”
“Okay,” I say, holding back tears of my own. “Well, we need to go wait for him to get here. Mommy has to unlock the door.” Just as I say the words, lights shine on her bedroom window as a truck pulls into the drive. “There he is,” I tell her. “Let’s go let him in.” She launches herself in my arms and I carry her down the hall and to the front door. Just as his hand is up to knock, I’m pulling the door open to greet him.
“Sef!” Finley cheers and jumps from my arms to his. Luckily he was ready for her.
“Hey, Finny. What’s going on? You giving your mommy a hard time?”
“Sef story.” She pouts, and I know that look alone will have him giving her anything she wants. Not that he wouldn’t otherwise. Seth is a big ole softy when it comes to my daughter.
“Do you have a book picked out?” he asks. Her reply is a nod. He pulls his attention from her to me. “Hey, baby.” He surprises me when he snakes an arm around my waist and pulls me into him, landing a kiss on my lips. “I missed my girls.”
I lean into him just as dazzled by him as Finley is. He never kisses me like that in front of her, so I’m a little shocked, but I’m not angry. My daughter, on the other hand, she’s not impressed as she pushes at my arm to get me away from him.
“My Sef.”
“I’m your Seth and Mommy’s Seth,” he tells her. “And it’s past your bedtime, little lady. Let’s go read you a story.” He kisses the top of my head, giving my hip a gentle squeeze before releasing his hold on me, and disappearing down the hall to her room.
In the past when he’s done this, I’ve stood at the door and even lain in bed with them, but tonight I do neither. Instead, I head to the living room and curl up on the couch, throwing a blanket over me as I lick my wounds. I’m not hurt that she wants him. I want him too. It’s just hard to see her not want me. I have to process the fact that he’s just as big a part of her life as he is mine. This is happening fast and I should be worried, scared for our hearts, but I’m not. Instead, I want to race toward him, jump in his arms just like my daughter does, and beg him to never let me go.
“She’s out,” Seth whispers, taking a seat next to me on the couch. “You good?”
“Thank you.”
“Never thank me for needing me, Mara. You didn’t ask me to come over. I made that decision on my own.”
“I know, but it would have been a crying fit until she wore herself out, so thank you.”
“Those tears and the little lip get me every time.” He places his hand over his chest.
“I’m afraid you’ve created a monster. She’s going to want you every night from now on.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“About her wanting you?” I shrug. “You’re the first man in her life an
d you treat her like a princess. Of course she’s going to latch on to you.”
“That’s not what I asked you, Mara.” He waits patiently for my reply.
“It hurts, but not for the reasons you might think. If anything, I’m glad she has you. That we have you. She and I have been a twosome far too long, and suddenly we’re surrounded by more. It’s a lot to process, but at the same time, it’s welcome. I’m not mad. It’s just hard to see her want someone else. There has never really been anyone else in our lives for her to want. Until now.”
“I’m glad it’s me. When I got that call… I can’t explain it. It’s as if there were a million butterflies dancing in my gut. She was crying for me. That little girl—” He pauses. “And her momma—” He reaches out and cups my cheek. “—you’re both under my skin. I want nothing more than to be the man who you both turn to, no matter what the situation or the reason.”
“She’s really bonded with you.”
“Yeah, I’m glad. I’m just as attached to her.”
“It’s unexpected, but it makes me happy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. I’m just an emotional momma bear who just realized her baby has other people in her life she can count on. I love that for her. It’s just going to take some time to get used to it.”