Gina came over, holding a pile of fabric, neatly folded in her hands. “I’m making a square just for you, Daddy. Which one do you like?”
I squatted down to her level to look closer at the fabrics. I used Jess’s thigh to steady me. My intent had been just to touch her in any way I could. All day long I thought about it. Jess and I knew the deeper hidden meaning.
“I like these two,” I said, picking them out of the pile. Gina brought those two over to the couch and set them aside. “We can work on those tomorrow.”
Jess squeezed my hand when Gina wasn’t looking. She turned to me, and we were at eye level and a breath’s away from our noses touching. The corners of her eyes lifted in a playful way. I needed her to stay the night. There were so many things I wanted to do to her.
“Well, the lasagna should be ready,” Jess said, getting up from the chair. “Let’s go eat.”
“Yum! Yum! Yum!” Gina jumped with each word.
Jess laughed and jumped along with her. “I’m afraid it’s not my recipe, but I’ve made it before, and it’s delish.”
“Your food has never disappointed me,” I said.
Jess smirked. “You’re too kind.”
Neither Gina nor I had to ask Jess to stay for dinner. Ever since the weekend we’d spent together, Jess joined us for dinner every night. On the nights Jess stayed over, she would say goodnight to Gina, and I’d take Gina to bed, but Jess would stick around. With her dealing with Gina all day and my hectic work schedule, we went straight to bed, but most of the time, we didn’t fall asleep right away. And since I had a bathroom attached to my suite, there was no reason for Jess to wander out of the room until the morning.
Gina had always been a good sleeper, which made our little arrangement possible. We hadn’t had any close calls with Gina finding out yet.
After dinner, we carried through with our usual routine. Jess and Gina said goodnight and I went upstairs with my daughter. Jess was incredibly patient, even on bath nights.
When I came downstairs, Jess already had a bottle of wine open, and she sipped from her glass. I stood at the bottom of the stairs watching her pace my living room.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
Jess clamped her hand over her mouth and turned around.
I smirked. “Sorry.”
“No,” she said, waving her hand in front of her. “Don’t worry about it. I was lost in my thoughts.”
I came into the room and poured myself a glass of wine. I clinked it with hers and then kissed her. Her lips tasted of wine, reminding me of the first time we had sex. We were a little tipsy that night, but I couldn’t have wine since without thinking of her.
“What were you thinking about?” I asked.
Jess sat on the couch, and I followed. She leaned her head against her hand as if something heavy weighed on her mind.
“I need to ask you something,” she said.
“Anything.”
“Next week is my mom’s birthday, and I was planning to go down there with her to celebrate.”
“Oh,” I said.
“I was able to line up a nanny friend of mine to step in while I’m gone,” she said.
I nodded. “How long would you be gone?”
“Not long,” she said. “I didn’t get the plane ticket yet. I wanted to ask you first.”
“It’s your mother,” I said. “Of course you can go.”
“Thanks.”
“We’re going to miss you.”