21. Braydon
“Dinner is served.” I set a plate of chicken tacos in front of Madison. She looks at them like they are her saving grace.
“Braydon, these look amazing.”
“Oh, I don”t know about that.” Madison takes a big bite of one of the tacos and lets out a little moan.
“Maybe I should give you two some alone time,” I say laughing as Madison”s eyes close when she takes another bite.
“Braydon, these are the best tacos I have ever had.”
“You are too kind.” I slide into the chair next to Madison with my own plate of tacos. I watch Madison finish her first taco and start on her second before I dig into my plate. We eat in a comfortable silence. Madison finishes her three tacos, and I still haven”t finished my second one.
“Feel free to get some more if you are still hungry. There is plenty.”
“Oh, I am so full I couldn”t think of eating anything else.”
“Not even dessert?” I ask with a playful wink.
“Depends. What did you have in mind?” Madison asks, setting her plate in the sink and turning on the water.
“Well, the diner has really good cheesecake. I could run and grab us a couple pieces.”
Madison starts to wash her plate, and the other dishes in the sink.
“That sounds wonderful. I can definitely make some room for cheesecake.”
“Mads, you don”t need to wash my dishes. I can do it when I am done eating,” I remark as I finish off my second taco.
“You cooked. The least I can do is wash a few dishes for you.”
“Just leave them, and I will come help you dry then when I am done eating.”
Madison doesnt get a chance to argue before I hear faint stirring coming from the living room.
“I can go get her while you finish eating.” I don”t get a chance to say anything before Madison is practically skipping towards my living room. I try to listen, but Madison is talking too quietly for me to hear. I finish off my tacos and head towards my sink to start on my dishes. I roll the sleeves of my sweatshirt up above my elbows and turn the hot water on. Just as I am starting to wash the dishes, Madison appears in the doorway of my kitchen with a sleepy-eyed Iris cuddled in her arms. Man, if only I had my phone so I could snap a picture of this moment. I take in the sight of the two of them, and I swear Madison has never looked more beautiful than in this moment right here. I want to pull them both into my arms and place a gentle kiss on top of both of their heads. Turning the water off I walk over to them, my girls, and place a kiss on top of Iris’s messy blonde curls.
“Did you get a good nap sweetheart?” she nods and smiles up at me. I lock eyes with Madison over the top of Iris’s head. Gosh, I want to kiss her. I want to know if she still tastes like peppermint and feels like home. I smile at her and wink before I walk back over to my sink to resume washing dishes. I am going to regret not kissing her for the foreseeable future, but there are still things that she and I need to talk about. Plus, I don”t even know if this is something she wants right now. I wouldn”t blame her, she didn”t sign up to raise a three-year-old that isn’t even hers.
“After I am done I can get Iris some food, then I will go pick us up some dessert.”
“I can get her food.”
“There should be some leftover soup from lunch. You can see if she wants that.”
“Iris, are you hungry? Would you like some more soup?” I hear Madison ask in a sweet quiet voice. I set the last dish into the drying rack and wipe my hands off on a towel. I turn around, leaning my back against my sink. Crossing my arms over my chest, I watch Madison and Iris for just a moment. For just a moment, I allow myself to picture a life where Madison accepted me and my mess just as we are, and we have a future together. I picture Christmas morning, just the three of us. And road trips together. And Madison and Iris backstage at all of my shows. For just a moment, I let my imagination give in to the crazy idea, because it might be the closest thing I get to it actually being a reality. I pull myself out of the daydream in my head and push off of my sink.
“I can heat her up some soup before I run and grab dessert.”
I pull the last of the chicken noodle soup out of the fridge and put it into a bowl. I put it in the microwave for a couple seconds. I make sure that it’s not too hot before I set the bowl and a spoon in front of Madison.
“I will be back in like five minutes. Are you going to be ok here by yourself?”
“I think we have already established that I can handle it.” I laugh as I turn on my heels and leave. I grab three pieces of cheesecake and an order of fries to go. I open my front door with the food in hand, and once again music pours out of my kitchen. This time, though, it is “The Man” by Taylor Swift. I lean against the doorframe into my kitchen and watch as Madison spins around my kitchen with Iris in her arms. Iris has the biggest smile on her face while Madison sings with no shame at the top of her lungs. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my phone to snap a quick picture. I slip my phone back into my pocket and wait until the song ends before I disturb their little bubble.
“I brought dessert,” I announce.
“Dessert!” Iris and Madison excitedly squeal at the same time.
I set the bag down and scoop Iris out of Madison”s arms.
“Did you eat your soup, sweetheart?”
“Yep!”
“Want some of Daddy”s cheesecake.”
Iris nods excitedly as Madison pulls the food out of the bag.
“What are the fries for?”
“Some people eat fries with their ice cream. I eat fries with cheesecake.
“Weird.” Madison pops a fry into her mouth.
“You have no room to talk Miss Peppermint Latte year round.” Madison”s laugh fills my kitchen.
“Ok, maybe you are right. But I still think it is a little strange.”
I shrug as I set Iris in a chair and take the fries from Madison. Dumping them onto a plate, I pop a few into my mouth. Madison hands me a piece of cheesecake with two forks and puts the second piece in front of herself.
“So do you dip the fries in your cheesecake?” Madison asks, just as I am handing Iris her fork.
“No. That would be weird. I just eat them with my cheesecake.”
“Why?”
“I don”t really know why I started doing it, but it just kind of balances out the sweetness.” Madison takes another bite of her cheesecake, and I smile to myself at the thought of this being a regular thing.
“Is there anything special you are going to need to fix my door?”
“No, I should already have all the stuff I need. But, then again, I don”t know what exactly is wrong with your door.”
“Well, let me know if you need anything I can pick it up for you.” I nod and take a bite of my piece of cheesecake. Iris has successfully eaten half of it already, and that is exactly why I bought the third piece to eat when she goes to bed. Madison finishes her piece and walks over to my sink with her plate.
“You don”t have to wash that. I can do it in a minute.”
“No, it”s ok. You already washed the other ones.”
This time I don”t have the energy to argue, so go back to my cheesecake with Iris.
“Are you feeling any better, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, my head doesn”t hurt any more,” Iris responds, mouth full of cheesecake.
“That”s good, baby. You want to go hang out with Aunt Adalynn while I am at work tomorrow?”
Iris nods excitedly, taking another bite of cheesecake.
“Daddy, maybe some time I can hang out with maddie?”
I pause mid chew and look over at Iris.
“Maybe, sweetheart. But you would probably have to ask her.”
“Maddie, can I hang out with you sometime when Daddy is at work?” Iris asks Madison with her biggest and best puppy dog eyes.
“I would really like that.” Iris squeals, as she hops out of her chair and tackles Madison in a hug. Madison returns Iris’s hug, and it just might be one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. I don”t consider myself a grumpy man. Having a three-year-old little girl, I have no room for grumpiness, but I feel like Madison is melting my heart a little at a time. Iris returns to her seat and eats the last bite of our piece of cheesecake.
“I should probably head home now,” Madison announces standing up from her chair.
“Ok. Thanks again for helping out. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime. I had a lot of fun hanging out with y”all.”
“We had fun, too.” I smile at Madison. I don”t want her to leave, but she can”t just stay here forever, no matter how badly I want her to walk back into my life and stay forever this time.
“Drive safe, Mads. We will see you Saturday.”
“It’s a date.” She smiles and waves over her shoulder as she closes the front door behind her.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Do you love Madison?” My breath catches at her question. Iris has been doing this lately. She will just randomly ask if I love someone. Normally, I just brushed the question off, but this time it feels different. For some reason, this time, I feel like I have to be honest with her.
“Umm.. yeah i do sweetheart.”
“Me too,” Iris responds, laying her head on my shoulder. Relief washes over me, and I guess I didn”t realize how nervous I was that Iris wouldn”t like Madison. I kiss the top of her head.
“Let”s get you in the bath,” I say, pulling Iris into my arms and carrying her upstairs.