20
Christian
“Yup. I am Maeve’s boyfriend, picking up Kinsley and Kelsie.” The lady at the front desk gave me a very pointed look, and I realized that I must have looked ridiculous. I didn’t expect to run an errand with Julian earlier, and I was in all black and had my bulletproof vest on and my hair piled on the top of my head in a bun. I must have looked like fucking Thor coming in and demanding to take two little girls with me.
“I see you are on the list.” The woman looked me up and down. It was either a look of wanting to fuck me or fight me...or both.
“Great. Where do I go to grab them?” She just stared at me.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you and Maeve been dating? We just haven't seen you around here.” She pushed up the glasses that had fallen down her nose.
“I do mind you asking because it's none of your business.” I looked at her name tag on her sweater. “Mrs. Madison.”
“You’re right. So sorry. I will go ahead and grab the girls. I just need to confirm you have car seats for them?” Of course, I had fucking car seats. I followed the instructions exactly how Maeve had laid them out. I grabbed the extra set from the garage. This interaction pissed me off to no end because it was just one other person who had no trust in my ability to do anything right.
“Yes, Mrs. Madison. As a human being responsible for two children, I have car seats for them.” It was hard for me not to say worse, but I had to be okay with some passive aggressiveness before I actually got kicked out of this school.
The woman skirted away and returned within a few moments with both Kelsie and Kinsley on her arm. The two blond girls were spitting images of their mother. They both had the bluest eyes. How the heck these two were part of that asshole ex was beyond me.
“Hi, Christian!” Kelsie, the oldest, said when she recognized me standing at the door.
I leaned down on my haunches so I was face-to-face with them. I handed them the bouquet of poppies I had gotten from the store, and Kelsie immediately grabbed it, smelling the flowers.
“Hey, girls. Your mom has a new house she wanted to show you, but she got stuck at work. Do you think I could show it to you?” Kinsley cowered behind her sister.
“It has a pool and lots of Barbies. So many Barbies I don’t know how I’m going to play with all of them by myself.” Their eyes lit up.
“Okay!” They both excitedly screamed, and then we walked to the car. I turned back as I held hands with the little girls to give Mrs. Madison one more nasty look.
“See you tomorrow.” I winked at her, and it was hard to avoid the fact that she rolled her eyes at the same time I did.
Kelsie looked over at me. “Why did you get us these flowers?” I looked at the bouquet of orange poppies.
“When I got home from when I was in the military, they gave us these pretty flowers. Since then, they remind me that I can always get through hard times.” I looked down at the flowers, remembering the deployment I went on that changed my life. I shook my head quickly, trying to rid myself of the memory.
I needed to focus on the present. I got the girls all buckled in the car and drove over to the house, which wasn’t far from their school.
Firecracker: Everything go ok? I’m coming home to grab them, and then I have to run out and grab some groceries.
Me: Packages secured. Go to the store, firecracker. Everyone is fine here.
It was only half a lie. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing with two small kids, but I figured if I took care of entire military units, which were full of adult men who acted like toddlers, I could very well take care of two young kids.
I unloaded them from the car and opened the door. They immediately wanted to see their rooms, so I showed each of them to their room, where there was a lot of screaming and giggling.
“Christian! This is really cool.” Kelsie came over and gave me a huge hug. “I cannot believe we get to live here.”
“There is also a cool pool in the back, too.” I winked at her, and Kinsley shouted, wanting to go to the pool.
“Are you going to be staying here too?” Yikes. I definitely wasn’t ready for this part of the conversation. I needed to somehow tell the truth but also evade the discussion until I could ask Maeve how she wanted to approach it.
“I might, but only if it’s okay with you girls.” Kelsie looked over at her sister. Kelsie was six, and Kinsley was five, so I knew they sort of understood what that meant. I just wasn’t sure how much I was supposed to divulge.
They both shrugged before looking back at me. I don’t know why I felt so nervous. It almost felt like my fate was being decided by two young kids right now.
"Yeah, that's cool with us," Kelsie finally replied, instantly lifting a weight off my chest. Why was I getting so damn worked up about their opinion of me?
"Can we go swimming now?" Kinsley chimed in, and I nodded, encouraging them to change into their swimsuits. I headed to my room to do the same. Once we were all ready, we met downstairs, and I grabbed some plates with freshly cut fruit before taking them to the outdoor table.
"This house is so awesome. I'm glad Mommy moved out of Grandma's place. I can't believe we get to live here," Kelsie exclaimed. A pang of sadness tugged at me, knowing that this arrangement had an expiration date. I watched as the girls enjoyed the food I prepared, then they walked over to discuss which plants I should put in which corner.
At that moment, my thoughts felt grounded. They weren't spiraling out of control. I was surrounded by what felt like a twisted version of family, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. But deep down, I knew it was only temporary. These afternoons filled with their laughter and pure joy would eventually end. Suddenly, I realized that I didn't want it to end. Picking up the girls from school, waiting for their mom to come home, making meals— it all felt like something I had missed out on in my own damn life. I truly didn't want it to end.