Chapter Twenty-Two
chapter twenty-two
RYDER
“Are you ready? When we go in there, you have to say surprise !”
“I can do that!” I hear Violet say.
“Can you say it?” Kira asks.
“Yeah!” Addie yells, making me chuckle.
When I woke up to Kira being gone and a note saying not to move, I remembered that today is not only Father’s Day, but also my birthday. So, after taking a piss, I laid back down and spent the next half hour getting caught up on some work emails while I waited for the girls to show up.
The door opens, and Kira, Violet, and Addie walk in with balloons, presents, and a tray filled with my favorite breakfast—an iced latte from the coffee shop down the street and chocolate-glazed doughnuts. I’m a simple guy—what can I say? Since I work out, I don’t eat a lot of junk food, but I once told Kira that my guilty pleasure was chocolate-glazed doughnuts.
“Surprise!” Violet exclaims.
“’Prise!” Addie copies as she climbs onto the bed and crawls over to me.
“Happy Father’s Day and birthday,” Kira says, leaning over and giving me a quick kiss.
It’s been almost a month since she started sleeping in my bed full-time—although she hasn’t moved her stuff in yet—and we started showing PDA in front of the kids, and I’ve never been happier. In two weeks, we’re heading to the beach for the Fourth of July picnic, and Kira’s asshole of an ex will be served divorce papers.
My hope is that he’ll sign without issue, but if he tries to start shit, I have enough to end him. That piece of shit has his hand in all types of illegal pots, and if he doesn’t want to lose his career, he’ll sign.
“Thank you,” I tell the girls.
“We made you gifts,” Violet says, handing me the bag in her hand.
“Oh, yeah? Should we eat breakfast first or open presents?”
“Presents!” Violet answers.
“That’s because I already fed the girls doughnuts.” Kira laughs. “They were up very early, and once they saw the doughnuts, there was no way they were waiting for you to wake up.”
“All right, presents first.”
I hand the tray to Kira, who sets it on the dresser, and then take the bags from both girls.
I open Violet’s first since she’s practically champing at the bit and find the most adorable handprint card.
“Is this your hand?” I ask.
“Yep! Addie made one too!”
“Me! Me!” Addie giggles.
“ Ryder ,” I say, reading Violet’s card out loud, “ happy birthday. I hope you have fun. Love, Violet .
“I love it. Thank you.” I lean over and give her a kiss on her cheek, then open the card Addie got me. It has a smaller handprint, but unlike Violet’s messy yet legible handwriting, there are scribbles everywhere with Kira’s handwriting above. “ Happy birthday and happy Daddy’s Day. I love you. Love, Addie .
“Did you make this?” I ask my daughter, who nods happily. “Thank you, Chunk.” I pull her into my arms and kiss her cheek.
“Addie got to make you a birthday and daddy card,” Violet says. “But since you’re not my daddy, I didn’t.” She shrugs like it’s not a big deal, but her eyes are sad, and her tone matches.
One day, when Kira is ready, I’m going to make that little girl my daughter, and then she’ll have a damn dad who will love her and protect her and take care of her for the rest of her life. But for now, because Kira isn’t ready for me to make that kind of commitment yet, I say the only thing I can say …
“I might not be your dad, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you or my card. This is the best gift I’ve ever been given because it’s from you.”
Violet smiles softly. “I made it all by myself, and I helped Addie make hers, too, ’cause she’s a baby and she couldn’t use the paint alone.”
“That was very nice of you. Thank you.”
“We also made you a cake,” Violet says.
“What?” I gasp. “Doughnuts and a cake? I think it needs to be my birthday every day.”
“No way!” Violet giggles. “Then, you’ll be too old.”
“That’s true,” I agree. “Now, what else is in these bags?”
I pull the gift out of Violet’s bag and find a brand-new blue tie.
“I picked it out! Do you like it?”
“I love it. And blue just happens to be my favorite color. Wanna know why?”
“Why?”
“Because blue is the color of your mommy’s eyes.”
“And mine!” Violet notes.
“And yours.”
I glance at Kira and find her smiling, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and happiness.
I love you , I mouth to her.
I love you more , she mouths back.
Soon , I tell myself. Soon, I’m going to make Kira and Violet mine, and then I’m going to spend the rest of my life spoiling the hell out of all my girls.
“Open your gift from Addie,” Violet says, bringing me back to the present.
I do as she said, and inside, I find a jewelry box. When I pop the box open, nestled inside are the most adorable monkey cuff links.
“Addie couldn’t exactly pick out a gift,” Kira says with a laugh, “but when we were looking at the ties, I saw those and thought they were very fitting for Father’s Day.”
“They’re perfect,” I choke out.
This is the first gift anyone has ever bought me for Father’s Day, and it’s the first time in years that anyone has ever given a shit about my birthday. In previous years, if my dad was in town, we’d go to brunch, but in our family, you don’t buy or make—as he would call it—“cheesy” gifts. And we sure as hell don’t do sentimental.
“So, we were thinking,” Kira says, handing me back my coffee and doughnuts, “since today is your day, we would do something you enjoy.”
“Oh, yeah? We’re going golfing?” I joke.
“Actually, we are!” Kira laughs. “Kind of.” She smirks. “I don’t think the golf course would be too thrilled with the girls trying to hit balls, so instead, we’re going mini golfing!”
The girls cheer, and I throw my head back with a laugh.
“Sorry,” she says. “It’s the best I could do with two kids.”
I tug her toward me and wrap my arms around her waist. “Mini golf sounds perfect. Thank you.” I pull her face toward mine and give her a kiss, needing a quick taste of her to hold me over.
Later, once the girls are asleep, I’ll show her just how much all this means to me.
Dad
I saw your call, but I’m in a meeting. We’ll see you for the Fourth of July picnic, right? Your brother mentioned something about you dating your nanny? Please tell me you’re not making another stupid decision regarding women. We’ll talk when I see you.
I groan at his text and regret calling to wish him a happy Father’s Day. I should’ve known better.
There’s nothing to talk about. Kira is my girlfriend, and she and her daughter are coming with me to the picnic. If that’s going to be a problem, let me know. We don’t have to go.
Dad
Stop being dramatic. I just want what’s best for you. I’ll see you then.
“Everything okay?” Kira asks, climbing into bed.
“Yeah, just dealing with some family shit,” I say vaguely, not wanting to repeat what he said.
It’s been the perfect day, thanks to her and our little girls, and I don’t want to ruin it with my dad’s bullshit. The man wouldn’t know what was best for me if it smacked him in the face.
“I’m sorry,” she says, lying on my chest, like she does every night. “My relationship with my mom isn’t the best, but she really does care.”
“You don’t talk about her much,” I mention, rolling to my side to look at her.
“I can’t call her without risking Brian finding me. He knows how to track devices, so we agreed not to communicate until everything was handled with him. Mom has her issues, but I still miss her. She’s the only family Violet and I have.”
“That’s not true,” I say, rolling us over so I’m hovering above her. I went damn near two years without being sexually intimate with a woman, and now, I can’t handle a couple of hours without touching Kira. “Addie and I are your family too.” I lean over and kiss the tip of her nose. “Only two more weeks until the papers are served, and then you’ll be able to talk to and see your mom again.” I lean down and snag her bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth.
“There’s a chance Brian is going to fight this, you know,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“There’s nothing to fight. You’re taking nothing from him. It even states in the paperwork that you’ll repay him for the vehicle that was stolen if he can’t get it handled with the insurance company.”
“I know, but he’s not the kind of man to let this go without giving me hell.”
“And we’ll be prepared for that,” I promise. “Now, enough about him …” I run my fingers through her hair and tilt her head up. “The only thing I want to focus on is thanking you for today.”
“Mmm,” she moans. “Now, that I can get on board with.”
She looks at me and, with a devious smile, says, “Remember when you mentioned wanting to take my ass?”
Jesus fucking Christ.
“Yeah?”
“Well, I was thinking …” She pushes me off her, lifts her shirt over her head, leaving her in only a tiny thong, then flips onto her hands and knees. “As my birthday present to you”—she glances back at me and wiggles her ass—“I could give you my ass.”
Best fucking birthday ever.