41
A iva allowed Yasmine to pull her along with Knox into the store. They’d picked her up at nine-thirty to come to the mall. Yasmine seemed to know exactly what she wanted and was immediately leading them to a particular store. Aiva barely glimpsed the store's name before they were pulled in.
Yasmine paused briefly to look around at the different clothing racks. She puffed her cheeks out as she surveyed the store.
“What are you looking for, Yas?” Knox asked.
“Baseball shirts.”
“Baseball shirts?” Aiva asked.
Yasmine nodded before pointing out a rack in the children’s section and skipping over. Aiva and Knox followed. She ended up at a rack with baseball jerseys that were manufactured for fashion.
“These,” Yasmine stated.
“I think I should be offended,” Knox playfully said.
“You don’t have to be. These have more colors and they button,” Yasmine responded.
“Do you know what color you’re looking for?” Aiva asked as she leafed through the options on that rack.
“Light blue,” Yasmine answered. It made sense to Aiva since it would match the cake Knox had gotten for her.
Aiva looked through the options, finding a sky blue and a turquoise jersey in Yasmine’s size. She pulled them out and held them up for Yasmine to look at. The little girl gave them serious consideration, cupping her chin with her thumb and forefinger as she thought, and Aiva couldn’t help but smile. Yasmine pointed to the sky blue one, and Aiva put the other one back.
“Now we need to find the same one for you two. Oh, can we still get Kaley one even though she’s sick and can’t come? We can still wear them together another time,” Yasmine stated.
“Sure, sweetie,” Aiva responded. She looked through the rack and found one in her little sister’s size. Kandice had called Aiva the night before and told her she was sick and wouldn’t be able to attend the party. Yasmine had been a bit bummed when Aiva told her, but she promised the two could get together to work in their garden or for a playdate when Kaley felt better.
“What do you want to wear with these?” Knox asked as they headed to find them the same jersey.
“Black bottoms, black tops under the blue, and blue shoes!” Yasmine announced excitedly.
If Knox hadn’t told Aiva the place the party would be held was well shaded, she was sure they’d overheat with the amount of black Yasmine wanted them to wear. Even if it weren’t, it was what she wanted, and Aiva doubted either of them would try to talk her out of it.
They found the jerseys, grabbing the sizes they needed, and Aiva grabbed an extra one while Knox and Yasmine discussed where to go for lunch when they finished shopping.
Once they checked out, Yasmine led them to a shoe store, and immediately found shoes that matched the top she’d picked out. They got the correct sizes in the sneakers. Yasmine again, wanting to get Kaley a pair, paid, and left the store. They hadn’t bothered looking for black pants since they each already had some.
They ended up at a pizza buffet with an arcade for lunch, and as they ate, Yasmine chatted excitedly about her birthday party the next afternoon. She seemed most excited to play the different games with her friends, and seeing her cake for the first time.
When they finished eating, Knox took Yasmine to the arcade for her to play a few games, and Aiva hung back at the table for a few moments, taking her phone out to send a text. She didn’t wait for a response, because she probably wouldn’t get one, as she slipped the phone back into her crossbody and joined them in the arcade.
They were playing Skee-ball, and Aiva grabbed one of the tokens Knox had sitting on the game and went to the nearby Pac-Man machine. It was one of her favorite classic games. She’d been playing for a few minutes when Yasmine approached her.
“Can I play with you?”
“Of course you can,” Aiva responded, picking the little girl up and placing her on her hip. “You know how to play?”
“Yes, I have to eat the pebbles and stay away from the blobs,” Yasmine responded, and Aiva allowed her to take over the controls.
They played for several minutes, Yasmine clearing the level Aiva had been on, but getting caught on the next one. She asked Knox for another token, and they started the game again. This time when she was caught after a couple of levels with a little “oh man”, they went to play a few other games before they left. They didn’t have any other plans for the day, other than watching movies Yasmine had picked out and baking homemade cookies.
The rest of the day would be relaxed before the chaotic fun that came along with a child’s birthday party the following afternoon.
T he party had just started, and most of the kids were already in attendance. Knox hadn’t expected everyone to be on time, but he wasn’t surprised. Children enjoyed carnivals, and parents, the ones who weren’t staying, were all for a free babysitter for a few hours. He, Yasmine, and Aiva had shown up thirty minutes early to ensure everything was set up to his daughter’s liking. He’d shown her the mock-up the coordinator sent over, but he wasn’t sure Yasmine had understood it completely. It was her special day, and he wanted her to enjoy it.
They greeted her former classmates and parents, gave out their bags with vouchers, and pointed out the gift table where Aiva was. Within ten minutes of the party starting, all the kids from her kindergarten class except two and the kids from his parent’s neighborhood had arrived. Yasmine ran off to play with the other kids, and Knox walked over to Aiva.
The plan was to allow the kids to partake in everything the carnival offered for a couple of hours and then have cake and open presents before allowing them to finish the party playing again until it ended.
“More parents than I thought stayed,” Aiva said as she rearranged the presents.
“Who doesn’t enjoy a carnival? We’re all big kids at heart,” Knox responded. He could admit it was nice to have so many of them in attendance. However, his parents and friends were coming to celebrate and help oversee the kids as needed.
“Your parents are here,” Aiva informed, and Knox turned his attention to the entrance.
“How did you know those were my parents?”
“Aside from them showing up without a child, and seeing pictures of them at your place, your dad literally said copy-paste.”
Knox chuckled as his parents spotted them and headed over. Greetings and introductions went around, and his mother fussed over how pretty Aiva was as his father shook his head at her gushing, but he teased Knox with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
“I’m assuming you all are dressed alike,” his mother stated.
“We are,” Aiva responded. “Yas wanted us to.”
“I’ll have to be sure to get a picture of the three of you,” his mother replied.
After a few minutes of conversing, his parents left their gift for Yasmine on the table and went to the water balloon game she was playing to greet her. Wolfe, Ezra, and Coen trickled in over the next few minutes, greeting them and putting their presents on the table.
“Quite the turnout,” Ezra stated after looking around. “I’m going to find Yas.”
Knox pointed out where she was with his parents and some other kids, and Coen went with him.
“Is Yas ready for school to start back?” Wolfe asked as he took a seat.
“Aside from her party, that’s the only other thing she’s been talking about. She even started a countdown.”
“She only has one week left, right?” Wolfe asked.
“Right. We got her supply list, and she wants to go shopping for school this coming week,” Knox responded.
They lapsed into silence that was broken a minute later as Wolfe stood. “An annoyance just appeared. I’m going to say hi to Yas.”
Knox turned his attention to the entrance as Wolfe left and saw Mia. She looked around momentarily until her eyes fell on him and Aiva. She scowled briefly before heading over. He prepared himself for her attitude and whatever slick comment he was sure would tumble from her lips.
“Don’t you look like a fraudulent little family,” Mia stated, putting a gift bag on the table.
“Hello to you too, Mia,” Aiva responded as Knox did his best not to roll his eyes. She held a bag out to Mia. “Put this on.”
Mia took the bag and looked inside before pulling out an identical baseball jersey. Only then did he notice she was wearing a black halter top, black skinny jeans, and light blue pumps.
“Yas is over there,” Aiva said, pointing to where the six-year-old had moved on to a coin toss game.
Mia tossed the empty bag on the table and walked off, shrugging into the jersey. Knox turned his attention to Aiva.
“I don’t remember us buying an extra jersey.”
“I picked it up when we got ours. You were too focused on where we were going for lunch,” Aiva teased. “I texted her about what she should wear, but I wasn’t sure if she would. It looks like she can be reasonable at times.”
His girlfriend never ceased to amaze him. He hadn’t thought about Mia when they’d gone shopping for what Yasmine wanted them to wear. However, Aiva ensured she wouldn’t look like the odd man out on their daughter’s birthday, despite knowing how Mia felt about the two of them being together, about Aiva in general. It was a level of maturity that Knox could admit he needed to aspire to when it came to his ex-wife.
“Yas will be happy that her mom is dressed in theme,” Knox stated. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Mia would have felt left out and hurt about being excluded, whether or not she showed it. She probably would have even thought it was on purpose. I didn’t want that. Besides, maybe showing her I want what’s best for Yas also and can deal with us being cordial will make her a little less hostile.”
He was sure she was right. Mia probably would have felt left out, but she would have expressed it through anger and smart-mouth quips. Though he was unsure whether Aiva’s approach would make Mia ease up, only time would tell.
“Come on,” Aiva instructed, taking his hand. “Let’s go play some games with Yas. You have prizes to win us,” she finished with a smile, and he allowed her to lead the way.
“M ommy, you can get a snow leopard, and Aiva, you can get a cheetah!” Yasmine exclaimed as they sat in front of the temporary tattoo station.
“And what are you going to get?” Mia asked, giving Yasmine a little tickle.
Aiva had watched their interactions over the past hour and a half. It was easy to see how Mia cared about her daughter, but she could also see that it wasn’t quite mother/daughter care. It didn’t seem quite maternal, but it was undeniable either way.
“I’m going to get a butterfly,” she responded through her laughter.
“Well, that isn’t the same at all,” Mia teased with another tickle.
She and Mia had been…cordial since after she arrived. By that, Aiva meant they hadn’t said much of anything to one another. When they were both with Yasmine, as they were now, they focused on her. However, she commended Mia for concealing her hostility. Aiva knew how observant Yasmine was, and she was sure she would be able to tell something was wrong, even if she couldn’t tell what it was.
They got their tattoos, and Aiva excused herself to give the two some quality time while she went to help Knox, who’d left them fifteen minutes before, to set up the table to get ready to sing Happy Birthday and have cake. Most of the kids played every game they wanted to and ate food and snacks from the concession stands.
Knox paused in what he was doing to kiss her temple. “Are you okay?”
Aiva nodded. “I’m fine.” She knew he was asking because she’d been with Mia for a bit without him. She didn’t need him to buffer their interactions, but she couldn’t fault him for being cautious about leaving them alone. It seemed Mia didn’t plan on doing anything to ruin Yasmine’s birthday, and neither would Aiva.
When they had the table set up, the blue frosted two-tiered cake with yellow sugar flowers adorning it and Happy Birthday Yas written on it in the middle, Knox went to get Yasmine and Mia and called the other kids over. Aiva couldn’t help but smile at Yasmine’s excitement at her cake. Aiva knew she’d looked at pictures, but ultimately she just described what she wanted.
It was simple and beautiful, but she’d learned the six-year-old was far too sensible for her age and liked simple things. She wasn’t spoiled, even if she could have easily been.
They sang “Happy Birthday” as Aiva used a paper plate to block a little boy who attempted to blow out the candles. When he moved his head to try again, she moved the plate as well. When she moved it after Yasmine had blown the candles out, the little boy was clearly upset about it. Aiva cut her eyes at the little boy’s mother. A clear message that said, “Get your child before I do, and you won’t like it.”
“You want to help me pass out the cake or pour punch?” Aiva asked, her attention on Mia.
“I’m fine with cake,” Mia responded.
“That means you’re on punch duty, babe,” Aiva informed Knox. “You can get Wolfe to help you.”
Aiva cut Yasmine a generous slice with the biggest sugar flower. Mia handed her the plate, and she did a little wiggle in her seat. They continued cutting slices and passing them out to all the kids and the adults who wanted some. She passed Mia a slice before getting her own after the others were served.
“The cake was…pretty,” Mia stated after a bite. “And it tastes good. Did you help her choose it?”
“No. She chose on her own. She told Knox what she wanted, and he made it happen.”
“He was always good at that. Making sure she had what she needed and wanted without spoiling her. I hate planning anything that takes a lot of effort. So, he’s always planned her parties.”
Aiva could understand that. Everyone wasn’t a planner and liked to leave it to others. They’d do what they needed to and show up. Lila and Riquie were that way, and she found nothing wrong with that. Though she thought Mia should have sucked it up regarding planning something for her daughter, she assumed she was okay with planning smaller things for them to do together.
“I have siblings that don’t enjoy planning things, but they show up. I’m guessing you plan individual things to do with her.”
“I do. I have her tomorrow, and I’ve planned a day for us.”
Before Aiva could respond, Knox slipped his arm over her shoulders, and she didn’t miss the way Mia rolled her eyes and the small scoff she released. However, she ignored it.
“You two having fun?” he asked.
“Oodles,” Mia responded before walking off to the gift table.
“Did something happen?”
“No. We were having a pretty normal conversation. Seeing us together bothers her, and I can’t blame her because I think she’s kicking herself,” Aiva replied before taking a bite of her cake.
“About what?”
She turned to him with a raised brow. “Do you honestly not know, or are you trying to get me to stroke your ego?”
Knox smirked at her, and she could imagine he was thinking about having her stroke something else. She didn’t give him the chance to say it before she answered his original question.
“If I had to guess, I’d say she regrets some of her choices. Agreeing to a divorce being the most major.”
“Our marriage was over. It was happening either way.”
Aiva hummed. “Maybe at the time, she didn’t believe you’d go through with it, and when you did, she might have thought she didn’t care. That it wouldn’t have affected her the way it has. She still loves you. She might even still be in love with you.”
Knox gripped her chin gently and leaned down. “Too bad for her; she isn’t the one I’m in love with.” He gave her a gentle peck, and before she could respond, Yasmine called their attention, but it was not lost on Aiva that he’d admitted to being in love with her.