44
“H ey, son,” his dad greeted Knox as he walked through the front door of his parents’ house.
“Hey, Dad. I brought lunch and thought I would spend a few hours with you and Mom before I pick Yas up from school.”
“Your mother’s in the garden. I’ll get her if you want to set the food up on the table.”
Knox spread the food he’d brought, grabbed drinks from the fridge, and waited for his parents to join him. They came in a couple of minutes later, his mother greeting him and kissing his cheek as she passed to the sink.
Once seated with their food, Knox asked his dad how things were going with his fishing club. It was a group of retired men who got together to fish, talk about fishing, or talk about a fishing spot none of them had seen, which probably didn’t exist, but swore someone they knew saw it. They did more of the latter two than the first.
“I’ve seen a lot of pictures of you and Aiva since the two of you were shown on national television for your birthday last month,” his mother stated when there was a lull in the conversation. “People are wondering and speculating.”
Knox had noticed that, too. Before, when they would go out, and random fans or a few paparazzi would take pictures to sell, there hadn’t been as many. Now that they’d been seen together on a bigger scale, he hadn’t been able to go two days without getting online and seeing pictures from their Disney vacation, cruise, and random dates being shared over again.
After the first couple of weeks of it happening, he’d spoken to Aiva about it. Knox didn’t want her to be uncomfortable or for it to get out of hand for her. He knew it could get overwhelming; he didn’t want that for her. However, she’d told him a couple of people had approached her while waiting for coffee one morning, and it was fine. His girlfriend believed they would approach her with the same type of energy she received them with.
He’d like to believe that, but he knew from experience some people liked to be intrusive for the hell of it.
“Is she dealing with it okay?” his dad asked with concern.
“She is. She’s had a couple of encounters, but no one has overstepped any boundaries or made her uncomfortable. People have approached us when we’re out on dates, and she hasn’t had a problem with it. As long as they’re respectful, I don’t think there will be an issue from either end.”
“That’s good. I know there were problems in the past when you and Mia would go out or when someone approached her. I’d hate for Aiva to feel overwhelmed. I like her,” his mother responded. She was being nice.
Ninety-eight percent of the time, the issues weren’t from the people who approached them. Knox understood that people constantly coming up when they were out to have a good time could get irritating, but it came with his career at the time and being with him. His ex-wife refused to extend a bit of grace.
“They’ll find someone or something else to fixate on after a while,” he responded. “And I don’t plan on letting Aiva go anywhere. If it becomes too much, I’ll do whatever I have to and handle it.”
His mom smiled at him. “You care about her a lot.”
“That’s an understatement,” Knox responded.
“We could tell at Yas’ party,” his dad started. “And it’s easy to see how she feels about you and cares about Yas.”
“I could tell Yas was fond of her before we met her. Anytime she was over here after spending time with Aiva, we heard about it the entire day,” his mom added.
“They’ve created a solid bond that seems to have come naturally,” Knox responded.
“I sensed some animosity from Mia at the party. I take it she isn’t thrilled that you’re dating someone,” his mother said.
“She isn’t or wasn’t. I’m honestly not sure how she feels now. They haven’t been around one another since the party, but I’m hoping things will be better the next time we’re all together.”
“Maybe she needs a little more time to accept it.”
“We’ve been divorced for eight months and were separated a year before that. I don’t know how much time she needs,” he replied to his dad.
“You might have been done with your marriage, but Mia may have thought you would work it out, but then the process started. You grieved the end of your marriage during your separation. She might not have started until after it was final,” his mom pointed out.
Knox hadn’t thought about it that way. Until Aiva brought it up, he never considered that Mia still wanted anything from him aside from making his life hell. He supposed she could have been doing so to get what she thought she needed as closure, attempting to hurt him to make herself feel better.
Admittedly, he’d never stopped to look at the situation from her point of view because he’d only been interested in freeing himself, getting out of his marriage, and moving on with his life. Mia also made it hard to see her having any other perspective than greed.
“She and I talked, and I think hearing from me how I feel about Aiva, may have helped in giving her a jumpstart on closure,” he informed thinking back to their conversation after Yasmine’s first week.
His dad nodded. “Let’s hope so.”
“Does Yas know what she wants to be for Halloween?” his mom asked, changing the subject after a beat of silence.
“She was between Mirabel and Moana for a while, and I thought we’d have to flip a coin at some point, but she told Aiva and me this morning that she wanted to be Mirabel.”
Aiva had stayed over last night after dinner since her first appointment was scheduled for ten that morning.
“They’re having a festival at her school and can wear their costumes. We’ll probably pick it up this weekend,” Knox stated.
The conversation shifted again, and he stayed until he had to pick up Yasmine.
When she got into the backseat, he made sure she was buckled into her booster seat before pulling out of the pickup lane.
“We learned a new song in Spanish today!” she told him excitedly. “Can we call Mommy and Aiva later so I can sing it for them?”
“We sure can,” he responded, glancing in the rearview at her.
“Great! I’m going to sing it for you now.”
With that, she began the song, swaying in her seat, as Knox headed home.
A iva hung up the phone with one of her clients. They’d called to ask if she’d gotten the edible arrangement they sent for a ruling in their favor. The husband had filed for sole custody to get out of paying the monthly child support her client was asking for after their divorce.
In mediation, Aiva and his lawyer tried to point out that she wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable and that a judge would undoubtedly order him to pay more. Her client only wanted him to cover the private school tuition for their two kids, since he’d been adamant that they attend. They’d been in the school for the past four years for one and six for the other. She wanted to keep them there.
He’d refused and stated he’d file for full custody to keep from paying her. Since he made more money, he was sure the judge would rule in his favor. He hadn’t, especially not after the husband admitted he only wanted sole custody to keep from having to pay child support. Not only did her client get full custody with the dad getting weekend visits, he was ordered to pay two and a half times what she’d been asking him for.
The look on his face had been priceless. Some people only knew how to learn things the hard way, and he’d done exactly that.
She plucked a grape off the skewer before reviewing her appointments for the following day. She had a reschedule, and the rest of her afternoon was free. Leaving early crossed her mind, but she decided to ensure all the documents she needed for specific meetings tomorrow were ready, and she would look over the information for two new incoming clients.
A iva had been working for an hour and a half, snacking on her fruit arrangement, when Finx buzzed into her office.
“Yes?” she asked.
“You have…a visitor.”
Aiva furrowed her brow. If it were Knox, her mother, or siblings, he would have let them back since she didn’t have anyone in her office and no clients coming in. Finx would bring any deliveries to her unless it was something she needed to sign for herself, and then she tended to go to the front to do it.
“Send them in.”
Mere seconds passed before Mia was standing in her doorway. Unlike the first time she’d shown up after the finalization of their divorce, this time, she didn’t barge in with metaphorical smoke coming out of her ears. If Aiva didn’t know any better, she would think she was waiting to be invited in. So she did, gesturing to a seat across from her.
“What can I do for you, Mia?” Aiva asked after a few seconds of silence.
“It looks like you and Knox had fun on his birthday.”
Aiva refrained from sighing. Were they really about to have a repeat of the first time she visited? “We did.”
“Now it seems like I can’t go a day without one of my friends tagging me in pictures, articles, and posts about the two of you.”
“If your friends are tagging you on things they know will upset you, you might need to reconsider those friendships.”
“What makes you think they upset me?”
“If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be here. I’m also not blind.” When Mia raised a brow, Aiva elaborated. “I can tell that seeing him with me hurts you, but I’m sure it would be the same regardless of who he was with if it’s not you. Believe it or not, unless you try me, I try not to rub that in your face.”
She was quiet momentarily, and Aiva let it linger between them. Allowed her to process what she’d said and get her thoughts together.
“You know, when he moved out, I told myself it didn’t matter because he’d realize he was miserable without me and come back. When I was served with papers, I told myself I didn’t care and that I was better off as long as I got what I wanted from him. When those papers were signed, everything was done, and I stood alone in that big house; I told myself it was what I desired because I could do what I wanted. That faded quickly, and I knew I’d lied to myself.
He wasn’t miserable without me. I’d been the one making him miserable and refused to see it when it was happening, and he gave me everything I thought I wanted when, in reality, all I wanted was our family. I didn’t even want to do any of the things I had before, and then I saw him with you.
I knew you were dating; Yas said something about an adult play date on one of our visits, but seeing you with him on blogs made it too real because that was once me. After that, I convinced myself you were here for a little while. That you’d be gone, and I could have what I wanted.
Then, I saw the two of you together at Yas’ birthday party, and I knew he’d slipped from my fingers. He hadn’t looked at me the way he looked at you for a long time, but some part of me still hoped, even with all the shit I put him through. Then we celebrated Yas’ first week of school; he told me…” She trailed off as if unsure if she should say what she was going to, and Aiva felt she knew what it was.
“He told me too,” Aiva stated. She didn’t think it was necessary to tell her when Knox had informed her he loved her or that he’d inadvertently said it at the birthday party. “He also said that you thought he or I were trying to replace you in Yas’ life, and that’s far from the truth. I don’t want to be in your shoes with her. I want to be another person in her corner to love her to pieces because I do. As much as I love him, I love her too.”
“I can tell.”
“I don’t need us to be friends, Mia. I honestly don’t care if you continue to dislike me or if you want to hold every grudge you have against me. The only thing I need for us to do is love that little girl, do what’s best for her, and show up when she needs us. Everything else between us doesn’t matter to me. Not what you think about me, not your feelings for Knox. As long as we understand each other in that regard, we can throw hands whenever we aren’t around Yas if you want, as long as we put her first.”
Mia laughed, and Aiva could admit it startled her briefly. She hadn’t heard any sound come out of her mouth directed at her outside of contempt, rage, and dislike.
“I can do that.” She tilted her head to the side. “Though throwing hands every time would be exhausting. How about every other time?” It was a joke. The look in Mia’s eyes gave it away.
“I can do that.” Aiva leaned back in her chair. “You might want to find an Isabela or Pepa costume.”
“What?”
“Yas has decided she wants to be Mirabel for Halloween. I’ve already called Dolores. I think we might go this weekend to get costumes. You could come if you want.”
“Are they requiring costumes for the festival? Knox texted me about it yesterday.”
“No, but the kids can wear them. These are for the carnival in the park and trick-or-treating.”
Mia nodded as she stood. “I should go, but…text me when you’re going, and I’ll meet you there.”
Aiva watched Mia walk out of the office, and ten seconds later, Finx and Meila were seated across from her.
“That was an unexpected turn of events,” Finx said.
“I was sure hands would be laid on her this time,” Meila chimed in. “But she seems to be maturing. I will admit I feel a little bad for her. She didn’t know what she had until it was gone.”
“At least you won’t have to worry about her,” Finx spoke.
“I was never worried about her, but maybe our conversation will help her somehow,” Aiva responded. “Now, both of you, back to work.”
When alone in her office, she contemplated calling Knox, but glancing at the time showed he would be heading to pick Yasmine up. She would call him later that night and tell him about her conversation with Mia. Though she was sure it was similar to the one they had almost two months ago.