Chapter 23
23
brADY
I 'm nervous. I've never been this nervous before. Maybe when I lost my virginity, though it's completely inappropriate to think about that now.
"Dad!"
"What?"
Kira grins at me. "You've fluffed the couch pillows three times now."
"Oh, I didn't even notice."
"Are you nervous?"
"A little," I admit.
"Why?"
"Well, because I want you to like Mallory."
She looks at me anxiously. "What if she doesn't like me?"
I stroke her head. "That, mo leanbh, can't possibly happen because you're the sweetest girl there is."
"But why do I have to meet her at all?"
"Because she's important to me."
"Hm." She throws herself onto the couch in our new apartment, hugging one of the pillows. "We don't need anyone."
"You're right about that. We don't need anyone, but I like Mallory and I want us to spend time with her."
"She won't like me."
"Why do you think that?" I sit down beside her.
"Because you spend time with me." And then she looks at me with fear. "Or you won't anymore." Her eyes fill with tears.
I pull her into my arms. "Hey, hey. Mallory knows that you're my number one."
"She'll hate me."
"No, she won't."
"But my other dad... I mean, Mom's husband hated me because she spent time with me."
"That won't happen."
"But what if it does?"
"It won't happen. Trust me. You're my priority. Don't be afraid."
The doorbell rings.
I press my lips to Kira's forehead. "I'll let her in. Do you want to freshen up a bit?"
She nods before hurrying to the bathroom.
Scratching my head, I walk to the door. I knew of course it wouldn't be easy because it's a change. Again. But if I want both of them in my life, they need to spend time together.
Mallory is standing at the door with a smile, but her smile is tense. She's obviously just as afraid as Kira, which oddly gives me a good feeling. This will work out.
I give her a kiss on the mouth.
"Don't worry," I murmur.
"Easy for you to say. She already likes you."
I take her jacket, a shopping bag and her purse and hang them on the coat rack.
As we go into the living room, Kira also comes out of the bathroom. For a moment both females stand there undecided, before Mallory gives herself a push. Apparently she thinks she's the adult in this situation. Grinning, I watch my two girls.
Mallory isn't much taller than Kira, which is why she only has to bend down a little. She studies her face critically before saying, "I think there's a law against that."
"Against what?"
"Against being as pretty as you are."
A small smile brightens Kira's face before she suppresses it again. "Are you trying to suck up to me?"
"Is it working?"
"No."
"What do I need to do to make it work?"
Kira looks at her expectantly. She already knows exactly what she wants to say next, but lets Mallory squirm a bit. Even at her young age, she's already a master manipulator.
"There's nothing."
"No ice cream?"
"No."
"No makeup kit?"
"No." Though that comes out a bit more uncertain.
"Then a pony certainly won't change your mind either," jokes Mallory.
I hope she's joking.
"Not at all." But her defensive line is crumbling.
Mallory straightens. "Well, then I don't know what else to do. Guess there's no point."
Kira crosses her arms over her chest. "There isn't."
Mallory turns to me, shrugs, and walks into the hallway. I'm completely perplexed, don't know what to say. She can't be giving up already? She can't be serious.
But then she comes back. With a small box and a bottle of water. She sits down on the couch and places the box on the table in front of her.
"What's that?" Kira asks.
"Oh, this is nothing. You probably wouldn't be interested in it."
Mallory unpacks a few things from the box. A jar with a lid, some food coloring.
Curious, Kira comes closer, kneeling on the floor on the other side of the table. She watches attentively.
Mallory slides the jar and a bottle toward her.
"Can you fill the jar halfway with oil?"
Kira nods, reaches for the bottle, and fills the jar. When she's finished, she looks up, then takes the water from Mallory.
"Fill it almost to the top."
Diligently, Kira does that too, while watching how the water slides under the oil.
I stare at the jar in suspense because I have no idea what's about to happen. What Mallory is hoping for.
"Which color do you prefer?" Mallory holds out four small tubes to Kira.
Kira chooses pink. Of course. I also had to paint her room pink. Just one wall, but it's simply the ugliest color there is, and I think I'm still going to get eye cancer from it.
"Squeeze a little color into the jar."
Kira does that too.
"Oh, how pretty," she breathes as pink pearls sink through the oil layer and color the water.
Mallory smiles, breaks something in half before holding it out to Kira.
"Now throw this in and watch."
Totally fascinated, Kira throws the something into the jar. It dives through the oil before it starts bubbling in the water. Thick colorful bubbles rise through the oil to the top before sinking back down.
A lava lamp. I shake my head in amazement.
Mallory has made a lava lamp with Kira.
"Wow, how cool," Kira exclaims while watching the bubbles. When the show is over, she looks up disappointed. Mallory smiles and hands her the second half. My daughter claps her hands before starting the show again.
And again and again.
When that loses its appeal, she points to the box. "What else is in there?"
Mallory pats the couch beside her. "We should investigate that together, don't you think?"
Excited, Kira jumps up, sits down next to Mallory, and unpacks the box. Lots of things for more experiments, and for the rest of the afternoon, they put their heads together, doing experiments, getting excited when they work, getting frustrated when they don't.
I needn't have worried at all.
MALLORY
I didn't know if it would work, but Brady had told me that Kira is smart, that she likes science, that she enjoys trying new things. So yesterday I went to a toy store and bought a chemistry set. I practiced the lava lamp experiment yesterday to make sure it wouldn't fail, because otherwise my street cred with Kira probably wouldn't have been very high. I read through the other stuff, got the additional things we needed, and just hoped that she would also enjoy it if we tinkered together, figured out together how to do things best. And I was right. She likes it. She immerses herself in the instruction manual before explaining to me what I should do. I help her with words she doesn't understand, give her high fives for every successful trick, curse the stupid chemistry with her when something doesn't work.
It's sweet to watch her furrow her brow with concentration or press her tongue into the corner of her mouth when she's focused. She's the sweetest thing anyway. I've seen photos, of course. Brady probably has eighty-seven million of them, which he has shown me over the last few weeks since we've been officially dating. We see each other about three times a week, but it's hard for him. So I hope it gets easier when Kira and I get to know each other and we can simply spend time together, the three of us.
Every now and then I look over at Brady, who's sitting relaxed in an armchair, watching us contentedly.
"Hey, girls, can I interrupt you for a moment?" he asks at some point.
Kira looks up. "What is it?"
"I'm hungry. Should we get something to eat?"
She claps her hands. "Oh yes! Can I have the pasta?"
Brady looks at her indecisively. "They don't deliver. I can go pick it up, but then you'd have to stay here with Mallory."
"Okay." With that, she immerses herself back in the instructions for growing crystals.
Brady looks at her in surprise, then shrugs before grinning at me. "And what do you want?"
"I'll take the pasta too."
He laughs. "Bad choice. That's pasta with very little tomato sauce."
"Oh, okay, then I'll take mine with lots of sauce and cheese." I smile at him.
"I'll see what I can do." Turning to Kira, he says: "I'll be right back."
She waves dismissively. "Yeah, yeah."
"That's how quickly you become irrelevant," he murmurs, but he doesn't look unhappy. He blows me a kiss before he disappears.
"What does this say?" Kira asks, pointing at a word.
"Potassium alum." I show her the powder. "But for this we need to use the stove. First, let's prepare the jar."
A few minutes later, we go to the kitchen. "Where do you keep a small pot?" I ask.
Kira points to a cabinet. I take out a pot, which she then fills with water.
"We forgot our safety goggles," I say.
"I'll get them." She runs off while I turn on the stove.
We put on the goggles and grin at each other.
"Okay, now we need to be a little careful when we stir in the alum."
She nods conscientiously. I'd actually prefer to do it myself, but she's done everything so carefully and prudently that I trust her with this too. When we finally pour the solution into the prepared jar, she does it like a pro.
"Well done," I praise her.
"When will the crystals come now?"
"They need some time to grow. You'll probably see something in a week."
"Oh, that long?" she asks, disappointed.
"But you can check every day to see how it's looking."
She tilts her head back and forth. "Okay, I'll do that. And in a week, you'll come and we'll look together?"
"That's what we'll do."
She grins. "Can we make something else?"
"Sure. How about slime?"
Laughing, she jumps up and down. Before we go back to the living room, Brady returns with the food.
"Feeding time at the zoo," he says jokingly and holds up the bags. "Will you set the table, mo leanbh ?"
Without complaining, Kira does it.
"So you have an Irish pet name for Kira too. Let me guess what it means. Good morning?"
He laughs as he puts the bags on the table. "Almost. It means my baby ."
Kira comes with the plates. One at a time.
"Dad, we're growing crystals!"
"Oh, wow! Can I see anything yet?"
"No, not yet." She laughs as if that were completely ridiculous. "In a week. I'll check every day, but then Mallory's coming and we'll look together."
Brady looks at me, impressed, as she disappears to get the third plate. "Already arranged another playdate. Clever." He puts his arm around my shoulders.
"Eww, are you going to kiss now?" asks Kira, and nothing can sound as disgusted as a little kid.
"No, don't worry. We would never do such a thing," Brady replies before pressing a kiss on my forehead.
Kira makes gagging noises that make me laugh. "Yes, totally gross," I giggle in agreement.
Brady gives me an outraged look. "Excuse me?"
Kira goes back to the kitchen with a grin, presumably to get cutlery. I stand on my tiptoes and put my arms around his neck. "I was just kidding, of course."
"I should hope so." He glances at the kitchen door before giving me a quick kiss on the lips. And then another and another. He grins at me. "You're truly spectacular, Mallory Callahan."
When we're sitting at dinner—thank God Brady didn't let me order the pasta!—Kira asks: "What's that on your face?"
I'd like to say that I always go without makeup these days, but that's not true. My attitude toward my birthmark has changed. I no longer see it as this terrible flaw, but I still cover it professionally. In my private life, only rarely now. But not today, because I wanted to show Kira who I really am. I thought it wouldn't be a good start to our relationship if I pretended to be someone I'm not.
Brady is about to say something when I place a hand on his arm. "It's okay." I look at Kira, stroking my temple. "This is a birthmark. I've had it since I was born. Under the skin there are many small blood vessels that are very dilated in this spot, so the blood shows through."
"Does it hurt?"
"No, not at all. Do you want to touch it?"
Kira nods, stands up, and comes around to me. Very carefully and gently, she places her fingers on my face. She strokes the spot before tracing the outline. "It feels normal."
"It is normal," I answer.
She nods before sitting back down. "Cool."
Brady looks at her lovingly. Just for that look alone, I definitely needed to see the two of them together. He's absolutely smitten with his daughter. And I can understand that all too well.
* * *
We make slime together until Brady says it's time for Kira to go to bed. Grumbling, she puts on her pajamas before going to brush her teeth.
"Can you read me something?" she asks him before heading to her room.
"Of course. But just one chapter. Say goodnight to Mallory."
"Goodnight, Mallory."
"Goodnight, sweetheart." I smile at her. She waves back.
Just one chapter. Famous last words , I think while sitting on the couch, turning on the TV and watching some reality show.
Eventually I start to worry that Brady might have fallen asleep. I check the time. Maybe I'll give him another ten minutes...
* * *
I wake up when Brady strokes my head.
"Hey, sleepyhead." He smiles at me.
"Oops, did I fall asleep?" I ask while stretching.
"You did."
"Sorry."
"It's fine. One chapter turned into a few more."
"How many more?"
"I'm embarrassed to admit it."
I laugh. "She has you completely wrapped around her little finger."
"She does. Guilty as charged."
"She's really sweet."
"Unfortunately, she knows it too. But I think it's pretty cool how you managed to win her over."
I shrug. "I just thought about what would be special and match her interests. It wasn't guaranteed to work, of course, but I figured it would be easier for us if we had something to do."
"Seems to be working well. She's already invited you back again."
"She has." And I'm pretty proud of that.
"Cool. But we'll see each other before that too, right?"
"Hmm, maybe."
He kisses me. "Maybe?"
"I think my tires need to be changed."
Laughing, he nods. "Okay, bring the car by then."
"Tomorrow? During lunch break?"
"Perfect."
I sit up, wrapping my arms around his neck. "So is this now really official?"
"Really official?" he asks, amused.
"Well, do you want to be my boyfriend?" I laugh, but I'm also a bit nervous.
"I'm definitely checking Yes on that one."
And then I get a kiss with so much feeling that it's clear to me this is really official.
Exactly how I like it. How I really like it.