23
K nox kept his eye on Yasmine as she jumped on the indoor trampoline. They were spending the day doing some of her favorite things. There was a teacher in-service day, so they were starting their weekend off with the trampoline park, and then they were going to get burgers and milkshakes from one of her favorite places. Tomorrow, he was going to take her to Chuck E. Cheese .
Yasmine was jumping around with several other kids. They were playing some game that Knox was sure they made the rules up as they jumped around, laughing.
A woman sat beside him, but Knox didn’t spare her a glance. The flowery scent of her perfume was overpowering. He’d gotten several looks from women when he walked in with Yasmine and a couple from women who walked in after them. He assumed it was one of them, but he wasn’t interested. She could have taken plenty of other seats if she just wanted to sit. So, he figured she’d chosen the one beside him for a reason.
He kept his attention forward, watching his daughter as she shifted and sighed beside him. Knox assumed it was to get his attention and have him start a conversation with her. It wouldn’t work, even if it were just a friendly conversation she was after.
“That’s my son,” she stated, pointing at one of the kids Yasmine was playing with. “Which one is yours?”
Knox pointed in the same direction as her, but he didn’t elaborate on which one was his child. You could never be too careful with people around your kids. For all he knew, that boy might not even be her son, and she was there scoping out which child she wanted to kidnap. It was morbid to think, but he watched far too much news and saw too many stories of people’s children being taken.
“They all seem like they’re having fun,” she stated.
“Yes, they do.”
It was quiet between them, and Knox looked at his watch to check the time. They’d been there for a little over an hour. He would give her ten more minutes, and then they would leave.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like that one football player that played for that team?” she asked.
Knox shook his head, even though he knew she was likely referring to him looking like himself. He saw no reason to give himself away or tell her he used to play.
“I can’t remember his name. My ex-husband was a sports fan and watched the games religiously.”
He decided that not having those ten extra minutes wouldn’t hurt Yasmine, and he stood. He’d only taken two steps when the woman jumped up from her seat.
“I’m Laura, by the way. Maybe we could exchange numbers so our kids could have a playdate.”
“It was nice meeting you, Laura,” Knox responded and continued to get Yasmine. “It’s time to go,” he told her.
“Okay, Daddy,” Yasmine responded, bouncing to the opening.
Once she was out, Knox helped her put her shoes on, and the two exited the building. He ensured she was secure in her booster seat before they pulled out and headed to their next destination.
“Daddy.”
“Yeah, Yas?”
“Can we call Mommy tonight?”
“Of course,” Knox responded.
They’d called Mia last night half an hour before Yasmine went to bed, but she hadn’t answered. By the time she’d called back, two hours had passed, and Yasmine was already asleep. He’d figured they would call her earlier. That way, if she missed it, she would still have time to call back and talk to Yasmine before bedtime, hopefully.
When they made it to the restaurant, Yasmine was excited. They walked in and took the booth they usually did when they were there. It was against a wall with different decorative clocks hanging, and Yasmine liked to change the hands as they ate.
They didn’t have to wait long for their waitress to come over and introduce herself as she set menus on the table in front of them.
“I can order now,” Yasmine told her when she asked if they needed a minute.
The waitress smiled at her. “Okay, go right ahead.”
“I would like the cheeseburger and fries, but no ketchup or onions on it, but two slices of cheese and a peach milkshake.”
“You order very well,” the waitress complimented.
“Thank you,” Yasmine responded, beaming. “And my daddy will have the double bacon cheeseburger with fries, extra bacon on the side, no onions but with ketchup, and mayo with a strawberry milkshake.”
The waitress turned to Knox, and he nodded, confirming what Yasmine ordered, and she laughed.
“I’ll get that right out to you,” she responded before walking away.
“Yas, sweetie, you can order bacon on your burger. You don’t have to order an extra side when you order mine.”
“I know, but that’s how I remember it right now.”
Knox nodded in understanding. When he used to order for her, he’d get an extra side of bacon since sometimes she would want it, and other times she wouldn’t. She’d learned to order their food there by mimicking how he used to.
“Tomorrow, we’re still going to Chuck E. Cheese, right?”
“Yes, we are,” Knox confirmed.
“On Sunday, can we go to the park? We can have Uncle Wolfe, Uncle Ezra, and Uncle Coen come too!”
“I’ll text them and ask.”
Yasmine looked at him expectantly, and Knox chuckled as he pulled his phone out. Bringing up the group chat with the four of them in it.
Knox: Yasmine wants to go to the park on Sunday, and she’s inviting the three of you.
Ezra: What time?
Knox: Let’s say one.
Coen: Sounds good. Might as well make it a picnic.
Ezra: One works for me. Knox, you bring the food. I’ll get the drinks.
Knox rolled his eyes at that text. Of course, they would volunteer him to bring the food, but he didn’t mind. He’d pick up something from a deli.
Wolfe: Let me push back this appointment I have, and I’ll be there.
Knox: If you’re working Wolfe, she’ll understand.
Wolfe: I had a lunch date that I planned on evolving into getting my dick wet. I’ll change it to dinner.
Coen: No one needed to know that.
Wolfe: Shut up, kid.
Knox muted the chat and returned his phone to his pocket before looking up at Yasmine, eagerly awaiting an answer. He wasn’t sure why. It never failed that if his daughter wanted to do something and requested her uncles come, they did. They’d shift things around if they had to. He was the only friend with a child, and he was sure the three liked the idea of being the fun uncle but not having to deal with the things that came with parenthood.
“They’ll be there. Coen suggested we have a picnic.”
“Well, it’s not a good day at the park without one,” Yasmine responded.
She picked up a crayon the waitress brought with the kid’s menu that she could color on and colored in the bird on the sheet. As she did, she asked him when exactly they were going to Disneyland, how long they were staying, and what they would do.
He’d told her he planned on taking her when school was out, but he hadn’t given her an exact date. Knox had decided they would go at the beginning of June, after she’d been out of school for a couple of weeks.
When their food came, Yasmine did a little dance in her seat as it was placed in front of her. She picked up her first fry and dipped it into her milkshake before popping it into her mouth.
Once they finished their food, Knox left money on the bill for their food and a tip for their waitress. They made it home twenty-five minutes later. Once inside the condo, he pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Mia, telling her Yasmine wanted to talk to her.
A couple of minutes later, when Yasmine came bounding down the hall with her shoes off, he video-called Mia and handed the phone to Yasmine as they sat on the couch.
“Hi, Mommy!” Yasmine greeted excitedly when Mia’s face popped up on the screen.
“Hey, Yas. What are you up to?”
Knox picked up the book he’d been reading earlier in the day from the table as the two talked. He wouldn’t put it past Mia to talk down about him to Yasmine if she thought he wasn’t around, so he wasn’t allowing her to speak to her mother outside of his presence for the time being. He assumed she would be happier when she received her settlement when the decree was delivered to them. For now, he would monitor their calls.
A iva loaded some money on the play pass card before handing it to Kaley. They walked to the central area where most games and fun things were. Kaley decided she wanted to go into the ball pit first, so Aiva pointed out the table she would be at and held on to the card until her baby sister was ready to play some games.
She watched her sister jump into the ball pit as she slid into one side of the booth. She’d picked Kaley up that morning, and they were spending the day together. Her youngest brothers decided not to come because they didn’t want to do what Kaley wanted. Aiva was okay with that and had agreed to take them to the go-kart track and comic book cafe the next weekend.
Aiva pulled out her phone so she would have it on hand to take pictures of Kaley while she played. She liked to scrapbook when she could remember to get the photos she’d taken printed, and she always took some of her siblings when they were together, especially, the younger ones.
She’d been sitting there for ten minutes, watching Kaley play with other kids in the balls.
“Hi, Ms. Aiva.”
She turned her attention to look at the little girl who had just skipped to her table.
“Hey, Yasmine,” she returned with a smile. She was about to ask her who she was there with when Knox approached her table. His eyes roamed over her, and she didn’t miss the way he licked his lower lip.
“Hey,” he greeted.
“Hi.” She got the feeling he wanted to say something else but was holding it back because his daughter was present.
“Aiva,” Kaley stated, approaching but stopping to look between Knox and Yasmine.
“Kaley, this is my friend Knox and his daughter Yasmine. This is my little sister Kaley,” she introduced them. Her sister gave them a smile and a wave before turning back to her.
“Can I have my play pass now?”
“Sure, sweetie.” Aiva picked the card up and handed it to her.
“You want to come play with me, Yasmine?” Kaley asked the younger girl.
“Can I, Daddy?”
Knox nodded. “Sure, just stay where I can see you, and don’t lose your card.”
The two girls skipped away, and his attention settled back on her. She gestured for him to take a seat across from her.
“For future reference, we are not friends, but because she’s your little sister, I’m going to let it slide,” he told her with a smirk.
“You’re right. You were my client,” she teased.
“Cute.”
The two sat and talked, getting to know each other more and making general conversation while monitoring both children. Aiva shouldn’t have been surprised by how easily they could flow from one conversation into another.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d dated someone where the conversation had flowed so effortlessly and openly. She’d thought so during their first two dates. It didn’t feel like small talk, and she wasn’t consciously aware they were having get-to-know-you conversations because it felt so natural. Maybe it was because he’d been her client, so they’d gotten acquainted that way. Aiva wasn’t sure, but she liked not having the awkwardness of those conversations.
“Are you busy next Saturday?” Knox asked.
They hadn’t gone out in two weeks. They’d spoken on the phone several times over those weeks, and he would text her in the morning and at night.
“I’m taking my youngest brothers out. What about Friday?”
“Yas and I are having dinner with my parents on Friday.”
She didn’t want to suggest Sunday or a weekday evening because she knew Yasmine would have school the following day.
“If you’re willing to do breakfast or lunch, I’m free for breakfast on Wednesday morning and lunch on Sunday. That way, you’re not away from Yasmine on a night she has to get up for school the next day.”
Knox smiled at her as he picked her hand up from the table. “We can do both if that works for you.”
“It does,” Aiva responded.
“Excuse me?”
Aiva turned her attention to a woman who’d just stopped at their table. Her little sister and Yasmine were standing beside her.
“Is this your child?” the woman asked, pointing to Kaley.
“Yes,” Aiva answered, deciding to keep it simple. “Did something happen?”
“Your child pushed my son. He fell and hurt himself, and now he’s in tears.”
Aiva looked from the woman to her little sister, then back again. “Well, what did he do?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“She will not start a fight. But she will defend herself and end one. So, if she pushed your son, he provoked her.”
“How dare you? My boy would never—”
“He was pulling my hair,” Yasmine stated, cutting the woman off, and Knox held his arms out to check her.
“I told him to stop, and when he didn’t, I made him,” Kaley added. “And I didn’t push him, lady. I punched him.”
“There you have it,” Aiva responded. “She was acting in defense of another.”
“This is unacceptable. I want her punished,” the woman said.
“Do you plan on punishing your son for pulling my daughter’s hair?” Knox asked.
“He wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“But he did pull my hair,” Yasmine countered.
“Children lie,” the woman tried.
Aiva rolled her eyes. She hated parents like this. Those who thought their little demons could do no wrong and would go to bat for them regardless of what had taken place. She could feel Knox getting upset, and the last thing they needed was for this Karen to feel vindicated if he reacted to her words. So, she spoke first.
“How old is your son?” Aiva asked.
“He’s twelve. Why is that relevant?”
Aiva nodded, picked up her phone, and started recording the woman.
“Are you filming me? You don’t have my permission to do that.”
“I don’t need it. New Mexico is a single-party consent state. Now, listen to me closely. Your little brat is going to come over here and give an apology for pulling her hair. Or I will file charges against him for assault on someone half his age. Before you spout some bullshit about him being a minor. I don’t give a damn, and neither do the courts. If it can be proved that he physically tried to hurt her, which he did, I will have his little ass charged. And before you try to come back with the fact that he was punched, defense of another is a law that dictates a person is justified in using force against another to protect a third party.”
The woman stood there like a deer caught in headlights. Aiva was sure it was the first time someone called her out about her child’s behavior. Or maybe it was the first time she was noting what was being said. Either way, Aiva didn’t care. The little boy was going to apologize to Yasmine, and if he didn’t, she would make them both wish he had. Would she have him charged? Maybe. Would she get someone she knew to take papers and serve them even if they hadn’t been filed to scare the shit out of them? Absolutely.
“Go get your son before I make you famous,” Aiva instructed, and the woman turned on her heels and scuttled off. Kaley climbed into Aiva’s lap as she stopped the recording. “I apologize for cursing in front of Yasmine,” she told Knox.
She wasn’t too worried about cursing in front of Kaley. While she tried not to do it, she knew her little sister heard it often between her mother and their sperm donor and probably a few of their other siblings.
Knox shook his head. “It’s fine, but I am constantly in awe of you.”
“Well, let me continue doing whatever makes you feel that way,” she responded.
“Aiva, Yasmine wants to come to the movies with us. I invited her,” Kaley stated, picking up her phone.
“Kaley, I’ve told you about making plans with other kids before asking their parents.”
“But you said you two were friends, so I thought it would be okay.”
Aiva turned her attention to Knox. “You want to sit through a Pixar movie with us?”
“If you’re sure it isn’t an imposition.”
She waved him off. “It isn’t. Kaley just has to remember that children can’t make their own decisions and need permission from their parents.”
“Excuse me.”
Aiva turned her attention to the little boy who had just approached their table. She could see a bruise forming around his eye and assumed it was where her little sister had hit him.
“I wanted to apologize for pulling her hair.”
“Yasmine, do you accept his apology?” Aiva asked.
The five-year-old shrugged. “I guess so.”
“You should keep your hands to yourself next time, because something more embarrassing than being punched in the face by a nine-year-old girl could happen to you,” Kaley stated.
Aiva sucked her cheeks in to keep from laughing. Kaley was serious with her comment, and she could tell the boy was embarrassed at being punched by someone younger than him.
“We have to leave,” Kaley stated, holding up Aiva’s phone for her to see the time after the boy walked off. “Our movie starts in forty minutes.”
“We’ve got time. It isn’t that far of a drive,” Aiva responded.
Kaley slid off her lap, and Aiva grabbed her purse, took the phone her sister was handing her, and the four of them left the building. Once in the car, they headed toward the theater, with Knox and Yasmine following them. She hadn’t expected her day out with her little sister to turn into a playdate between her and Yasmine, but it was what happened, and Aiva didn’t mind that.