43. Chapter 42
Carter
I t was one of those mornings when Siobhan had to go to set super early. Most days, I didn’t mind helping with getting Stephanie to school, but today I wanted to talk to her about something, and I was tied up in knots.
I banged on Stephanie’s door, and I continued until she opened it. I learned from having Natalie as a sister, you don't ever intrude upon a lady while she’s sleeping, and it’s much more polite to just bang the shit out of the door.
Stephanie was clearly bleary-eyed, and her hair was going in a thousand directions, letting me know she was still tossing and turning in her sleep even though the nightmares seemed to have stopped. The little one croaked out, “I’m up.”
I nodded since she was up on her feet and at the door. Per usual, I would make her breakfast as she got dressed. “Cereal, avocado toast, eggs, or something else?”
If Suzuki found out I would be making a basic meal to accompany one of the most important talks of my life, he would give me so much shit. But there was no way I could make pancakes, waffles, or anything fancy. Hell, I would probably burn the scrambled eggs.
“Avocado toast," Stephanie mumbled.
Oh, thank god, that was something I could make well. It was my normal breakfast, along with a side or two of Greek yogurt and a protein shake.
“Sounds good. I’ll have it ready while you get dressed.”
I padded my way to the kitchen to make breakfast. I was grateful Stephanie kept it easy because if it wasn’t a meal kit or something super simple, I couldn’t do it.
I topped Stephanie’s avocado toast with some chopped cherry tomatoes while I put some salmon on my own.
I didn’t have much time for our talk, and I didn’t want to wait too much longer. Stephanie needed to get out of her room and eat her breakfast.
She dragged herself to the island and sat down at her plate of green toast.
I forced a smile. There were times when I felt awkward around her on a good day.
She already had a dad, even if he was a shithead who had gotten arrested for trying to kidnap her.
I never wanted her to feel like I was trying to replace him.
I hoped she would understand that even with today’s proposal, that wouldn’t change.
She looked at me with some very judgy eyes. The side eye was strong with her, although today, she just stared at me as she said, “Spit it out.”
I took a bite of my toast to buy myself a few seconds since I had to say everything just right.
I had to give it to her. She had one of the top stare downs I’ve ever seen, and that was even compared to all the guys that I faced off against every day.
It was going to be tough when she was a teenager if she was like this all the time.
I swallowed my toast. “You know how I love your mom?”
She nodded as she bit into her toast.
It was not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I continued, “Would it be okay if I asked her to marry me?”
She shrugged her shoulders. With that reaction, I wasn’t sure if it meant I should propose to Siobhan. At least she wasn’t saying no, but she also wasn’t saying yes either. Why couldn’t this be as easy as when Scuba asked his kid if he could get married to Annie?
After a few more bites, she asked, “Will it change anything? Like, do I have to call you dad? Will we have to move yet again?”
I wanted to shake my head emphatically, but her last question stopped me. Siobhan and I still had our houses, and while we were in Siobhan’s house more, we all still went to my house from time to time.
I sighed. “Well, there’s likely going to be a move in our future.
We don’t need to keep both houses, but that will be something we all decide to do together.
Hell, we might even want to move to a completely different house.
Other than that, not much will change. Your dad is always going to be your dad.
Marrying your mom won’t change that. I’ll be more of a bonus dad.
Just like now, you can call me whatever you like. ”
I did plan to take on a more official dad role, but I didn’t want to push my luck too much. I want to help out with school drop-offs and pick-ups. Hell, I looked forward to the day when I could start to hoot and holler for her when she was at a cheer competition or her graduation.
She nodded and bit her toast. I guess that was the end of the conversation.
We silently ate our breakfast. After I finished, I wiped my mouth and said, “Eat up, we need to get you to school.”
She pushed her plate toward me. One half of her toast was uneaten.
I figured Stephanie was going to remain indifferent to me marrying her mom, so I planned to keep things as normal as possible.
I grabbed her toast and stuffed it into my mouth.
I wasn’t going to let food go to waste, and she just laughed since that happened pretty often.
As she put on her coat and grabbed her backpack, she said, “I guess you can marry Mom.”
I wanted to pump my fist into the sky, but I played it cool by only grabbing my keys and holding the door open for her.