Chapter 9
He’d been picking up Harri for a month now.
And other than the one thing, he’d been doing well.
There had been no more meltdowns, and he wasn’t even going to take the blame for that one.
It had been totally on the school, and that’s the way he was going to tell people if asked.
They shouldn’t mess with a four-year-old’s schedule like they had.
The school signups for soccer had been set up for Tuesday.
That didn’t do anything to their schedule as Harri was deemed to be too young to play for the teams. All her grades had been thought to be too young, and it was offered to all the five-year-olds and up.
That suited everyone just fine, as it wouldn’t be something that they’d have to make special arrangements for.
Then on Tuesday morning, not only did they open it to four-year-olds, but they made the announcement over the loudspeaker to just add to the chaos.
Every kid now old enough was supposed to just suddenly have the money for the games, but also have their parents—of which he was not—to sign them up during lunch time at the school.
He sort of had a little meltdown himself when Anna called him to tell him what was going on.
It took him several calls and all of his lunch break to go to the school and convince them to allow Harri to play with the other kids, even though he wasn’t her relative.
He finally had to call his own dad to have him make a few calls to make sure they understood that even though he was only her stepfather, in name only, he was allowed to sign her up and pay the fees.
He thought for sure they were going to have him arrested when he started talking to them about ruining a perfectly good day for the kids by announcing it over the loudspeaker that they could now play.
Not to mention only giving them that single day to sign up.
How were parents supposed to get to the school by lunch, pay the fees, and head back to their jobs in less time than he had for his lunch?
But he was Harri and Annas hero for the day, and he couldn’t have felt better himself if he’d been on a white horse with a blade in his hand.
Now, here it was about a month later, and he was still riding high on his good deed.
Then he found out that Harri was spending the night at his mom’s house.
Talk about a meltdown, he thought. Anna was about as close to tears as he’d been when Harri had asked him if he was going to be her dad.
Kids really could get you in the feels at the worst possible time.
When he picked up Harri after school, he’d been going to his mom’s house.
Dad and Mom seemed to enjoy having her over, and it afforded him time to see them interacting together.
His mom had such a good time when Harri was over that he wanted to go out and adopt twenty children just so she could spread her love out to all of them.
And dad acted like he had invented grandkids; he was having so much fun.
The four of them had been doing things around the house, and Mom had allowed Harri to pick out her own room in the house so that when she did come to stay with her, she could have some of her own things around.
He thought in the future, not right away, like it was happening.
Not that he thought that his parents wouldn’t do a good job with Harri.
They had raised them when they’d been four.
But she was his little girl, and he didn’t want to part with her.
It had been okay when he dropped her off at her house with her mom, but to leave her behind with his parents was going to cause him anxiety.
She was going to be staying from Friday evening when she got there from school until dinner time on Saturday evening when they all showed up for dinner.
Nearly twenty-four whole hours. He had to pause what he was doing so that he could catch his breath.
Putting his head between his knees was his next step, and he couldn’t believe he was getting this worked up over a stayover at his parents’ home.
“What’s the matter with you?” He told Anna what was going on, and she tsked at him.
“I’m her mother, and I’m not getting as worked up as you are.
Something must be wrong with you to be acting like it’s the end of the world.
I’m not crying right now, and you shouldn’t be doing whatever it is that you’re doing. You’re not helping me.”
“I’m sorry. But I’ve never had to leave her before.” She said he should have seen her when she dropped Harri off at preschool the first few times. “I bet you were a mess. I don’t know how you’ve done it this long.”
“She’s growing up. And as much as I hate to admit it, she’s taking this a good deal better than we are.
” That was true. She’d packed her little overnight case so that he could bring it to her after school.
“I checked her bag for her, and the only thing she forgot was slippers. I’m very proud of her right now.
” Then she burst into tears. “I don’t want her to grow up, damn it.
She’s too little to be wanting to stay someplace overnight. ”
“Not really.” He got glared at. “But really, she’s going to be staying with grandma more and more often, so we’re going to have to get used to her not being around us all the time.
I can barely drop her off at her own house, and you’re there.
What am I supposed to do when I take her to my mom’s and leave her?
I’m not cut out to be a father. I want her all for ourselves. ”
“That’s good though, right? It means that we love her a great deal.
” Anna looked at him with pleading in her eyes, and he agreed with her.
“Look at us. We’re a mess. And it’s only Friday afternoon.
You’ll pick her up, take her to your mom’s, and I’ll be there when I get things finished up here.
We have to be brave about this because if she thinks that she’s upsetting us, she won’t stay, and that won’t be good for any of us.
Especially not your mom. She’s looking forward to this as much as Harri is. ”
“I think my mom will understand.” Anna shook her head and said that they weren’t going to say a word about how upset they were.
“You’re right. If Harri thinks that we’re not all right with this, she’ll never stay with someone again.
And while that does have its merits, I don’t want to scar her for the rest of her life. ”
“What if I told you that I had plans for us?” He said they’d have to be good plans.
“They are. I want to jump your bones on Friday night. I know that we’ve been getting close with you staying over and all, but I thought that with Harri gone for the evening, we could have some fun too.
We could console one another, too, while we’re at it. ”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to pressure you into anything.” She promised him that she knew what she was doing. “Yes, I think I can leave her behind if I know that you’re going to be mine. But I don’t want to rush you into anything.”
“It’s my idea. So how is that you rushing me?
Besides, we’ve been together for about two months now, and I feel like it’s the next step.
I want you. However, I want you to know that I’ve not had sex in over five years, so keep that in mind when you make love to me.
There’s been no one since Harry.” He told her that he was honored that she was ready for him.
“I don’t know that I’m fully ready for anyone.
Like I said, it’s been years since I’ve had sex.
But I do want you in my bed and in my life.
And the sooner that we get married, for Harri, I think things will go better for her as well.
She’s asking if you’re going to be her daddy, and I don’t know what to say to her other than we’re working on that. Are we? Working on that, I mean?”
“I have a ring for you.” He pulled it out of his pants pocket and handed the box to her.
“My Great Aunt on my mother’s side left it for me.
Well, she left it for the second born to my mom.
I think she thought I would be a girl. Anyway, it’s beautiful, but if you don’t like it, we can get you anything else you’d like.
” She handed the box back to him, and his heart did a little hiccup.
“You have to do it right.” He got down on his knee and took her hand into his. “I don’t want a wedding. I had one of those, and I didn’t care for all the stress that went with it. Just let us get married at the justice of the peace, and that’ll be all that I need. All right?”
“Whatever you wish.” He kissed the finger that he was going to put the ring on and pulled the ring out of the box.
“I hope this fits. It’s not really all that big.
But here we go. Anna Gibson, mother of my daughter to be and love of my life, will you make me the happiest man on earth by consenting to marry me?
I will take care of you and Harri and any other children that we have for the rest of my days and pamper you in all ways that you need. ”
“Yes. I will if you would allow me to have your children and not treat my daughter like she’s any different than any other children that we might have.” He told her that it was easy. “Good. Then yes, I’ll marry you.”
Since she had the day off, they decided not to change their schedule. She’d gotten someone to trade with her today so that she could get some things done around the house. He’d been taking up most of the weekend, just hanging out with the two of them, and had been in the way of weekend chores.