Hearing her little voice while it begs me to never let go, killed. I look over to Megan to see her shake her head, her eyes red with the strength she’s putting out just to keep her tears locked tight.
“Molly, look at me, honey,” I request, feeling her body shake with sobs. “Baby, look at me.”
Her head comes up, brown eyes red rimmed and her nose and cheeks reddened. I reach over, grab a tissue off the side table next to the couch, and help her dry her face. She sniffles a few times and I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. I was just going to go back to my house tonight. I wasn’t leaving you. I’ll never leave you.”
“Wh . . . why can’t you stay?” she demands, her voice shaking with the sadness leftover. “Why can’t you just live here?”
I look back up to Megan, waiting for her help guiding this conversation. With a nod, she sits down next to us, taking my hand in one of hers and placing the other against Molly’s back.
“Little bird, it isn’t that he doesn’t want to stay with us, that’s just a big step that when adults decide to make it, they talk about it first.”
Molly’s eyes look between the two of us a few times and then with all the wisdom of a small child says, “Then talk about it.”
“Uh,” Megan stutters.
“Mommy, do you want Daddy to live with us forever and ever and always?” she asks, Megan, her small voice strong and sure.
Megan looks at me, her eyes wide, and I watch as she has a million emotions filter across her face, until finally settling on love.
“Yeah, little bird, I would love it.”
Molly looks from her mom over to me and smiles a little bigger.
“Daddy, do you want to live with your girls forever and ever and always?”
With nothing left but to accept that a five-year-old has just put two adults in their place, I tighten my hold on Molly, reach out and pull Megan into our embrace and after moving my head close, I tell her without a shadow of doubt, “Yes, baby. I would love nothing more.”
We waited until Molly had gone to bed that night before we finished the conversation. In the end, I moved what I needed and settled into their home. We both decided that selling the only house that Molly has known was a step that would come later, for now, all three of us wanted to be together and together we were.
Now, a month later from when I had originally planned it, I was coming off a shift and meeting Megan with the rest of our friends at Mike’s.
After folding my body into the truck, I was about to call Megan when my phone rang.
“Hey, darlin’,” I answered.
“Hey you. We’re at Mike’s now. Are you on the way?”
“Just left the station. Did Molly do okay tonight when you left her?”
Megan laughs, “Yes, honey. Her fever is gone and she’s jumping around all over the place. I told you the doctor said it was just a little virus and it would run its course.”
“That was five days ago,” I complain. “Five days of her running a fever doesn’t make me happy.”
Megan lets out a small laugh, “You’ll get used to it, Lee. She’s a kid. They sometimes get sick like that.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“All right. Let’s take the over-protective mode down a few degrees. She’s fine and need I remind you that she’s with your parents? Parents that have raised a son perfectly, I might add.”
“My mom let me wear her heels, baby. I’m not sure we can say perfectly.”
Megan laughs and I hear the noise of Mike’s start getting louder.
“You going in now?” I ask.
“Yeah, I think everyone else is here. Cohen and Dani are waiting by the door for me.”
My chest swells when I think about all of our friends being there for this. It wasn’t hard, talking everyone in to my plans. Hell, they didn’t need a bit of urging. When I mentioned the ring, the girls would never have been able to stay away. The guys don’t care about that like the girls, but I know my friends are just happy that Megan and I have found this together.
“Right, darlin’. Go inside and grab a drink. I’ll be there soon.”
I get her sweet voice telling me she loves me and any nerves that I had earlier evaporated instantly.
It’s time to go get the girl.
The bar is crowded when I walk in. I look over to our usual corner and see that Dani had followed through, making sure that Megan was in the chair with her back to the stage. Nate and Cohen see me the second I walk in, clearly being tasked with lookout duty. I watch as dumb and dumber smile huge. Cohen knocks his knee over and it hits Dani, who snaps her head up and looks toward the door. Her eyes connect with mine and I watch as they start to get misty.
Jesus, that girl.