"Nice to meet you as well. This is my fiancée, Sarah Erickson," he introduces us while curling me tight against his side.
"Well, you two can come on back. I have a couple of forms for you to sign. Then I’ll take you to meet Liv."
"Can I see her first?" Leo asks, surprising me. "Yeah, I’d really just like to meet her now. Please," he rushes out.
"Um. Sure. Right this way."
Leo takes in a deep breath and pauses for only a second before grabbing my hand and following her down the long hallway. When we reach the door to a conference room, Suzanne gives us one last glance before swinging the door open and walking in ahead of us.
"Hey, Liv," she greets a gorgeous little girl with dark-brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes I would recognize anywhere.
"Hi," she responds quietly as her eyes flip to Leo then to me.
I feel Leo’s entire body tense at my side as he squeezes my hand painfully hard. I try to nudge him to get him to say something, but when I look up, I know not a single word is going to come from his mouth. It’s all he can do to fight back the tears that are sparkling in his eyes.
"Hi, Liv. My name’s Sarah, and this is your dad, Leo." I yank on his hand and he finally manages a smile and wave.
She nods as her eyes flash back and forth between Leo and the social worker, rarely landing on me.
"So. Mr. James. How about that paperwork now?" Suzanne interrupts when Leo fails to utter a single syllable.
"Yeah," he says quickly, offering Liv a tight smile before exiting from the room.
"I’ll be right back," I tell the obviously uncomfortable little girl before following Leo out the door. I find him leaning against the wall with his head in his hands. "You okay?" I ask, rubbing a hand up his back.
"I always thought she would look like Amy. I know it’s stupid. I’m her dad, but it never really occurred to me how much she would look like my family. This is just so fucking surreal." He scrubs his hands over his face.
"Okay. I need you to put on your big-boy pants for just a minute," I say teasingly, and he gives me an unamused glare. "She’s scared, Leo. She’s about to leave with two people she doesn’t know from Adam. I know this is emotional for you, and we can hash all of that out later tonight. For now, I need you to pack it down."
"Shit. You’re right. I know. I’ll do better." He sighs, running a rough hand through his hair.
"I have no doubt that you will." I pat his chest. "Oh, and stop cussing." I stand on my tiptoes and give him a brief kiss before heading back into the conference room.
I move around the table and sit down in the chair next to the frightened girl. Jesus, Leo isn’t wrong. She looks just like him.
"So how old are you, Liv?" I ask, propping my purse on the table between us.
"Five," she answers, looking down at her lap.
"Wow. I thought you were at least twenty," I say seriously, and her eyes pop to mine—a small smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.
"Are you his wife?" she asks quietly.
"Not yet. We’re engaged though. So I’ll be his wife soon."
"Oh. Okay." She looks back down at her lap.
"What’s your middle name, Liv?" I try to keep her talking.
"Kaitlin," she responds but gives me nothing else.
"Really? Mine’s Kate. That’s kinda close."
She once again looks up at me, but her expression is timid.
"Let’s see what else we have in common. What’s your favorite color?"
"Purple."
"Mine’s baby blue," I respond, and I can see her trying to hide a smile.
"That’s a boy color." A full-blown smile creeps across her face and it renders me speechless. Definitely Leo’s child. Unexpected emotions begin to manifest in my chest as tears leak from my eyes.
"No, it’s not," I laugh and begin digging through my purse to keep her from seeing my eyes.
"Yes, it is." She lets out a small giggle before going quiet again.
"Hey, you like makeup?" I ask when I run across my compact at the bottom of my purse. I look up to catch her nodding quickly. It’s so freaking cute that it makes me laugh. "Okay, then. How about I give you a little makeover? Don’t tell your dad I’m letting you wear makeup though. Just a little secret between us girls, okay?"
"Okay," she whispers, and it seems whatever headway I made with the makeup has been quickly erased at the mere mention of Leo.
For the next few minutes, she sits while I apply a very thin layer of makeup. Most of the time, I just use the brush without any color on it, but she doesn’t need to know that. Finally, I let her pick between my three lip glosses, and of course she choses the bright red that is sure to earn us a few looks as we walk out of here. As a show of solidarity, I apply some too even thought it completely clashes with my pink top.
Just as we are finishing up, Leo comes walking back in carrying a plastic bag. I give him a questioning look and he only shrugs before aiming his attention back on Liv.
"Wow. Um. You look beautiful," he tells her, barely containing his laugh.