“Yeah. Hurry up and finish that then.” She grinned and quickly shovelled more in her mouth.
Oakley worked at The Centre three days a week, and I worked there Monday to Thursday and Saturday mornings. On a Friday, I had Everleigh while Oakley worked one of her days. They would never trust their daughter with anyone other than Cole’s parents, Mum and Miles, me and Abby, and Mia.
“Everleigh, don’t ever take anyone back that betrays you.”
She frowned again, deeper, but replied, “Okay, Uncle Jasper.”
I loved how she just responded as if she had a clue what I was going on about.
“Are you and Auntie Abby still loving each other?”
I gulped down sand. “Yes, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out. It’s okay because Uncle Jasper and Auntie Abby will be happy again – just not together.”
I wanted to exclude myself from that. I didn’t want a life and happiness with someone, anyone else but I didn’t want to tell Everleigh that. She still deserved to believe in happy-ever-after.
“So you won’t be married anymore?”
“No, sweetheart. We’re going to get a divorce and not be married.”
“Oh. Who will you marry now?”
I laughed at her thinking. As if every grown up had to be married.
“No one for a little while.”
She bit her lip, trying to make sense of what I’d told her.
“It’s okay. I’m happy hanging out with you for now.”
“I’ll help you find a new princess, Uncle Jasper.”
I ruffled her hair, earning a breath-taking smile.
“Thanks, kiddo. Hey, what do you want to do after we go see Mummy?” I asked her, draining the last of my coffee.
“Um.” She sucked her lips in as she thought. “Disneyland!”
“We’ll need more time than just today for that.”
“Um,” she hummed, thinking again. “I don’t know. What do you want to do, Uncle Jasper?”
“Egg my house.” Abby’s house. My old house. Not ours anymore . I sighed and clenched my fists. She was living there until it sold. I wanted it gone as soon as possible, so I had no link to her at all. The divorce couldn’t come soon enough. I needed to move on, but all this house stuff, dividing shit up, and the legal end of our marriage was making that impossible.
“What’s that? Egging?”
“It’s when you throw eggs at someone’s house. Probably not the best thing to teach you though.”
Everleigh burst into a fit of giggles. “I want to do that,” she announced and laughed again.
“Alright. We will.” Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. “Come on.”
I got up and held her hands as she jumped down from the stool. She gripped my hand in her own tiny one as we walked to my car.
“When we do this you have to throw and then run really fast, okay?”
Why am I doing this? Because I was hurt and angry, and I couldn’t get drunk when I had Everleigh, so something childish and petty seemed like the next best thing.
She nodded her head rather enthusiastically, her hair flying all over the place.
“I can run faster than Daddy,” she boasted, her eyes widening in pride. Because Daddy lets you win.
“Wow, that is fast!” She grinned, proud of herself. “Now, we’re not allowed to tell Mummy or Daddy that we’ve egged the house, alright?”
“I know.” She would tell them; she could never keep anything in. I was thankful for that even though it got me into a lot of trouble. “Uncle Jasper?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you still love Auntie Abby?”
I felt like someone had stabbed me through the chest. “Yeah, I do.”
“But she’s a hos now.”
Fuck.
“Are you going to marry someone else soon?” she asked, still not grasping the fact that you didn’t have to be married.
“No. I’m done with relationships now. From now on I’m gonna do whatever I want.”
“Oh,” she replied, frowning in confusion again. “Mummy and Daddy got married, didn’t they?”
“Yep, but they’ll last forever.”
“Like Cinderella and Prince Charming?”
“Exactly like them,” I confirmed, and opened the car to put her in her seat. She sat down and held her arms up while I buckled her in. “Right, let’s go egging, then to see Mummy.”
Everleigh swung her legs, hitting them against the seat. “Yeah!”
“This is naughty, isn’t it?” Everleigh asked as we stood in front of my house holding two eggs each.
“It’s an okay naughty. This is my house, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“And I want to throw eggs at it so we can.” I then realised I’d pretty much given her permission to do whatever the hell she wanted with her own things. “But only adults are allowed to do things like this.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re bigger and we pay for it.”
“Oh,” she replied and nodded as if it was perfectly acceptable.
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah!” she cheered.
“Alright. On three.”