I glanced over at Jade, the sun filtering through the window behind her, making her brown hair shine with hints of gold. We’d stayed up late last night—as well as the one before—but this morning, she’d gotten up with Aria rather than sleeping in. My being home had thrown her off her schedule, even though her little tyke never veered from hers, so I decided to let her sleep a while longer.
After rummaging through the dresser in Aria’s room, I managed to find a bathing suit and hoped it fit her. I told her to put it on while I changed in my room, and then I’d be back to get her so we could go see the waves. That made her baby blues shine like the rarest sapphire, which acted like a defibrillator to my chest, accelerating the natural beat of my heart. Then I wrote a note for Jade, informing her where we’d be in case she woke up before we came back, and stuck it to the fridge, right next to our roommate agreement that seemed to be growing by the day. I couldn’t help but smile at what she’d added after lunch today: Hotdogs must be cut into slices, then quartered, NOT put on a bun whole with condiments. In my defense, she was the one who’d bought the buns, so I hadn’t thought anything of it.
Once I’d gotten myself ready, I went back down the hall to check on the princess. True to her promise, she sat on the edge of her bed, dressed in her ruffled suit. “Are you supposed to wear a diaper with this thing?” I asked gently, having no idea what the protocol was for this. She simply nodded with expressive eyes, so I didn’t argue. “I guess that’ll keep you from shitting in the ocean.”
She giggled, the kind that made her squeeze her eyes closed, cover her mouth with her tiny fingers, curl her shoulders in, and hunch forward, like she’d just heard the funniest thing in her very young life.
Then I realized what I’d said. “Don’t tell your mommy I said shit. Okay?”
She laughed again, this time harder, and it made me glance over my shoulder to make sure it hadn’t woken Jade. Thankfully, the house was still quiet, so I figured it was safe. I took Aria by the hand, making her arm stretch out so far I worried I’d pull it out of socket—poor girl, she’d probably end up getting her mother’s height. I then silently led her through the house and out the front door, leaving Jade and her purr-like snores on the couch.
Before heading out to the beach, I grabbed the sunblock and floatation device from the bench seat on the front porch, hoping I’d picked out the right thing. While getting the house ready for Jade and her daughter a few weeks ago, I’d anticipated they would want to go swimming, but I wasn’t sure if Aria had water wings, so I’d added that to the list for Marcia to do while I was gone. I’d looked up every option available to mankind in regard to this, and after poring over all the safety stats and reviews, I’d settled on this one.
I had to say, she was one very well-behaved kid. Rather than run toward the surf, she waited for me to spray her down with sunblock, and then stood still while I slid her arms into the holes and fastened the harness around her chest. It was awkward and bulky looking, her arms sticking out to the side, but as long as it kept her afloat, I couldn’t complain. At least she wasn’t griping about it.
Turned out, women had a thing for a man with a kid. I thought I’d gotten enough attention just being by myself, but take my shirt off, splash some water on my chest, and give me a kid, and I turned into the bachelor from that show with twenty-something women fawning over him. It didn’t matter that my ribcage was black and blue and made me look like a piece of evidence from a back-alley fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if that added to the appeal. And no matter how many times I tried to tell them she wasn’t mine, it was like I was ignored.
Granted, most of the women who stopped were older. With their floppy hats and long, cotton sundresses, they paused to tell me what a good father I was. And more than likely, they hadn’t ignored my arguments about her not being mine; they just probably couldn’t hear me without their hearing aids. Others simply liked to coo at Aria and gush about how cute her suit was. So, in reality, they weren’t really hitting on me…but that didn’t mean they didn’t flock to me like a bird to bread.
After half an hour of chasing the waves, digging in the surf, and briefly swimming in the water, we were ready to head back. I figured Jade would be waking up soon, and if not, she’d be pissed at me for letting her sleep so late. Not to mention, Aria would need to be rinsed off from the sunscreen and salt water, and that was out of my jurisdiction.
By the time we made it back to the porch and had her life preserver hung over the railing to dry, my entire right side throbbed, making it difficult to pull in a deep breath without feeling the effects radiate throughout my body. But as soon as we opened the door, everything changed.
“Stevie, I have to let you go. They just walked in. I’ll call you back.” Jade flipped her phone closed, ran to us, and knelt on the floor in front of Aria. Panic consumed her from her constricted pupils to the tremble in her lips, down to the way her hands shook as she inspected her daughter from head to toe.
I figured coming inside, soaking wet, both in bathing suits with sand stuck to our feet would’ve indicated where we’d been, but I guess it didn’t register to a mother overtaken by worry and fright. She’d listened to Aria chatter away about jumping waves and something else I couldn’t understand, before shooing her off to the bathroom down the hall.
Then she turned her heated stare on me.
She was the epitome of a momma bear protecting her cub. Her top lip curled, almost in disgust, but I could tell it was a reaction rooted deep in maternal instincts. I held my breath and waited for the fangs to come out, or the razor-sharp claws ready to slice me open.
“You can’t just take off with her without telling me,” she lectured me in what only could’ve been described as a growl. “And to the beach? Are you kidding me? She’s two, Cash. She can’t swim. I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened out there while I slept, oblivious to it all. Not to mention, you didn’t even put on her sun hat. She’s too little to be in the sun that long. She’ll burn without protection of some sort.”
I was tempted to point out the note I’d left, explaining where we’d be. Or that I’d coated her plenty with sunblock and used water wings. I thought about telling her it had only been thirty minutes. But there was no use. She was right, and I was wrong. I had no authority to take her to the water—or even out of the house without her permission. Note or not. Sunscreen and floatation device or not. Aria wasn’t my kid, and I’d crossed a line.
“I’m sorry,” I said while looking her straight in the eyes, hoping she could see my sincerity.