I couldn’t tell if she was teasing or if I’d done something yet again to piss her off. But rather than question her, I took the remaining item from the bag and tossed it at her. “Don’t worry, I got you something, too.”
She caught the oversized T-shirt and held it up to read the front. As soon as her eyes met mine again, I couldn’t help but enjoy the crimson that had taken over her neck and cheeks.
“What? What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
It was a nightshirt that said Just enough to cover my cash and prizes as a play on words. I thought it was fitting.
“What’s there not to love about it?” Her sarcasm was thick, but she couldn’t resist laughing along with me, finally giving in and finding the humor in it. “But seriously, Cash. As much as I appreciate you buying my child panties, it was just a waste of money. She’ll end up peeing all over your house.”
I shrugged, because honestly, I didn’t care. “I have a mop. Give it a try and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work and she’s not learning, then go back to the diapers, and then use the underwear as incentive. Oh, and, Jade?”
She cocked her head to the side and waited for me to continue.
“Two things. One: please don’t ever refer to her underwear as panties again. That’s just disturbing on all levels. In fact, let’s just put that word in the box with the F-bomb and bury it. Okay? And two: I don’t mind mopping up a little piss, but if she shits in her drawers, that’s all on you.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to grab Aria by the arm, mumbling under her breath, “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.” A few minutes later, the tiny dancer came back out in nothing but a long shirt—which was pointless because she kept holding it up so we could all see Barbie on the front of her new undies.
I made a mental note to never buy another pack with cartoons on them again.
Jade headed straight for the kitchen to start making dinner, so I followed her. Our conversation had been interrupted, and then sidetracked, and I needed to know where we stood before going on another minute. After she pulled a bag of vegetables out of the fridge and put them on the counter, I cornered her, just like I had after returning home from the store. I had one hand on the granite beside her, arm stretched out as a barrier to keep her from leaving, and my body naturally leaned toward her, eating up most of our height difference.
“Where’s your head at, Jade?” My low, gravelly tone surprised even me, and it seemed to make Jade’s breathing stop altogether.
“Um…right now it’s on making supper.”
I grabbed her hip, turned her around, and moved to stand in front of her. My free hand fell away from the countertop and held her steady with her back pressed against the rounded edge of the granite. Now, rather than lean toward her, I towered above her, carefully gripping her hips while her warm palms pressed flat against my chest.
Staring into her eyes as if to plead with her to tell me the truth, I tried again. “No, with moving, staying…me. Where’s your head at? What are you thinking? What are you planning to do, or at least leaning toward?”
“Do you need an answer now?” Her question lacked the air it needed to carry the words to my ears.
So I lowered my head and brought my lips to the side of her face and said, “I need something. Anything. It doesn’t have to be a promise. I just need to know what you’re thinking so I can start to prepare myself.”
Her hands fisted the material of my shirt as if to hold me closer. “I’m not going anywhere, Cash. I’ll stay.” Those were the two best words I’d ever heard, powerful enough to almost bring me to my knees.
I let out a sigh of relief and melted into her, but it didn’t last long. Aria’s cries pulled us apart and had us both running around the corner to find two tiny feet spread wide, a puddle on the wood between them.
Not wasting a second, I crouched down in front of her and began to wipe the tears from her bright-red, scrunched face. “It’s okay, Aria. It was just an accident. The next time you feel like you have to pee, tell Mommy and she’ll take you to sit on your potty. That way Barbie won’t get wet.”
Jade came over with the mop, but before she could start to clean it up, I traded Aria for it. The apology written in her stare was enough to make me stop her retreat. She needed to get her daughter changed, but I refused to let her walk away thinking I was bothered by this.
“This is why I told you pant—underwear was a bad idea,” she said under her breath.
I lowered my voice to keep Aria from overhearing. “Stop, Jade. It’s not a bad idea. The more upset you are, the worse she’ll feel. Please don’t make her think I’m mad about this. It’s called an accident for a reason. You’re the mom, so if you choose to put her in a diaper, I’ll back you up. But whatever you do, don’t make that decision because you think I care about a little mess. I don’t give two shits about it.”
She nodded and then led Aria down the hall by her hand while I dried the floor.
To my surprise, Aria came out in another pair of underwear, more subdued than last time, but still showing signs of being happy rather than in tears. Jade joined me in the kitchen and resumed her place in front of the cutting board with a bag of carrots on the counter. We moved in sync around the small space, getting everything ready for her to put in the oven.
I knew the second she noticed our agreement. She’d just put Aria down for the night and came into the kitchen to grab a water. I had no sooner closed the dishwasher when I heard her snicker to herself from behind me. When I turned around, I caught her reading the paper attached to the fridge door.
After dinner, I’d added: No saying the word “panties” beneath her earlier addition of no cursing, and at the bottom, I wrote: Must give Cash proper notice before moving out.
She pointed to the last one and asked, “What’s considered a proper notice? Thirty days? Sixty? I can’t imagine you’d need that much time, but I think that’s the legal eviction period.” She cut her wide eyes to me. “Or so I’ve heard. I’ve never been evicted.”
“Obviously, Jade. That would’ve shown up on your screening.” I leaned against the counter and folded my arms over my chest, my feet crossed at the ankles. “I was going to say three hundred and sixty-five days, but I’ll settle on sixty.”
“A year? You need me to give you a year’s notice before moving out?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her outrage. “You asked what I thought was fair for a proper notice, and in my opinion, that’s fair. But I’m prepared to negotiate here. If you think less makes more sense, then I’m willing to be flexible. I’m a rather understanding guy.”
Without saying anything else, she pulled the pen from the drawer and started marking up the paper. I moved to stand behind her and read from over her shoulder. Just beneath my bullet point about moving out, she added: Twenty-four hours.
“Hey, now. That’s not fair.”