Page 68 of A Little Naughty

Nikki is in her bed with her eyes on her phone, and she’s wearing headphones. I wave before sitting on the bedside, and she pulls the headphones off, studying me curiously.

“Hey, can you talk a minute?” My voice is quiet, but she nods. “So, remember Raif? The guy you met before school that day?”

“The one with the dirty hands?”

I frown, then I remember. “Oh, yeah.” I kind of forgot about that. “What do you think about him?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, sitting up straighter in her sea-green pajamas. “He has nice eyes.”

“How would you feel if he came here to live with us?”

She looks around the small space. “Where would he sleep?”

Hesitating, I think about her question. I don’t know if anyone would ask her about this in court, but I decide it’s better to be safe. “We’re getting married, so he’d sleep in my bed.”

Her eyes widen. “Are you pregnant?”

“No, no…” I exhale a laugh, shaking my head. “No. I amnotpregnant.”

She blinks down to her lap, and I can’t tell what she’s thinking. I want her to be happy, but maybe she’s worried I’ll abandon her for him? But how can I let her know this is all for her without saying it straight out? Chewing the side of my finger, I try to think of something.

Her light-brown eyes lift to mine. “Does he like children?”

“Yes!” I catch her hands in both of mine. “He knows all about you, and he’s totally fine with children. I have an idea. Why don’t I text him, and we can meet up for slushies at the Pak-n-Save. Then you can really talk, not like on the street on the way to school.”

“I like slushies.”

I slide a dark brown curl behind her ear. “Trust me, you’ll like him a lot. Nothing’s going to change.”

“It’ll change some. We’ll have a boy in the house.”

“But it’s only our special family getting bigger.”

“The one that gets us through the hard times?”

“Right.” I boop her nose, then I point to her screen. “SpongeBob?”

She nods, and I give her a side hug. “Just one more episode then get some sleep, okay?”

I’m not sure I’ve convinced her, but I’m feeling optimistic about our arrangement. Having Raif here will be a good thing, not only in my adoption efforts, but also to keep away any unwanted visitors.

When I get to the bottom of the stairs, I check the lock on the back door. It’s securely in place, and when I turn, I let out a little yip.

Monay towers over me in the kitchen, arms crossed and frowning. “I heard all of that. Are you pregnant for real?”

“No!” I exhale a laugh, shaking my head as I catch her arm, pulling her into the living room where Nikki is less likely to overhear us. I know her headphones are on, but I’m not taking any chances.

Monay lifts her arm out of my grip when we reach the sofa. “Then why are you marrying a man you’ve known, what? Three months?”

“I’m doing it for the adoption. I did some research after I talked to Aiden, just to find out how long it could take and how to speed things up. It said single people can adopt, but it sounded very hard. A lot more hoops to jump through. Raif is willing to help us, and he knows it’s only for the adoption.”

“Will it help if everyone knows it’s only for the adoption?”

“You’re right.” I pace the living room, thinking. “I was going to tell Cass and Piper and Britt, but if Britt knows, she’ll have to tell Aiden. I don’t know if that will have to go into his report.”

“He’s writing a report?”

“He offered to do my background check and my home visit. As sheriff he can do that for me to speed up the process.”

---