Page 113 of The Bonus

She’s all crumpled and sleepy, the cutest thing I ever saw in her little pink pajamas.

“How did you sleep?” I ask her as she walks in.

“Good.” She stands beside me. “How did you sleep?”

“I’ve had better nights.” I shrug.

She puts her little hand on my kneecap as we talk and oh… This day is perfect already.

“Where is your mom?”

“Downstairs.” We sit for a moment in silence. “Shall we go see Momma?” she eventually asks. “She likes to hug me good morning.”

“I bet she does.” I smile, damn if she isn’t the sweetest. “Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you down there.”

She looks me up and down. “But you’re already dressed.”

The truth is that I don’t want to face Grace yet, I’m stalling. This walk of shame is particularly rough. I glance down at myself as I search for an excuse not to come now. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh.” She looks at me. “To do a poo?”

What the fuck?

“I don’t think that’s something you should say to someone.”

“A wee, then?”

“Let’s not talk about bodily functions, shall we?” I frown.

“A bodily what?”

Jeez-uz.

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” I say, a little sterner.

“Okay.” With her little hand still on my knee, she smiles up at me as if waiting for me to say something.

“Okay…” I widen my eyes at her. What is she waiting for, am I supposed to say something here?

“Okay.” She keeps staring up at me all doe-eyed and it dawns on me, she’s as unsure what to do now as I am.

“I’m glad I met you,” I tell her.

Happiness beams from her smile, and just for a moment I feel my heart leave my chest. I push the hair back from her forehead as I stare at her beautiful little face. “You’re a lot like your mom.”

She gives a nervous little chuckle. “You look like Dom.”

My heart sinks. “Where is he?”

“Still sleeping.”

Hmm… Suddenly, I want to get downstairs quickly, I want to be down there before him. “Okay, run along and I’ll see you downstairs.”

She skips out of the room, and I watch her disappear as I smile after her. That was the best wake-up visit of all time.

I go to the bathroom and wash my face and with trepidation slowly walk down the stairs. I can hear Grace and Lucia talking and I stop midway up to listen to what they are saying.

“Where’s Dom?” Grace asks.

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