Page 120 of Finding Our Reality

“Mommy didn’t buy it. Uncle Ry did. Mommy helped me make the card. She put the glue on the paper and I did the glitter.” She gives me a knowing look, “I could’ve done it myself, but I didn’t wanna hurt her feelings.”

I steal a glance at Ry. “You enjoy shopping for dolls?”

He shrugs. “It wasn’t all that bad.”

Laura pipes up from the back seat. “He threw a football in the store and broke a display of blocks. You’re not supposed to play inside of the store.”

I burst out laughing. Ry looks at his niece in the rearview mirror. “Snitch,” he snarls.

“Miss Lulu? You really have a big house like this?”

“I do. It was my parents’ house. I grew up there.”

She pushes her glasses up on her nose. “But I thought you lived at Uncle Ry’s now?”

I open my mouth. I’m not exactly sure how to respond to that. Laura is going to stay the night at Ry’s house tonight, and we haven’t decided exactly what to do. Last time Laura wasthere, Ry slept on the couch. “Well, uhh... what makes you say that?”

Smirking, she folds her arms across her chest. “I’m six. I’m not stupid.” Smiling proudly, she ticks off the evidence on her tiny fingers. “I saw your makeup in the bathroom, I saw your clothes in the laundry basket, and I saw your flip flops on the patio by the firepit.” Her eyes immediately light up. “Hey! Can we sit by the firepit tonight?”

Ry answers, “We’ll see. I guess I should start calling you Little Detective instead of Little Girl, huh?”

I grab the water bottle from the console and take a sip. “Well, that was certainly impressive. She’s observant.” I give him a teasing smile, “Gunning for your job one day?”

He holds out his hand for the bottle and takes a drink after me. “Sounds like she’s going after both of our jobs.” He hands the water back to me and turns up the volume on the stereo a notch so Laura can’t eavesdrop as easy. “By the way, I spoke to Brooke. I let her know the status of our relationship. She’s completely fine with us sharing our bed as normal tonight. She trusts us. And she trusts us with Laura.”

I inhale so deeply my ribcage hurts. “And what’s the status of our relationship?”

“We’re in it, Lulu. There’s no point in hiding our involvement from Laura. In fact, I think it will do her some good to see adults engaged in a healthy, caring relationship.” He turns into the driveway and throws the truck into park. His hand covers mine. “There’s no running away anymore. For either of us. You’re mine.”

I lean forward, eager to taste his lips on mine.

“What are we waiting for?” Laura whispers, looking from Ry to me. She’s escaped her seat belt and pushed her way onto the middle console between the two of us.

For once, Ry’s the one rolling his eyes. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

We walk around the back gate where everybody is already by the pool. You can tell Laura is just a little bit nervous to see so many people. She takes a step closer to Ry’s leg.

Anna runs across to meet us. “Hi!”

Ry guides Laura forward with a soft hand on her shoulder.

She immediately sticks her hand in front of her, introducing herself. “Hello, I’m Laura Margaret Crutchfield.”

The formality doesn’t faze Anna one bit. She grins, shaking Laura’s hand. “Hi, I’m Anna Ruth Beachum. Thank you for coming to my birthday party.”

“Here, I made you a card.”

Anna studies the card. “Ohh, it’s so pretty. I love the glitter. I have a bulletin board in my room. I can hang it on that.” Anna holds the card out to me. “Look at it, Smelly Ellie. Isn’t it beautiful?”

I nod. “It’s very beautiful.”

“Smelly Ellie? That’s a funny name. Does Miss Lulu fart a lot?”

“Laura!” My yell is louder than I intend for it to be.

Ry’s laughing so damn hard I think about knocking him into the pool.

Our reaction makes the girls giggle uncontrollably. “No, I just started calling her that when I was really little because it rhymed.”

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