Page 59 of Undeniable You

“I’m so glad I met you, Jo.”

“I’m so glad I met you, too.” She kissed the side of my head and I closed my eyes, just breathing her in. I was in Larison’s arms and everything was right with the world.

“Jo Jo!”

My first thought was that I was being attacked. That was partially true as I opened my eyes and found Juniper peering down at me.

“Hey, Juniper,” I croaked. The room was barely light. It had to be early as hell.

“I should have warned you,” a rough voice said beside me. I turned to find Larison smiling at me, her eyes a little puffy and her hair everywhere.

I completely lost my train of thought.

“Hi,” I said after a few seconds of silence.

“Good morning,” she said with a smile.

Juniper climbed onto the bed between us and flopped down on top of the blankets.

“Jo Jo, you promised to have a sleepover withme,” Juniper said, nearly kicking me in the stomach as she tried to get comfortable. I managed to dodge her at the last second.

“I know I did. And I will. Tonight wasn’t on purpose,” I said, looking at Larison. We’d been so tired last night that we hadn’t even discussed what would happen in the morning.

I’d let her lead.

Juniper pouted and I looked at Larison, but she was staring at her daughter.

“Hey, Juniper. How would you like it if Jo stayed with us at night sometimes? She’s going to sleep in my bed, but we can definitely have a sleepover in the living room with you soon. What do you think?”

Okay, we were doing this. Right now. Without planning it.

Juniper looked from me to Larison. I had no idea how this was going to go. Kids could be unpredictable.

“I’d really like to stay with both of you more often, if that’s okay with you,” I said.

Juniper did that thing where she pretended to think, scrunching her face all up and tapping her chin. This kid.

“Oh, you’re really leaving me in suspense now,” I said, and then she grinned and flopped on top of me, her face inches away from mine.

“You can stay, Jo Jo. It’s okay with me.”

Phew. What a relief.

It was early as fuck,but Juniper was awake and hungry. The three of us laid in bed for a little while, but soon she was pestering us to get up.

“Welcome to my world,” Larison said when I groaned as I stood up.

“I’ll just have to get used to it,” I said, my voice still rough from sleep. Larison pushed me toward the bathroom and said she’d make coffee.

I threw cold water on my face and put my hair up before joining them in the kitchen. Larison was mixing something in a bowl as Juniper hopped around with too much energy.

“Jo Jo! Can you take me to the beach? Please?” She clasped her hands in front of her and looked up at me with big, pleading eyes. She really knew how to get her way sometimes.

I glanced at Larison.

“We can go to the beach today,” she said, nodding as she whisked pancake batter together.

“I’ll have to go home and get a few things, but you can come with me, okay?” Juniper had never seen my place, but she probably should get comfortable. There was a chance that she’d be staying with me at some point.

---