Page 107 of Beneficial Misfortune

A note shouldn’t be able to make me feel like this, yet despite the thought, I can’t argue the fact that my face is beet red right now, and my cheeks are seconds away from a cramp with how wide I’m smiling.

Asshole just had to sign it like that, didn’t he? As if him using that awful nickname wasn’t bad enough.

Ruby perks up, his ear twitching before he stands up and disappears back toward the stairs, and that’s all the warning I get before Addison flies into the room. Her hair is wild, falling in her face and blinding her, but she doesn’t seem to even notice as she continues toward me at speeds that are kind of amazing for how little her legs are.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Her hair can’t hide the smile that’s plastered on her face, and I quickly lean forward to be able to scoop her up into my arms. The guys might be gone for the day, but I’ll take this. Some time with Addison is a good thing, something I’ve missed.

“Good morning, Addy. How did you sleep?” I ask with her pressed close to my chest, rocking her gently the way I do most mornings.

“So good! Uncle Alex told me a story, and I had the most amazing dream! I was a fairy, and I had wings! You were there, Mommy, and so was Daddy, and Des, and Alex, and Oli!” She pauses to suck in a breath, and I can’t help but chuckle at her excitement. For a moment, Trevor had made me afraid and had me second-guessing the guys and whether I was worthy of their time. But he can’t take this away, the way Addison looks at me with such wonder and the love I feel for her.

Nothing can change that.

As Addison continues to tell me about her dream, I take her back upstairs and to her room to help her get ready for the day. I wasn’t sure when I first woke up alone if I would be capable of anything more than just hanging around the house today,but I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine, and getting out of the house is probably a good idea.

I won’t let Trevor force me to remain inside for fear of seeing him everywhere. That’s not fair to any of them, especially Addison, who deserves the chance to be out making memories, learning, and having fun. I won’t let him ruin this for her; besides, Vince will be with us, and I have complete faith in him.

“Where are we going?” Addison finally asks after she’s told me every last detail of her fairy dream, and I’m working on braiding her hair. Usually she would have asked much earlier, but her dream was the only thing she could focus on, and I can understand why, what little girl doesn’t want to be a fairy princess?

“I was thinking we could go eat some breakfast and go out for a little fun. What do you think? Do you want to go have some fun with me and Uncle Vince?” I skirt around, not telling her exactly where we're going because I kind of want it to be a surprise, but also, it doesn’t sound as exciting as it actually is.

“Of course!” she says, her brows scrunching up as if she’s offended I even had to ask, which I guess is fair. I’m not sure I’ve discovered much she doesn’t like, even people she doesn’t like. It always seems to be for good reason, though I’m not always sure she knows that reason. She’s a pretty good judge of character, honestly, much better than I am, it would seem.

“Where are we going?” Vince’s voice makes me jump, and I say a silent thanks to the universe that I’d already tied off her braid so I don’t have to redo it.

Turning, I find him looking at me with a smirk on his face that tells me he’s aware he just scared me and isn’t even a little bit sorry.

Jerk.

“Uncle Vinny!” Addison quickly hops down from her vanity chair, dodging the toys that litter her floor like a pro as she flies toward him like a heat-seeking missile.

“It’s a surprise,” I tell him as he tosses Addison in the air, and her giggles fill the room. Grabbing my phone off the vanity, I hold it up to him and hope he gets the hint.

“Well, in that case, I’m pretty sure we want to figure out what this surprise is as soon as we can, so why don’t we go grab something for breakfast while Kat gets dressed?” Vince flips Addison over his shoulder so she’s riding on him piggyback style before he takes off down the hall and, no doubt, down the stairs to the kitchen before she can respond.

I quickly text him where we’re going, along with a thank you, before heading to my own room to grab a quick shower and throw on some jeans and a T-shirt. It’s still on the warmer side outside, but not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. Plus, a lot of buildings have AC, and I’d rather not freeze if I can avoid it. The only thing I hate more than sweating is freezing.

I hate the cold.

It doesn’t take me long, maybe twenty minutes total, but somehow, it’s still long enough for me to come down and find a mess in the kitchen.

“Oh my, what happened here?”

Vince looks up from his spot on the stool next to Addison before quickly trying and failing to hide a can of Reddi Wip.

“Uncle Vinny made me waffles!” Addison tells me, glancing at me long enough to smile and see the evidence of said Reddi Wip before she quickly turns back around to her food.

Making my way further into the kitchen, it’s no wonder why she’s so happy to eat them. There are maybe two waffles on the plate covered in syrup and a mountain of Reddi Wip. To his credit, there are also strawberries that appear to even have beencut, and Addison wastes no time dipping them in the cream before popping them in her mouth.

“Now I understand why you weren’t in charge of her more,” I tease him, and he shrugs. The smile remains on his face, and I can’t help but smile as well.

I clean up a bit and eat some of the fruit salad from the fridge, the one Vince pulled the strawberries out of, though I have no idea why he only chose them. And before long, Addison is done and ready to go after washing up a little bit.

We head out, and of course, Vince already has the car waiting, which means he gets to the door before I even have a chance. I’d like to say he’s just doing his job, but the smirk on his face says otherwise.

The ride doesn’t take long, about a half hour, and for New York, the traffic isn’t too bad. Before I know it, we’re there, and judging by Addison’s look of confusion as we enter, I think it’s safe to say she’d never been here before. I half expected Vince to park and wait for us, the way he usually does, but instead, he dropped us off at the door and told me to get the tickets, and he'd meet us inside after he parked.

I wish I could say it didn’t matter to me whether he came in or not, but that would be a lie.

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