Page 62 of Revive

I let the smile stretch across my face, hoping my eyes convey how proud I am to know a man who is so passionate about the welfare of others. As obvious as it sounds to help someone in need, it is not in everyone’s nature to do so. The world is blessed with hearts like Hendrix’s to make the losses and injustices a little easier to bear.

Someone will always remember the shitty time in their life, but they’ll remember the one who offered to help them when they needed it most even more.

Engrossed in the art, I give Drix my back, and trace the designs with my hands. “Do you ever just want to take these kids home and give them a proper chance?”

“All the time,” he says with no reservation. “It was harder when I first started, because I wanted to save the world. Now I’m less green and understand the system and the kids much more, but every now and then I'll meet one person who will blow my mind, and I just let myself imagine the possibilities.”

“I think that's what I want to do one day, open my house up and foster kids.”

“What about kids of your own?” he asks, the view of my back making it easier for me to answer.

“I mean I want them, I guess. I’d just have to have the right partner.” Like a flash of lightning a vision of Drix with our baby hits me with a pang of longing in my chest. “What about you?”

“I haven't had a reason to think of myself as a father in a really long time.” The admission has me reading between the lines, wondering if he ever wished Dakota was his. “But I believe compatibility and unity is everything. As old school as it sounds I want to be with the mother of my baby. I want to be sure it's forever.”

Could that be me?

“Coming from a broken home and watching Dakota grow up without a dad,” he continues. “It's become my one single requirement.”

“And the foster kids?”

“That’s an added bonus.” I hear his chair squeak, before footsteps sound in my direction. “If I have the means to provide for as many kids as possible, why wouldn't I?”

If in that moment anybody asked me what Hendrix’s most attractive quality was, I'd tell you his heart. His huge, selfless and pure heart.

“Please come and eat,” he whispers unexpectedly in my ear.

“I can’t stop looking at it.” What I really mean is the broken beauty on these walls makes me think of missed opportunities. It makes my heart heavy for all the things their lives could be. And it has me desperately wanting to make a difference.

“When it’s time to change the space, you could come here and draw with them. Show them how good you are.”

Merged with my thoughts of him and I having babies together and a house full of foster kids, his slip about the future hits me like a boulder to the chest. It makes me nervous, and excited, and so fucking relieved that I’m not the only one that’s falling hard and fast.

Leaning back, I relax into him, and take one last look at the wonders in front of me. “I’d love that.”

* * *

“So,I've got something I want to ask you.” Drix looks at me over the table, a hint of trepidation passes his features.

“What is it?”

“It's Dakota’s sixteenth birthday next weekend and she's having a thing at Jagger's.” He fidgets with his earlobe, his own uneasiness spurring on mine. “And, I want you to come with me.”

“Oh.” The invitation is unexpected, and my gut tells me there’s a million reasons why I shouldn’t go. It’s a beautiful gesture, one that screams, family, importance, future and love. Everything a woman wants to hear and feel from the man she’s with, but this isn’t a conventional situation, and I don’t know if our bubble is strong enough to withstand the intrusion.

“Say something,” he urges.

Pinching my bottom lip, between my fingers, I line up the sentence in my mind before I blow all the progress we’ve made. “Are you sure it’s a good idea with Sasha being there?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not enough Drix.” He watches me pensively, as I continue. “If you want me to meet Dakota, as your girlfriend, we can do it on our own time, but I’m not ruining that girl’s birthday party.”

“Who said anything about ruining it?”

“Come on, you know better than that.” I run my hands up and down my thighs, trying to contain my nervous energy. “She threw shade my way when the idea of us hadn’t even been conceived yet. What do you think she’ll do when she finds out we’re together?”

“We’re all adults, Taylah,” he says condescendingly. “And we’ve been playing nice for Dakota our whole lives.”

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