Page 151 of All Too Well
The two of them hug, and Rose looks up at me. “Is she staying with us, Daddy?”
“She is.”
“Yay!” my daughter says, and the two of them laugh. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too.”
“I missed you both,” I say, joining in.
However, neither of them pays me any attention. Typical.
“Are you going to live with us? Daddy said he was going to bring you back so you could stay here all the time, if you wanted.”
Ainsley’s face grows serious. “Are you sure you’re okay with it?”
Rose nods. “I hope you stay forever.”
Ainsley takes both of her hands and smiles. “I hope the same.”
So do I.
We left New York early this morning with some of her things. There’s a lot of stuff, and there was no way we were going to get it all figured out in a day. We’re going to go back up a few times in the next month, which is what she has left onher lease anyway.
“Daddy, can Ainsley come to Becky’s house with me? I have to tell her that she’s back and is going to live with us.”
“I think we have to get Ainsley settled, but she’ll be here when you get home. Becky’s mom won’t be here for another hour, anyway.”
Delaney comes out with her bag on her shoulder. “I’ll send you a bill.”
I laugh once. “Okay.”
She turns to Rose. “I’ll see you soon, kid.”
“Are you coming to the carnival?”
Delaney shrugs and tosses up a peace sign as she leaves. I really don’t know why my daughter loves her so much.
The three of us head inside, carrying what we can. Ainsley stops at the door where her room was and starts to enter, but I stop her. “Where are you going?”
She looks back to me. “Umm ...”
“You’re not moving in and staying in the guest room.”
“Lach . . .”
“You’ll be with me.”
Her eyes move to Rose, who is beaming, clearly over the moon about Ainsley and me dating. Before I went to get Ainsley, Rose and I talked. I explained that I loved her, the way a man loves a woman and wants to be with her. She asked if we were getting married so Ainsley could be her mom, to which I said not yet, but we were going to live together first.
My daughter couldn’t have smiled any bigger. It’s clear that they formed a very strong bond and she’s very happy to have Ainsley here.
“Okay, then.”
All of us cram into the space, Rose jumps on the bed, and Ainsley flops beside her. The two of them giggle, and I swear my heart grows from this scene.
“What are you girls doing? We still have boxes to move.”
Ainsley rolls onto her stomach, and Rose mimics it. “The boxes can wait. Come lie here with us.”
