Page 69 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
“Yeah, of course.” Nash has gone from animalistic anger to the voice of reason. I’m almost crying from the gentleness of it all, but I manage to keep myself from falling off the edge.
Nash takes off his jacket and uses it to brush me off as best he can. I don’t do much of anything myself, still feeling numb from the whole ordeal. Next, he wipes away any leftover tears from my face with his thumb.
I take in a deep shaky breath, willing myself to be calm.
“Are you ready?” Nash growls, his eyes serious.
“Yeah,” I nod. We walk a bit further, and burst out of the brush to where my nieces are still munching happily on their gummies.
“Hi babies,” I say, greeting them through the window before popping open my door. “I’m back.”
I go for the driver’s seat, but Nash stops me.
“Let me drive. You need to relax.” I nod again, handing Nash the keys. When I get into the passenger’s side, I look into the backseat and Mackenzie and Madison perk up.
“Auntie Nellie!” Mackenzie squeals. When I feel Nash get in the driver’s seat, I see my nieces’ eyes go wide.
“Who’s that?” Madison lisps in her baby voice. “Stranger danger.”
“Um, girls, this is my friend Nash. He’s going to drive us home. Is that okay?” They both nod but still look a little apprehensive.
My man turns and throws my nieces a radiant smile.
“Hey, guys. Like Nellie said, my name is Nash. I think if we want to get to know each other, we should say two things we like and one thing we don’t. Do you want to do that?”
Madison and Mackenzie look at me, and I nod.
“Okay,” Mackenzie whispers.
“Perfect, I’ll start. Okay, I don’t like long lines. I like motorcycles. And,” Nash pretends to really think about it, drawing it out. “Ireallylike your Auntie Nellie.” He looks over at me and smiles. It’s the first time since this saga started that I feel some hope.
My nieces giggle. Madison even lets out a long ‘eeew.’
“Okay, your turn,” Nash says.
The girls look at each other and whisper. After a few moments, they turn back to us.
“Um, we don’t like green beans. We like princesses. And we like ice cream.”
“Hmm, ice cream?”
“Yeah, our best flavor is chocolate or cookies with cream. Mac likes to mix them, and I like that, too!” Madison announces.
“If it’s okay with your aunt, we can go to this ice cream parlor that’s five minutes away, and you can both get your own scoop. What do you think?”
The excitement from the backseat is immediate. I make a face at Nash because I’m not about this. He leans in close.
“I don’t think you’re going to make it to the house emotionally if we go straight back. This way, you can have some time to get yourself together.” He moves his head away from my ear and then starts joking with the girls again. They’re soon giggling with laughter. I let out deep breath and nod.
“Okay, okay. You guys can get ice cream, but quickly. Your mom is waiting for you.” Madison and Mackenzie erupt into a frenzied cacophony of ‘yays.’
The drive to the parlor is a short one, just as Nash promised. He holds my hand the entire way which I use as a way to anchor my emotions. He’s being so kind after I was a total bitch to him. I’m sure once all of this blows over, he won’t want me in his life anymore.
I’ll take whatever little time we have left.
Nash parks the car and turns to the backseat.
“You guys ready?”
