Page 6 of The One I Want
“To wait our turns.”
“You’re right. Emerson? Anything else?”
I look at my oldest, who is giving me a devilish smile. She is my kid through and through.
“No house left behind.”
I hold out my hand for a fist bump. “That’s my girl. Okay! Let’s go!”
I get out of the car as each of the kids unbuckles their seatbelts. Emerson opens the door and climbs out before making sure Hank steps down from the SUV safely while I pick up my adorable Rapunzel from her booster seat.
“I love you, Daddy,” she says, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
I don’t know where it came from, but I’ll never get tired of my little girl telling me that. “Thank you, baby.”
She scrunches her tiny nose. “I’m not a baby. I’m six.Anda princess.”
I laugh, giving her a kiss on her forehead as I put her down. “My apologies.”
“What is all this racket I hear?”
All three kids turn their heads toward the house. “Grandpa!”
My kids make a beeline toward my dad who kneels down and opens his arm as all three run into him. I make my way up the drive, just taking in the moment.
I can’t believe Cara is choosing to miss this. To miss any part of this. To miss parts of their lives that are never going to happen again. If she doesn’t want to be married, that’s fine. I’m not going to hold a gun to her head. After weeks of cycling through the stages of grieving, I’ve finally ended in acceptance. Well, I skipped denial and bargaining. I did hit depression and stayed on anger for a long time. But I’ve come to realize that the woman I married doesn’t exist anymore. And the woman who left isn’t the woman I married.
I have no love for her. She’s a stranger.
“How are my favorite grandkids doing?” Dad asks.
“We’re your only grandkids,” Hank says.
“For now.” The words come from my mom, which automatically means the kids leave my dad behind to wrap her in hugs. As if they didn’t see her just a few days ago. “Maybe soon enough you’ll have some cousins.”
“From Luke the bachelor or Cade who has never had a date?” I ask, giving my mom a kiss on the cheek.
“A mother can only hope,” she says as she stands up. “Now, who is ready to trick or treat?”
“Me!” All three kids yell in unison.
“Well then, go inside, use the restroom so we don’t have to make a stop, and maybe you’ll find your first treat on the kitchen table?”
My three munchkins give a wide-eyed look to each other before they full-on sprint into the house. Maybe they will remember to use the bathroom. Probably not. Once they heard the wordtreatI’m pretty sure the rest went out the window.
My dad gives me a pat on the back. “How are you doing, son?”
And there it is. I knew it was coming. Honestly this is probably why my mom sent the kids inside.
“I’m fine.”
My mother gives me the side eye. “Really? You know I didn’t have to leave this week. I could have stayed.”
I let out a deep breath and shake my head. I don’t know why I tried to lie to my mom. No one can get anything by Peggy Taylor.
“It’s not a complete lie. Right now I’m fine. The kids are, at this moment, happy. They haven’t asked a lot of questions recently. Other than that I’m just trying to get used to the fact that I’m about to be a divorced, single dad.”
“Has she called recently?”
