Page 59 of Out of Bounds
Pulling the oven door open, I called over my shoulder. “Bug, it’s about to be nine at night. It’s time for you to get off the phone.”
Maddie Claire had been on FaceTime with one of the girls from her dance company the entire time I’d been making snacks. I was baking cookies for them, while the other kids either played Roblox on their phones or colored. The conversation was innocent until I heard them talking about some boy.
“Mommy lets me stay on until ten.”
Taking the tray of cookies out, I set them on the counter and flicked her nose. “Mommy ain’t here. We supposed to be spending time together. You don’t miss your old man?”
She smiled. “Of course, Daddy.”
“Then get off the phone and chop it up with your old man.”
“Okay…” She groaned. While I waited for her to end the call, I decided to pop a few bags of popcorn. The cookies were the only sweets I was giving their ass. Ain’t no way they were about to have my ass up all night.
“So…” Maddie Claire drawled and leaned against the counter. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything, Bug.”
“What do you think is an appropriate dating age?”
“I don’t know.” I frowned. “Why? Is there some lil’ boy you call yourself liking?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “He goes to my school, and he plays football.”
“Damn.” Here I was thinking we’d nipped this whole liking boys shit in the bud with Sophie. The fact that Maddie was asking just further confirmed that my girls was growing up. “Why can’t the two of you just be friends? Why you gotta like him?”
“You like Mommy, don’t you?” Maddie countered.
“No, baby. Iloveyour mother,” I affirmed. “There’s a difference between just liking someone and loving them.”
“But you liked her before you loved her, right?” she queried.
Folding my arms across my chest, I thought about the very first time I laid eyes on Masai. I was talking to one of my homeboys when she breezed past me, and like the goddess she is, her ass stole my breath away. I didn’t know her name, didn’t know where she had come from, didn’t know shit about her, but I didn’t care about any of that. All I knew was I had just seen my wife and I had to have her.
“Nawl, Bug.” I chuckled. “I think I skipped the whole liking stage with your mom. I knew I loved her at first sight.”
“Mommy said she had a boyfriend when the two of you met.”
“Shethoughtshe had a boyfriend. That sucker was nothing more than a seat filler.”
“You still love her, don’t you?” Maddie Claire pointed out.
Looking down at her, I nodded. “I’ll never stop loving your mother. She was my first love, the first woman I’d ever said I love you to.”
“Does she know that?”
“She does, Bug. Your mother knows exactly how I feel about her,” I confirmed.
“Do you think she still loves you?”
“Um… Now, I don’t know how to answer that.” Masai would probably always love me. We shared a lot of good times. However, she probably doesn’t want to love my ass because I hurt her.
“I think she does, Daddy. She used to cry a lot when you left.”
“I know…” I sighed. “I hurt her.”
“Can you fix it?”
“I’ve tried, Bug. Your mother is very headstrong. That’s where you got it from.” I nipped her chin. “Sometimes fixing it means setting it free.”
