Page 110 of Laws of Love
“She is. She’s had a couple of encounters, but no one has overstepped any boundaries or made her uncomfortable. People have approached us when we’re out on dates, and she hasn’t had a problem with it. As long as they’re respectful, I don’t think there will be an issue from either end.”
“That’s good. I know there were problems in the past when you and Mia would go out or when someone approached her. I’d hate for Aiva to feel overwhelmed. I like her,” his mother responded. She was being nice.
Ninety-eight percent of the time, the issues weren’t from the people who approached them. Knox understood that people constantly coming up when they were out to have a good time could get irritating, but it came with his career at the time and being with him. His ex-wife refused to extend a bit of grace.
“They’ll find someone or something else to fixate on after a while,” he responded. “And I don’t plan on letting Aiva go anywhere. If it becomes too much, I’ll do whatever I have to and handle it.”
His mom smiled at him. “You care about her a lot.”
“That’s an understatement,” Knox responded.
“We could tell at Yas’ party,” his dad started. “And it’s easy to see how she feels about you and cares about Yas.”
“I could tell Yas was fond of her before we met her. Anytime she was over here after spending time with Aiva, we heard about it the entire day,” his mom added.
“They’ve created a solid bond that seems to have come naturally,” Knox responded.
“I sensed some animosity from Mia at the party. I take it she isn’t thrilled that you’re dating someone,” his mother said.
“She isn’t or wasn’t. I’m honestly not sure how she feels now. They haven’t been around one another since the party, but I’m hoping things will be better the next time we’re all together.”
“Maybe she needs a little more time to accept it.”
“We’ve been divorced for eight months and were separated a year before that. I don’t know how much time she needs,” he replied to his dad.
“You might have been done with your marriage, but Mia may have thought you would work it out, but then the process started. You grieved the end of your marriage during your separation. She might not have started until after it was final,” his mom pointed out.
Knox hadn’t thought about it that way. Until Aiva brought it up, he never considered that Mia still wanted anything from him aside from making his life hell. He supposed she could have been doing so to get what she thought she needed as closure, attempting to hurt him to make herself feel better.
Admittedly, he’d never stopped to look at the situation from her point of view because he’d only been interested in freeing himself, getting out of his marriage, and moving on with his life. Mia also made it hard to see her having any other perspective than greed.
“She and I talked, and I think hearing from me how I feel about Aiva, may have helped in giving her a jumpstart on closure,” he informed thinking back to their conversation after Yasmine’s first week.
His dad nodded. “Let’s hope so.”
“Does Yas know what she wants to be for Halloween?” his mom asked, changing the subject after a beat of silence.
“She was between Mirabel and Moana for a while, and I thought we’d have to flip a coin at some point, but she told Aiva and me this morning that she wanted to be Mirabel.”
Aiva had stayed over last night after dinner since her first appointment was scheduled for ten that morning.
“They’re having a festival at her school and can wear their costumes. We’ll probably pick it up this weekend,” Knox stated.
The conversation shifted again, and he stayed until he had to pick up Yasmine.
When she got into the backseat, he made sure she was buckled into her booster seat before pulling out of the pickup lane.
“We learned a new song in Spanish today!” she told him excitedly. “Can we call Mommy and Aiva later so I can sing it for them?”
“We sure can,” he responded, glancing in the rearview at her.
“Great! I’m going to sing it for you now.”
With that, she began the song, swaying in her seat, as Knox headed home.
Aiva hung up the phone with one of her clients. They’d called to ask if she’d gotten the edible arrangement they sent for a ruling in their favor. The husband had filed for sole custody to get out of paying the monthly child support her client was asking for after their divorce.
In mediation, Aiva and his lawyer tried to point out that she wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable and that a judge would undoubtedly order him to pay more. Her client only wanted him to cover the private school tuition for their two kids, since he’d been adamant that they attend. They’d been in the school for the past four years for one and six for the other. She wanted to keep them there.
