Page 94 of Tangled Hearts
“Wake up, daddy.” She pushed at his shoulder.
He cracked one eye open, voice deep still coated in sleep. “Lil girl, you know it’s early.”
She laughed harder, showing all her little teeth.
“The sun is up.”
Rock reached over and snatched her up, throwing her onto his chest so fast she squealed.
“Why you so heavy, baby?” he teased, rubbing her back.
“I’m not heavy!” she yelled, laughing against his neck.
“You solid, baby. Big like your daddy.” He tickled her side and she kicked her legs, still giggling.
“Don’t be getting her hyped this early.” Shakeisha’s voice came from the doorway.
Rodeisha sat up on his chest, hair all wild and grinning wide. “Daddy said I’m big like him.”
Shakeisha rolled her eyes with a smile still on her face. “Don’t put that in her head. She already think she run this house.”
She loved the sight before her. This was what she prayed for—her daughter having an active father. While Rock was locked up, there was only so much he could do but he made sure to have a relationship with his baby. Shakeisha was thankful for that since she’d grown up without a dad.
Rock sat up, holding Rodeisha in his lap. “She do run it.” He kissed her cheek, her tiny arms wrapping around his neck. “My baby.”
She pulled back, eyes wide. “Daddy, you hungry?”
“Yea, but I’m not eating no cereal with water like you had me do last time.” He chuckled.
Shakeisha laughed from the doorway. “That was her idea. She told me, ‘Daddy gon’ eat it anyway.’”
Rock shook his head, looking down at his daughter’s proud face. “You tryin’ to starve me, lil girl?”
“No!” she giggled, sliding down the bed. “I’ll make you breakfast for real this time.”
She ran out the room barefoot, yelling, “Mommy! Daddy’s hungry!”
Rock leaned back on the pillows, shaking his head with a small grin. Shakeisha stepped in further, crossing her arms.
“You finally getting what you wanted,” she said. “Her. This.”
She wanted to ask where she fit in but kept those words to herself. Being a mother had softened her. Time had forced her to grow up, and teaching made her patient in ways she never thought she could be. But watching him here, comfortable in her bed, claiming a role that had been messy and painful to reach stirred something in her chest.
Shakeisha wasn’t angry anymore, not the way she used to be. But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering if she was just the bridge that got him to the life he wanted all along. She swallowed it, though, because the last thing she wanted to do was take awayfrom the joy their daughter felt running through the halls, proud to have her daddy home.
“Yea… this the only shit that feels right.” Rock nodded, still staring at the door his daughter disappeared through.
“Get dressed and meet us in the kitchen.” Shakeisha smiled before walking away.
She didn’t want to get into the logistics of what he meant. Didn’t want to be disappointed again. It was bad enough he ran to Knycole before he came to see his daughter. Some habits die hard, but Shakeisha wasn’t running that old play book back. She was bigger and better. Knew her worth this time around. Having a daughter taught her to lead by example.
Rock climbed out of bed, stretching his arms into the sky. Today was a new day, but old shit still looped in his head. There was too much to figure out, too much to face head-on. Like Nick. Then there was Knycole. His heart wasn’t in it, if he was being honest.
What Nick did to him burned hot in his blood every time he thought about it. Five years gone. Five years of being locked up, raising his daughter through phone calls and supervised visits across a cold metal table. All the birthdays he missed. All the first words, the first steps—time that no man could ever rewind.
And then, like a knife in the back, came the betrayal. His best friend building a life with the girl that was supposed to be his. The girl who was supposed to wait, supposed to hold him down. The anger sat deep in his chest, heavy as iron. Prison had taken his freedom, but Nick had taken his pride.
Rock rubbed at his face, tension tight in his jaw. He told himself he wasn’t gonna let it eat him alive but it already had. Every choice he made now, every move he thought about making, was laced with the shadow of what Nick stole from him.
