Page 33 of Stat: Love In Scrubs
Esa stood up and reached out to hold Maria’s hand, before my dad followed in their direction, saying he might as well go to the bathroom as well. I knew what they were doing.
“Let me guess, they figured we needed some alone time?” Doc spoke up.
I glanced in his direction with a small smile.
“That’s exactly what they’re doing. But I wanted to apologize again. I did not mean to do that earlier.”
Doc leaned forward and brushed the loose curl that dropped in my face behind my ear. Then leaned in to place a kiss against the corner of my mouth, then the other side, before tentatively kissing my lips. He was in no hurry or concerned about a single person seeing how tender he was being with me.
It only made my heart leap for joy and gave my mind another reason to give this a chance. The more time I spent with him, the more it showed me that maybe I could trust him with my heart. He made my worries go away, even if only for a short while.
“You’re good. I’m not made of glass, and you didn’t do the shit on purpose. At least, that’s what I choose to tell myself.” He cracked with a smirk.
I nudged his shoulder and chuckled along with him.
“So, you want to tell me what you talked about with my dad?” I asked.
“Nah. Just know we’ve come to an understanding, and we’re on the same page. Your dad is dope as fuck, and we have plans to do our own shit without you.”
I waved him off as he chuckled. “Oh, please.”
“Facts are just that, baby.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to continue to eat my pizza.If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
A FEW DAYS LATER…
Istood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Esa to come down. I don’t know what the hell she was doing. But I had been waiting for the last twenty minutes. We still needed to pick up Yara before heading to the ice cream shop.
I walked over and leaned against the railing.
“Esa, it’s time to go, baby girl,” I yelled up the stairs.
“I’m coming, daddy.”
I grabbed the keys to the truck to start it from the inside. Then waited a few moments longer until the clacking of heels announced my daughter’s arrival. Esa was dressed in her Mirabel dress, with the purse that matched it, and tiny heels that my sister Dezi insisted she needed. I placed my hands on my temples and released a breath.
I glanced back at her, and she was now smiling, showing every tooth she had in her mouth. I didn’t have the heart to take her little self back upstairs to change. My mom told me countless times to pick my battles wisely with kids. In this moment, this wasn’t a battle I was interested in picking, especially since we were already running late.
“Do you like my dress, daddy?” she asked, then did a spin.
“You look beautiful?—”
I stopped because there was nothing more to say. I wanted to ask her what happened to the outfit I laid out for her. But I knew that wasn’t the route I needed to take if she felt good about what she was wearing. Who was I to question her? I held out my hand for her to take, and she obliged, skipping as we left the house.
I unlocked the door so she could get into the backseat. I waited to make sure she was all buckled up before getting in the driver’s seat. I grabbed my phone and entered Yara’s address, then called her as we backed out of the driveway.
“Are you outside?” Yara asked.
“Not yet. We had a little outfit, mishap, but we’re in the car. It sounds like you aren’t ready yet, either.”
“I wouldn’t say that, but when you get here, I’ll be ready to walk out the door.”
I groaned. “Women.”
“Daddy, we have to be pretty. We’re going for ice cream!”
“Tell’ em, Esa. We can’t be outside looking any kind of way!” Yara added.
