Page 4 of Painting Together a Family
“Da! I’m ready for you!”
“So you are!” He bent down and opened his arms, well-versed in what was about to happen. Sure enough, she launched herself at him, and he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. Her little face all lit up.
She was small and solid, so unlike her willowy sister.
“How was class?” Like he had to ask—the happiness rolled off her.
“Amazing. I kicked Harry in the butt.”
“And that’s a good thing?” he asked, managing to keep his laughter from spilling out as he set her back down on her feet. He could just picture it. His tough little girl kicking the much bigger Harry in the ass and sending him sprawling.
“Da! Yeah!” Her eyes danced with it. “It’s amazeballs!”
“So lame.” Marley rolled her eyes as she teased.
“Not lame!” Juniper shouted. “Da! Marley said Judo was lame!”
“I heard. I heard you both.” Jeez, Juniper always came out of Judo absolutely psyched. He wasn’t sure she’d be able to sit quietly and work on her homework at the coffee shop. So that made his decision simple, though he’d still give them the option.
“I have a meeting at the coffee shop in a few minutes. Would you like to stay upstairs or come down with me? You’ll have to sitand be quiet…” He knew that would have them making the right decision.
The girls looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them, then Marley asked, “Can we watch TV when we’re finished homework if we stay upstairs?”
“Yes. Nothing scary, though. At all.” They were bad about daring each other… and he didn’t want to spend the next few nights with little girls sleeping in his bed.
Marley and Juniper shared a last look, then nodded together. “Okay. Upstairs, please,” Marley told him as they went in and headed for the elevator, passing by the guard at the front desk. Devlin gave him a nod.
“Sure. Did you want me to bring you up a treat for dessert? I’ve ordered soup from the deli—chicken soup and matza balls, but I didn’t get anything for dessert.” He wasn’t much of a cook so most of their meals were takeout, or leftover takeout. He loved his microwave and the girls were both old enough now to heat up their own food if they got hungry.
“Ice cream!” Juniper called out, jumping into the elevator as the doors popped open.
Dev took out his keys and popped the elevator one in the slot before pressing their floor.
“They don’t have ice cream at the coffee shop,” Marley informed her sister. “Besides, it would melt. I want a cinnamon roll.”
“Oh, me too!” Juniper bounced a few more times, clearly not upset about the fact she couldn’t have ice cream.
“Okay. I’ll get a half dozen, so we can have some for breakfast tomorrow, okay?” Go him, planning ahead so they wouldn’t need to scrounge around for their morning meal.
They both cheered and the elevator dinged, the doors opening on their floor. They tumbled out like the hooligans theywere, running over to the door to their place and singing a song about cinnamon buns as they waited for him to let them in.
He loved Marley like this. She was such a teenager around her friends. Alone with her little sister, she could still be a girl.
He reminded them they needed to do their homework while he was gone before they ran into their rooms to change out of their dance and judo outfits.
“We will, Da,” Marley called back to him.
“There’s juice in the fridge if you’re thirsty. I’ll be right downstairs. Do not open the door, do you understand?”
“Yes, Da!” Marley could make two words say so much, like of course we won’t open the door, we’re not stupid.
Smiling and shaking his head, he made sure to lock up behind himself, then made his way down to Violet Java. His lawyer was there already, but she was on her own. The other ex wasn’t there yet.
“Hey. I’m going to get some water.” Coffee would just hype him up, and he knew he was going to get growly enough from the upcoming conversation. Talking about Grant made him want to kick things.
While he was waiting to pay for his drink, a hottie came in, the guy tall and well-built with dark hair curling over his ears. He looked around the place, glance skimming over all the tables.
The barista handed him the water bottle and he went and sat next to Valerie at the table she’d chosen near the windows.
