Page 88 of Steel
Mrs. Palmer smiled. “If you move up, we could certainly see about keeping you together to make the transition easier.” She looked to me and Kerrion. “I’ll have more details for you soon about the program and the process.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m so proud of you, baby,” I said, pinching Nayelli’s cheeks. “I know you’re going to do great things.”
“Damn right she will,” Kerrion added. “My bad. I’m just excited and so proud of her.”
Mrs. Palmer laughed. “It’s okay. I’ve heard worse language during these meetings.”
“I have to tell Auntie Jaeda and Uncle Quaid,” Nayelli said. “They are super smart, Mrs. Palmer. I wanna be as smart as them when I grow up.”
“I know you will be, honey. You have the power to be anything you want in life. Just work hard for it.”
“I will.”
We sat there for a few more minutes while Mrs. Palmer went over a couple more things. KJ started getting a little fussy, so she let us go, and we headed back out to the cars.
“I’m so proud of you, Nayelli,” Kerrion said.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“You thought about what you want to eat?”
“Burgers and wings. Oh, and fries and an ice cream sundae.”
“All that?”
“Yes!”
“Bet. I know a spot. Y’all can follow me.”
We dispersed into our cars and left the parking lot. I sent Dinah a text, letting her know we were having dinner with Kerrion, and she sent back the eyes emoji along with a text saying enjoy family time.
I rolled my eyes.
We were family in a sense, but we weren’tafamily. That was a dream that died years ago. I’d just have to settle for being forever connected with him by our daughter.
We arrivedat The Burger Joint ten minutes later. It was a diner type of restaurant that I hadn’t been to before, but the food smelled amazing. It was moderately packed, so we were seated pretty quickly. After ordering our food and drinks, we sat comfortably while Nayelli told us about the upcoming science fair.
She didn’t want to do the typical project like a papier mâché volcanos or plant projects. She wanted to build a telescope. I could tell how excited she was about this. At her old school, they never had science fairs. One thing I could say about being here, education was taken very seriously. Her school had all kinds of learning activities for these kids and always found a way to make sure they got their shine.
“I’m sure Uncle Quaid can help you with that,” Kerrion said. “Or Grandpa Hershel. He helped Jaiden build an oven last year.”
“I already drew it out. I wanna paint it pink.”
I chuckled. “Of course you do. Everything is pink with you.”
“I love pink. Daddy, can we paint my treehouse pink?”
“Whatever you want. You know they started building the deck this week. The floor is done. They just have to put up the railing.”
“I can’t wait to see it. Grandpa Stanley said he would help us paint because he’s bored at home.”
Kerrion shook his head. “We’ve gotta find Grandpa a hobby or a girlfriend.”
“Daddy, . . . you don’t want a girlfriend?”
I took a sip of my water as we waited for him to answer.
“I’m more focused on you and your brother. We have a lot of time to make up for, baby girl.”
