Page 114 of Whenever You Call

I raised a brow in question, only for her to nod and pat the space beside her.

Refusing her wasn’t an option, no matter how uneasy I felt, and so I went to them, dropping down beside them both until I laid on my side propped up by my elbow, my legs kicked out and crossed at the ankle. Picking up a doll that had been left face down on the carpet, I began to stroke its hair just like Bella was doing with her Barbie.

“I think what your mom is trying to ask you, Bella, is, were you upset by what you saw that night?”

“Why would I be upset?” she asked innocently.

“Because it’s new. Because you weren’t expecting it, perhaps. Because you thought we were just friends.”

“You weren’t friends when Mommy and I went to Seattle.” The memory made me wince, but she didn’t give me long to linger on it. “But you’re friends again now, and I like it. I like seeing Mommy happy,” she said, as though it was the easiest truth in the world to speak. “And I already knew you wanted to kiss each other, anyway.”

“You did?”

She flipped her doll over, discarding the brush as she fiddled with its skirt instead. “Yep.”

“And that didn’t bother you?”

She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

Hannah leaned forward, trying to catch Bella’s eye, but she was too focused on her play. “Bug, you know you can be honest with us, don’t you? If anything we do upsets you, I want to know.”

“Okay.”

Hannah looked at me with uncertainty in her eyes.

“Do you feel like you can talk to us about this, Bella?” I asked.

“Sure!” She placed down the doll in her hands and began looking for another. When she found me playing with the one that she wanted, she rose onto all fours and crawled closer to get it. I handed it over, only to see her smile at me before she fell back on her bottom with a thump.

“Do you have any questions or anything?” Hannah asked carefully.

“Erm. No.” Bella shook her head, as unaffected by us as she could possibly be. “Oh, wait,” she said, and Hannah tensed immediately. Bella stared straight at me. “Does that mean you’re going to marry Mommy now?”

“Bug, honey, no, that’s not…” Hannah started to protest, but Bella’s eyes were on mine, and this conversation had turned to a private one between us, despite her mom being there.

“You don’t have to worry about that for a while, Bella,” I assured her.

“But it might happen?”

“Would it bother you if it did? Not now, but sometime in the future?”

Hannah’s head snapped my way, and her eyes bugged out of her head. I ignored her, focusing instead on Bella and the way my heart pounded against my rib cage at the very thought of spending a lifetime by Hannah’s side.

Bella picked up another doll and passed it to me, inviting me to play again. “Not really. I like you.”

“But…?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I want Mommy to be happy. I just don’t want Daddy to be sad.”

And there it was.

The thing that needed setting free for all of us to navigate together and move forward.

Hannah placed a delicate hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying anything, and I was grateful for her silence. This was my promise to pledge.

To Bella.

To both of them.

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