Page 15 of Sliding into Home

“When did you move to San Diego?”

“Last year. My sister and her family have been here for a few years and were always trying to get me to move out with Max so we could be closer to his cousins. Then last year I had the opportunity to come out as a guest artist and I clicked with the shop, and Max and I decided to stay.”

He shook his head. “You’ve been here a year and if it hadn’t been for Max liking T-ball, I never would have even known he existed.”

“I know. The world works in mysterious ways.”

“Does your sister help you out a lot with Max? Is that who normally picks him up from camp?”

“No, that’s Chelsie, his daycare provider who normally picks him up. My sister Vika works full time, but she helps on the weekends and evenings if I have to work.”

“Do you work a lot of weekends?”

“I try not to work too much on the weekend. It’s a bit tricky sometimes since the shop doesn’t open until eleven every day, so since I want to be with Max, it limits my availability to work a bit.”

Jeff shifted in his chair. “And you can afford to work part-time as a single mom?”

Her spine stiffened. “I make decent money tattooing if that’s what you’re asking. Do we live someplace fancy? No. But I thought it was more important to make less money and be there for Max while he’s young. So I made a choice.”

Jeff held up his hands. “I wasn’t trying to judge you, Kia, honestly. I don’t know how you’ve been doing it as a single mom. I give you all the credit in the world.”

“Thanks. Sorry I got defensive.” She drew her lips tight. “I work really hard to be a good mom to Max and I know to the outside world sometimes my choices don’t seem obvious, but every decision I ever make is with Max in mind.”

Jeff reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I wasn’t doubting that at all, Kia.”

“Okay.” She pulled her hand away from his and placed it on her lap. “My parents aren’t the biggest fans of my career, so I can be a little defensive of it sometimes.”

“I’ve got no problem with your career. Certainly not my place to judge.” His forehead wrinkled. “Why would your parents not like your career? You’re an artist and you get to do art every day. Isn’t that the dream?”

She laughed roughly. To her? Yes. To her parents? Not even close. “My parents think I’m basically living a thug life. They’re old school, conservative, super religious. Not big fans of body adornment of any kind.” She looked at her arms and smiled sadly. “To my parents, only criminals have tattoos.”

“Seriously? In this day and age?”

“I know, right? It’s strange, but that’s how they feel. That’s a big part of why I moved from Tucson. It’s hard if the people who are supposed to be your support system don’t agree with your life choices.”

“Understandable. Are you and your sister close?”

“I’d be lost without her.” Vika and her husband had been there for her in a way her parents hadn’t been. Until she’d moved to San Diego, she hadn’t realized just how much she’d been floundering trying to do things on her own. Back in Tucson, she hadn’t wanted to ask her parents for help with anything. A simple pick up or drop off was accompanied by a lecture about her life choices and parenting. When she’d moved to San Diego, Vika had immediately offered to take Max in the evenings or weekends so she could work.

“That’s nice.” He pulled the sugar container closer to him and reorganized the packages. “What does she think about you meeting with me?”

“Um…” How was she supposed to answer that? Her sister thought she was an idiot if she didn’t hit him up for child support ASAP. Hell, Vika had texted her the name of a lawyer and a bunch of links to sites discussing Jeff’s salary and California law around child support.

And…yes, she knew he should help her out, but there was no way she was talking about that today, no matter what Vika thought.

Jeff stopped fiddling with the sugar packets and focused on her. “She’s not happy about you finding me?”

“I wouldn’t say that. She’s um… she’s curious how this will all play out. What kind of role you might want in Max’s life?”

“I want to be a part of his life.”

“What does that mean?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve had like a day to process this all.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’m not going to lie. It’s a lot.”

And that was why she wasn’t going to discuss child support or anything else yet. “Understandable.” It was a lot for her too, so she could only imagine what this was like for him. “So we’ll get the paternity test and go from there?”

“Yeah.”

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