Page 98 of Give Me a Reason

She raised a brow. “You know I hate kissing.”

“Right, so it might make you a little uncomfortable, but it would be like your mom and Chris.”

Aria shrugged. “That’s cool. I like Aria.”

Was it really that easy? I shook my head as I laughed. “You’re something else, you know that? You’re the biggest little girl I’ve ever met.”

I turned back to the pancakes when Paisley said, “That made no sense.”

“It made perfect sense to me.”

“Will Aria be here all the time?” Paisley asked.

“Not yet. We got into a little argument, and we’re taking some time to think about things. Aria wasn’t quite ready to be in a relationship, but I hope she’ll come around.”

“She will.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked, resting a hip against the counter.

“Because you like each other, don’t you?” She didn’t stop the scribble of her marker on the page.

“We do.” Was it as simple as that? As long as there was love, you’d find your way back to each other.

I finally made a good batch of pancakes and set them in front of Paisley, who picked them up with her fingers and ate them. I’d reprimand her, but she’d been eating them this way since she was little. So I did the same.

“You know I love you the most, right?” I chucked her under the chin, smearing chocolate chips.

Paisley rolled her eyes. “Dad.”

“What? You’re already embarrassed by me? I thought that didn’t start until you were a teenager.”

She just huffed out a breath and didn’t say anything else.

“Will I get a little brother or sister soon?”

“I think you can expect that from your mother a bit sooner.” I wasn’t sure how Aria felt about me or having kids, but Naomi wanted more.

“Yay!”

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, having a blended family like this, but as long as we talked to each other and considered Paisley’s feelings, we’d be fine. I just needed Aria on board. The worst part was that I couldn’t control the outcome. I didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling.

The bell rang. “I think that’s Grandma.”

Paisley hopped off the stool and ran to get the door. I knew I’d need to clean chocolate chips off the knob later. I heard Paisley greet Mom and her current husband, Gerald, before their footsteps were sounding down the hall as she headed toward the kitchen.

“You’re just in time for pancakes.”

“Why do they smell burnt?” Gerald asked, his nose wrinkling in distaste.

“We threw out the first batch. These are fine. I can make some eggs to go with them if you’d like.”

“That would be great,” Mom said as she moved to get the cartoon of eggs out of the fridge.

Gerald sat next to Paisley and picked up a marker to color with her.

“I’m doing the sixteens. You can do the thirteens with that color.” Paisley pointed at the key that indicated what color matched with the number.

“Oh good. Help me find the thirteens. I don’t see so good anymore.”

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