Does everyone have that moment in their life when they feel they are doing something bigger than themselves? Like they were put on this Earth specifically meant to do that one thing? That’s how I feel right now. I just hung up with the social worker, and I’m screaming.
Literally screaming, jumping up and down.
Lexi is coming to live with me.
Then I freeze. Oh, shit.
Lexi is coming to live with me!
In one week.
I run to the guest bedroom and look around. This is not going to work for a five-year-old. I need to go shopping. Like right now. I call Aiden and tell him the awesome news. He wants to come over and celebrate, but then I mention that I need to go shopping today for everything and he suddenly has things he needs to do. Ha, typical man.
But I know who will go with me.
“Sydney, we’re going shopping today!” I scream into the phone, skipping the hellos.
An hour later, I’ve written my list of stuff I want to get for the room and have gone on Google to find the places that we need to go.
“I’m all for what you’re doing, Addie. But isn’t this kind of … excessive?” Syd questions, looking at my total bill.
We’re at Pottery Barn Kids, and I admit I probably went a little overboard. Blythe Carriage Bed and matching dresser. Beautiful bedding, cream with pink and gray medallions and hearts. Rug and window panels to match. Faux fur beanbag, wall art, a floor-length mirror, the whole retro play kitchen in pink, and of course all the accessories to go with the kitchen. A wall storage unit to hold all the books and other toys I already got her at the other stores we’ve been to today. I look at the total and it doesn’t even faze me. I can’t wait until Lexi sees it all. She’s been through so much, I want her to have everything.
“She deserves it,” I say.
“What happens if she gets adopted?”
A pain in my chest starts to ache. That day will definitely suck for me, but it’ll be great for Lexi to find her forever home. I blow out a breath. It’s what is best for Lexi. I can’t be her foster parent forever.
I shrug. “She can take it with her. It’s hers.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she says, narrowing her eyes like she doesn’t believe me.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she answers vaguely, but smiles wide.
I ignore her weird behavior. I’m too excited to move on to the next store.
“So, what’s next?” Syd asks as she follows me on my mission.
“The paint store.”
“Holy shit.” Aiden’s eyes widen in surprise.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask, bouncing on my toes. The painters did an awesome job. All the walls except one are a butter cream and the accent wall is a dark gray. The furniture was delivered this morning. I took the day off to get everything set up. It looks like a scene out of a fairy tale—or at least the Pottery Barn catalog. We go get Lexi in two days, so I want to make sure it’s all done before she gets here.
“It is. But that isn’t what I was thinking,” he says, looking around slowly.
My smile turns down. “What’s wrong with it?” I ask, taken back.
“Does a five-year-old need all this?” he asks, opening the play oven and refrigerator. His eyes scan everything in the room.
I stiffen. “Well, I really don’t know because I haven’t been around many five-year-olds,” I huff. “But I think she’ll love it.”
“Oh, sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he says, trying to backpedal. He walks up to me, pulling me into his chest. “She’ll love it.”
“She will.” My eyes start to water. “I just want her to feel wanted and like she has a place of her own right now. She’s been shuffled around so much, I want her to have a place that she feels safe and loved.” I dig my head into Aiden’s chest. “Did I go overboard?” I mumble. My shoulders fall.
“No, Addison,” he says, lifting my chin up so I can look at him. His lips curl as his eyes soften. “I’m sorry, I was just surprised. And I’m a guy who doesn’t know anything about little girls and what they need.”
“That is true,” I say, sighing. “But when Syd, who’s the queen of shopping, thinks I went overboard, I probably did.”
“Do you know what I love?”
“Me?” I know that isn’t what he’s asking, because I know without a doubt that he loves me.
“More than you know,” he says. “But I especially love what you have in here, set aside just for Lexi.” He places his hand over my heart. “The part that will do anything to make her happy. You are an incredible woman. And anyone who knows you is incredibly lucky.”
I fight the words that want to come out of my mouth. I’m not sure if lucky is the right word. I come with a lot of baggage and most of the people who I’m close to are a result of said baggage.
“Addison,” he says as a warning. Of course he can tell what I’m thinking.
So, instead I say, “Thank you.”
“That’s better.” He leans in and kisses me, biting my lip before he pulls away. “Now let’s go get some food so I can show you all night how lucky I am.”
Max wants to follow through with his promise to take Lexi to Disney. I would have rather waited until we settled into a routine, but when it comes to Max, he doesn’t change his mind once he gets an idea in his head. Aiden and I had already taken the week off, so I gave in.
As we’re walking through the hangar to board the plane, we hear, “Wait for us.”
I turn around and see Damon and Sydney running toward us. Aiden mumbles something under his breath. I didn’t catch it, but it doesn’t sound very happy.
“What are you guys doing?” I ask when they catch up.
“You can’t go to Disney without me,” Syd says, trying to catch her breath. I look at Damon, wondering what his reason will be.
He shrugs. “I needed a vacation. Florida sounds fun,” he says with a huge smile. Max decided to go to Disney World instead of Disneyland because he has some business in Florida he needs to take care of. Lexi won’t even know the difference. Katie is going to meet up with us, and I get to meet their grandparents.
“Oh, look, Tink and Peter Pan are wanting to go see their friends at Disney,” Max says, chuckling.
Damon flips Max off, and Syd rolls her eyes. Well, this trip is going to be interesting. Max doesn’t seem to mind that Syd and Damon are going.
“Don’t you have to work?” I ask Sydney.
“Nope. Summer break started yesterday,” she says, hopping up and down, grabbing me in a hug. “When Damon told me where y’all were going, because hmph … someone else didn’t … I called Max and begged.”
Max chokes on his laugh and looks down at his watch. “Okay, boys and girls, we need to get this shit on the plane,” he says, clearing his throat and picking up luggage.
As we start walking to the plane, I lean over to Syd and say, “I’m glad you’re here.” I did feel a little tinge of guilt when Max told me we were going.
I have both metal pieces of my seat belt in my hand, ready to snap them together, when Aiden yells out, “No fucking way. You are not going.”
My head jerks up to see who he’s talking to. I yelp out in pain as the seat belt buckle pinches the skin between my index finger and thumb. I don’t even get a chance to find the person Aiden is barking at because I’m trying to suck the pain out of my hand.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Aiden says, dropping back into his seat, trying to grab my hand out of my mouth to see how bad it is. I nod my head yes but firmly keep my mouth on my hand. “Let me see.” I shake my head.
Then I see who came on the plane. “Jaxon?” I say, releasing my hand to unbuckle my seat belt so I can stand back up. I shake my hand in the air as the pain starts to throb again. “What are you doing here?” Aiden stands right behind me, which reminds me about his outburst. I turn and look at Aiden, confused.
Jaxon leans in and gives me a hug. “Who doesn’t want to go to Disney?” he chuckles.
“You guys all suck as fucking friends,” Aiden bellows, grabbing my injured hand and dragging me to the bedroom, slamming the door shut. I hear loud laughter coming from the other side of the door.
He sits on the bed and inspects my hand. A blood blister is already forming. “I’m sorry, baby.”
The pain is already subsiding. “It’s okay. But what in the world was all of that?” I say, looking at the door. He kisses my hand softly. I see his shoulders drop and he takes a deep inhale and exhale.
“This trip is supposed to be about Lexi,” he says, looking down. I look around the bedroom. When did it not become about Lexi?
“Fuck,” he rasps. He stands and paces back and forth, running his hand through his hair. I stand there speechless. I have no idea what is going on in that head of his. “Jaxon is in love with my sister,” he finally says. That must be who she was there to see a couple months ago.
Oh. Well, I guess that means I can’t set him up with Harper. Hmm, who else can I set her up with. Ryker? No, he’s too much of a player. I’ll have to think about this one. Aiden is still pacing, obviously bothered by this.
“Aiden, I don’t see what the big deal is.”
He growls. A deep, hard growl. I stand straighter and wonder what the hell is wrong with him. “The big deal is I don’t want my sister anywhere near him,” he seethes. Whoa. “I already have to deal with the fucking love triangle between those three out there.” He spears the air with his finger in the direction of the door. I don’t know why, but a laugh escapes my lips. This is why he’s so bent out of shape?
“It’s not funny, Addison. The only reason Jaxon is going is to see Katie.”
“It kind of is,” I say, pursing my lips to stop from laughing. “First of all, Katie is a grown woman and Jaxon seems like a great guy. Hell, I was going to try and set him up with Harper, but I guess that’s not going to happen.” Aiden grunts this time, and I laugh again.
“Stop trying to hook up your friends with mine. We’ll always be in the middle of that shit if it goes badly,” he says, plopping down on the bed, lying back.
“I see where you’re going with this, but it’s bound to happen if my friends are always around your friends. Especially since all of you look like that …” I gesture up and down his body with my hand.
“We don’t all look like this,” he jests, wagging his eyebrows. Seeing him lie on the bed, his hands resting under his head, brings back memories of a couple weeks ago.
I straddle him, leaning over to get close to his face. “No, you definitely don’t all look like this. This …” I say, grinding my pelvis into his semi-hard dick, “… is one of a kind and all mine.”
His hands are on my hips, helping me grind harder against him. My pulse quickens as I feel his arousal, now completely hard. He moans out when I slip my hand down his shorts and stroke him.
Max’s voice comes through the speakers and stops my movement.
“We leave in ten minutes,” he states.
I giggle against Aiden’s chest. But instead of stopping, I increase the pressure of my stroke. I don’t want to stop. I need Aiden to loosen up.
So, I don’t. But instead of my hand, I push down and finish with my mouth. After we’re done, I still have five minutes to clean myself up. Go, Addison, I internally high-five myself.
We slip into our chairs in the back of the plane. Aiden buckles my belt for me this time.
“Feel better?” I whisper in his ear when he’s leaning over me.
He chuckles. “I need to get mad more often.”
Flying into Orlando, I immediately felt the humidity hit me when we step off the plane. I breathe in the thick, fresh air. It makes me miss Texas, especially when I have to breathe in car exhaust, garbage smells, random food street vendors—well, those aren’t all bad—and other unknown smells daily. Watching the palm tree-lined streets whisk by on our way to our rented house, it reminds me of Galveston where Syd and I spent many spring breaks.
Lexi has exhausted herself from being so excited. She’s passed out in the backseat. I love watching her sleep. Aiden turns his head and sees me. “She’s so awesome,” he says quietly as he grabs my hand.
“She is. Her excitement is contagious. I can’t wait to ride Dumbo or It’s a Small World with her and see everything through her eyes.”
Aiden chuckles. “Syd warned me about you and It’s a Small World.”
“So, it’s not my favorite ride,” I say, throwing my hand up. He narrows his eyes at me. “Okay. I hate that ride, but I’d do it for Lexi. I’m sure she’ll love it.”
Although we rented a huge house for everyone, we rented three cars to shuttle us around. When we get to the house, we all pile in and find our rooms. One of the rooms is all Disney themed, which Lexi called dibs on as soon as she sees it. It’s her new favorite word thanks to Max.
Amy made homemade biscuits and gravy for everyone this morning for breakfast, and Max called dibs on the last one. Ever since Max told her what it means (because she wanted to know if she should be getting money for a bad word), she’s been calling dibs on everything.
“What if me and Sydney wanted to sleep on the bunk beds?” Damon jokes, standing behind us. Lexi is sitting on the top bunk, scowling at Damon.
“I don’t think so! I called dibs!” she snaps through gritted teeth, hands on her hips.
“You tell ’em, Lulu,” Max calls, walking past us as we all burst into laughter.
The house has eight rooms. There is plenty of room so we don’t have to double up. I tell Aiden I think it’s a good idea that we sleep in separate rooms because of Lexi. He moans and groans until I tell him that we don’t actually have to stay out of each other’s room. I shake my head at him. He’s going to need to get better at this when Lexi lives with me.
Katie decides to stay in one of the rooms, too. I do remind the others that we have a child with us, so I better not hear one damn moan coming out of any bedroom.
“How’s that going to work? You’re usually a screamer, baby,” Aiden whispers in my ear.
Katie covers her ears. “You did not whisper that quiet enough. My ears are bleeding,” she says sarcastically.
I elbow Aiden in the ribs. “Well, I guess that means you’ll just have to wait till we get home.”
“Yes, that’s a great idea.” Katie laughs.
“Shit. We’ll find a way to make you quiet,” he says, biting my ear and ignoring Katie all together. Goosebumps spread over me. I take a few steps away from him. I look over my shoulder, and he wiggles his eyebrows and flashes a wicked smile.
I mouth, “Stop,” when Lexi comes bouncing into the room. He laughs loudly. “Tater Tot, you ready to go ride some roller coasters?”
Her eyes go wide. “Only if you hold my hand. Really tight,” she says in a small voice.
He flips her over, putting her on top of his shoulders. “I think you’re going to need to hold my hand really tight. You’re braver than me,” he says, jumping around. She squeals, holding onto his hair.
An hour later we’re standing in line to enter Disney World. Max bought everyone three-day, park-hopper passes, so Lexi is looking at the map, rambling on about what she wants to do. We all split up into three lines, hoping to quicken the park entrance experience, because this sucks.
We all end up going through together. And I’m not entirely sure this wasn’t planned, but Max, Damon, and Aiden all go through their designated metal detectors. Buzzing and lights flashing like a carnival ride causes everyone to look our direction. I drop my head, slapping my forehead.
Security is there almost instantly. Of course people are nosy, so the noise level has dropped to almost a whisper. Lots of them are wondering what’s going on. Aiden and Damon take out their badges, and Max takes out a piece of paper. They’re escorted to the side so the employees can continue pushing us through like herds of cattle.
“That’s a bunch of bullshit,” Damon snaps as we walk into the park. Lexi clears her throat, holding out her hand. He doesn’t even question it, he just pulls out his wallet and hands her a ten-dollar bill. “Just call that my deposit for the day, Lulu.”
“Thanks, Peter Pan,” she says, shoving the money in her pocket.
The guys had to put their firearms in a lockbox, so we have three grumpy guys.
“Do you know the last time I went without my gun?” Aiden whines, threading his fingers through mine. I shake my head wondering if I’ve ever seen him without it. “I can’t either! I feel naked.”
Lexi goes to his other side, grabbing his hand. “Don’t be sad, Aiden. You got the bad guy,” she says, looking up at him with big eyes.
He nods his head as he looks down at her. He pockets his feelings and flashes a big smile. “You’re right, Tater Tot. We don’t have anything to worry about here.”
All three guys paint on smiles for Lexi and take off running around. She’s passed from guy to guy, and they spoil her rotten all day. Lexi just mentions she wants something and it magically appears. She really thinks Disney is magical.
“He’s so good with Lexi,” Katie says as we walk around. “He’s going to be a great dad someday.”
I smile wide, watching them ahead of us as they stand in line to meet Tigger. Lexi’s bouncing up and down, calling Tigger’s name over and over to get his attention. I laugh, seeing four huge men stand in line with a little girl.
When she can’t get Tigger’s attention, Aiden yells loudly, “Hey, Tigger.” He looks over quickly at the deep voice, and Max points to a jumping Lexi, waving her hand. He must decide it’s probably best to wave to Lexi when he sees the guys taking up half the line. She squeals excitedly.
“He’s going to be amazing. He is amazing,” I say, wrapping my arm through hers. “I’m so happy you’re here. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I’ve been so busy.”
“Addison, don’t apologize. I understand,” she says softly. “I’m just glad you and my brother found your way back to each other.”
Me, too.
“So what’s this I hear about you and Jaxon?”
She sighs heavily. “It’ll never happen. Jaxon is too loyal to Aiden, and Aiden won’t allow it.”
“I think I can make him change his mind,” I say. At least I have goods to barter.
Sydney comes skipping over from the bathroom. Our feet are killing us already, so we sit down on a bench. I can’t believe this is just day one. How did we do it when we were little?
The next two days are rinse and repeat, just at different parks. I am exhausted. So exhausted, that last night I fell asleep on the bottom bunk in Lexi’s room. You’d think I was out of shape, because today I feel like my body is protesting from doing anything. I think it perks up a bit when I tell myself we’re going home today. The best thing about this vacation? Lexi hated It’s a Small World.
As I pile everything into our rental car and all the other rental cars, too, I laugh at how much stuff the guys got Lexi. And Aiden thought I went overboard with her room. Holy shit, how are we going to get this all on the plane?