Sage wiggles from her position on my lap as Mia puts purple lip stick on her tiny lips. “You’re gonna look muy caliente!”
“She’s four,” I swiftly scold my sister. “She shouldn’t be looking muy caliente.”
“Muy caliente,” Sage repeats and presses her lips together the same way Mia does.
“Relax, I didn’t mean it like that. Now squeeze them together, so I can take a picture of my amazing skills.”
My hand flies to block her camera. “Absolutely not. We do not post pictures of Holden’s kids without his permission.”
She drops her hand on her hip. “¿Lo dice en serio? She needs a waiver to have her picture taken?”
“Mia,” my tone is firm and unwavering. “This is not a discussion or up for debate. Sage is not my daughter.” The words sting as they slip off my tongue. “She’s Holden’s. He is her father. They’re his rules. Got it?”
Mia rolls her eyes and turns the camera to take a selfie. “I wish she were yours. Then we could shop like this all the time and take tons of pictures. No permission slip necessary.”
“I wish you were my mommy too,” Sage turns around and coos.
The unexpected comment filled with sincerity stings my chest in new ways.
Every day I spend more time with them, I find myself hating their mother for not loving them and hating myself for ever walking away in the first place. They needed me then just like they need me now.
I won’t walk away this time.
Nothing can keep me from giving them the love they deserve, including Holden.
“Miss Meena, I wanna take my picture,” she pouts. “Can we take one? Por favor?”
Her use of Spanish spurs Mia to swoon. “Eso es muy lindo! Did you teach her to speak Spanish?”
“She knows some words and phrases. Actually, they all do now.”
“Even Daddy!” Sage announces.
Mia gives me an inappropriate expression. “I bet he does…”
“Stop that,” I fuss, removing my phone from my purse.
“Por favor, dime que dos de ustedes son una pareja ahora?” Her eyes widen at the same time enthusiasm fills them. “Por favor, dime que vas a casarte con él y tienes muchos bebés!”
As much as I would love to tell her marriage and babies are on the way, it’s ridiculous to even think about. We haven’t been dating that long, even if it feels like we’ve been together for a lifetime already, and on a sadder note, I’m not ever sure I can get pregnant again.
But God if I can I hope it’s with him.
“Sí. Ahora somos unidos.”
She starts jumping and squealing like she’s won some sort of prize.
I shake my head while turning on the camera for Sage and me to take a selfie. “Why does this excite you so much?”
“Because you like never date and if you never date you’ll never marry and if you never marry I never have a niece to dress up.” She motions her hand towards Sage. “Like this.”
Nope. Not gonna bother telling her I am a serial dater.
Was.
Was a serial dater.
“You do know there’s no guarantee even if I have kids that I’ll have a girl.”
“Yeah, but you already have Sage, so that really cancels out any future worries.”
Unbelievable.
“Smile for daddy,” I encourage her as she leans into me.
After the first picture, Mia states, “Now model face like Aunt Mia showed you!”
Sage makes a fierce look with pursed lips and I do it too for the sake of the photo. Once I’m finished and the adorable child approves, I send them to Holden, with a heart text.
Reaching for one of the makeup remover wipes, I announce, “Let’s get this make up off of you while Aunt Mia picks out one set for me to buy her.”
My sister squeaks and throws hers arms around the two of us squishing Sage in the middle. We laugh and hug back.
“You have no idea how much this means to me!” Mia overdramatically says. “I’ll use it for my headshots!”
A skeptical look appears on my face. “Are mom and Papi aware of these headshots?”
She less than innocently looks away.
“You cannot by law, get those without their approval, Mia,” my voice takes a protective, parental tone. “There are reasons those laws exist. It’s not to stop teenagers from becoming famous, obviously, it’s to protect creeps in the world from preying on you.
“Meena-”
“No. Por favor, no me hagas el villano aquí.”
“Aunt Mia she said please,” Sage interjects as she allows me to scrub her face.
My little sister tries not to smile at the title.
Ugh. One hard conversation at a time. Besides, Sage calling what could one day actually be her aunt, aunt prematurely, is way less of an issue than my sister sneaking off to let a stranger photograph her.
“The moment mom and Papi approve, I will not only buy your wardrobe for it, I’ll drive you to the audition or to get your picture taken.” I try to offer her a comforting smile. “This is about safety, Mia. Nothing else.”
She tosses her hands up in a tantrum. “Fine! Whatever. I won’t go….even though he said he thought I had so much talent he would do them for gratis.”
Also, not a good sign. No one in the industry expects something for nothing, no matter how much ‘talent’ they think you have.
“I will pay the fee. All you have to do is find a legit agency, one that mom and Papi approve of and Holden can prove is actually real.”
“Eso es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo,” she mumbles stomping off.
“Miss Meena,” Sage starts, blue eyes now looking up at me. “Can we go look at toys when Aunt Mia’s finished?”
Despite being given the perfect opportunity to correct the name, I don’t. “We sure can!”
She voices her joy seconds before my cell phone vibrates across the counter.
I quickly pick it up and smile at the message.
Holden: My loves.
With a wide grin and bursting heart, I scroll down to the picture he sent of him and Lynk on the couch with controllers in their hands.
“Is that daddy?” Sage questions, pulling my hand down. She smiles at the sight. “They’re having fun too!”
After placing a kiss on the side of her forehead, I say, “They sure are…Let me text him back and then we can go find where Mia disappeared to.”
Quickly, my fingers fly across the keys.
Me: Y mío.
And they are.
The Reiss family, all three of them, make me very thankful I never stayed any other place too long. Hopefully, for the first time in my life, I truly am done traveling the world avoiding everything while looking for nothing.
Hopefully, this really is it.