Thorn

I couldn’t believe the past six weeks had passed as quickly as they had. I also couldn’t believe that our baby girl was already almost five months old. The first time she rolled over I was so proud and cheered her on. Now she was scooting all over the place. We were about to have a mobile baby, and then the fun would really begin.

Lily and I had been growing closer and closer with each passing day. I knew coming out with the big questions to begin our little game was risky and that she could clam up, but she played along. Now, it wasn’t a question as to whether I would be here every afternoon, it was an expectation. We took turns cooking meals and bathing the baby. We were our own little family. Just without the title of being together. Something she was adamant that neither of us were ready for. I knew better, but I didn’t push her. Until now. She’d put off me being a part of her weekly family get-togethers. She’d always made some sort of excuse for me not to attend with her. Today I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I hadn’t had the courage to ask yet if she’d even told them I was in the picture. Until today. Enough was enough. We wouldn’t be able to move forward in my eyes if she didn’t take this next step. A step which I felt we were ready for.

“Are you about ready to go?” I asked when she came down the hallway with the baby in tow. She and Hali were in matching dresses and white sandals. The baby talked her gibberish in Lily’s arms and reached out for me when I came into her view. I’d never forget the first day she reached for me when I got here from a meeting late one night. Every frustration disappeared the moment she laid her head down on my chest and cuddled into me.

“We are. She takes longer to get dressed now that she’s trying to roll over as I’m trying to change her clothes,” she said as she let out an exhausted breath.

“I know. It’s funny how she gets mad when you roll her back over so you can finish. She hates when I change her because I don’t let her get her way.” I let out a laugh thinking back to last night when I finished drying her off and tried to get her diaper on. She didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t let her roll over.

Lily picked up the diaper bag that I’d helped her get ready while she was changing Hali, and I stood to follow. I probably should’ve told her I wanted to attend before she was about to walk out the door, but she would've had time to think about a way to either not go or go before I knew she’d left. This way she couldn’t really try to get out of it. She could only object, but I had my ways to entice her.

I walked out the door behind her and followed her down to the parking garage. After I helped her strap the baby inside, I got into the passenger seat like I was meant to be there.

She opened the driver’s side door cautiously with a questioning look in her eyes.

“What are you doing, Thorn?” she asked as she buckled her seatbelt and pushed the button to start the car.

“I’m going with you. I want to meet the family I’ve heard so much about. I want to be involved in that part of your life. You say you want to move forward, but you’re holding us back by keeping me out of the loop.”

“I don't mean to do that. I just haven’t been ready. My family can be a handful, and I didn’t want to send you running once you met them. We just started these family dinners a few months ago, and I didn’t know how to include you.”

“Do they even know about me?” This was part of the test. Would I be mad that she hadn’t told them? Not really. Disappointed? Yes.

“They know about you to the extent that you and I had a fling and created Hali,” she whispered as she looked away.

“Hey,” I said as I leaned toward her and placed my hand on the side of her face so she’d look at me.

“None of that. We’ll tell them together. I’m not ashamed of us or the time we spent together. We’re consenting adults, and I love what we’re building here, Lily. I won’t let you go at this alone,” I reassured her as she leaned into my touch.

I took that as a sign to lean in and place a gentle kiss on her forehead. She looked up at me with pleading eyes and pulled me back into her, this time crashing our lips together. Her brazenness took me by surprise for a brief second, but I quickly regained my bearings and kissed her with the intensity that she sought.

We pulled away when the baby made noises from the backseat, breathless.

“I take it that you agree with me going with you,” I chuckled as I wiped the wetness from my lips.

She breathed in heavily with a smile on her face as if she was pleased with herself. She’d yet to react to me that way, and I couldn't say that I wasn’t elated that she seemed to be opening up to the idea of us more with each passing day.

“Let’s go and get this over with. I hated leaving you behind anyway,” she said as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space.

“How far away do your parents live?” She hadn’t talked much about her family, but then again, our focus had been Hali.

“About half an hour depending on traffic. I like living this close to them. It’s close enough that it doesn’t take forever to get there, but just enough distance that we aren’t on top of each other.”

“That’s not too bad. Tell me a little about them. Do you have any siblings? I feel horrible for not already knowing this already,” I replied as I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers within her own.

Just another way to realize how backward we’d done things.

“My mom was a school teacher. She’s retired now and loves tending to her garden and spending time with her grandchildren. My father worked on the railroad. He worked for a company that repaired the railways and handled derailments. He’s retired now too. I have a brother named Joshua. He’s the oldest and doesn’t let my sister or I forget it. He’s an accountant and loves anything numbers. He and his wife, Amelia, have two sons, JJ and Jesse. My sister’s name is Anna, she’s the middle child and a teacher. She and her husband, Brandon, also have two boys, Taylor and Brent. All four boys are a handful, especially when they are together.”

Wow. That was a lot of names. I hoped I could keep up when I met them all.

“That makes you the baby and our daughter their first granddaughter.” My heart swelled with pride at that realization. She’d have so many people to protect her as she grew. A fact I was sure she’d hate the older she got.

“Yeah. My brother is eight years older than me, and Anna is four years older than me. They drove me crazy growing up.”

I never knew what having siblings was like. Hell, I didn’t know what having a family was like until now.

“That makes you?” We hadn’t even discussed our ages. I needed to get it together and learn the more important things about this woman.

“I’m thirty. And you’ve only got one question left for the day.”

“You can’t possibly mean that. We were having a conversation.”

“That we were. One where you asked two personal questions about me. Now you’ve only got one more for the day,” she replied as she gave me a cocky smirk.

“You little…” I began as I leaned in closer to her. The car coming to a stop caused me to pause and take in our surroundings. She placed the car in park and looked over at me.

“You can’t finish that statement because we’re here. You sure you’re ready for this? We haven’t even made anything official yet.”

Not for the lack of trying. I wanted official. She wasn’t ready.

I pulled her toward me and stopped her from continuing what she was going to say with a kiss. Our lips entangled with each other. I licked her top lip with the tip of my tongue to hint that I wanted to enter her mouth. She opened just enough, and I lost all train of thought. I didn’t care that we were in the car in front of her parents’ house. All I cared about was staking a claim on the woman that I wanted. She’d get the hint hopefully, and this discussion wouldn’t need to be had again. If not, I’d gladly keep reminding her until she agreed.

She pulled back from the kiss before I was ready to let her go. Her lips were swollen and her face was a little red from the day-old stubble on my cheeks.

“Does that help you see how official I’d like us to be?”

She nodded as she pulled down the visor and checked her makeup, using her fingers to fix the smear from her lipstick.

Reluctantly, I wiped my lips to get rid of any traces of what had just occurred.

We got out of the car. She grabbed Hali’s bag, and I picked up the carrier that held our sleeping baby girl. We walked up the sidewalk, and I took in the well-manicured lawn and the brick rancher that from the outside looked homey and a great place to raise a family.

A younger woman opened the door before we could even knock, bouncing with excitement.

“It’s about time you got in here. That kiss was hot by the way,” she said as she pulled Lily inside of the home. I followed, trying to hide my smile at what the woman had said.

“Hush it, Anna,” Lily warned. Apparently, the giddy woman was her sister. I took a better look at her and could see the resemblance. She had long dark hair like Lily and was similar in height. Their facial features were also similar.

I followed the women down a hallway and a small stairwell into what I presumed was the living room of the home.

All eyes were on me as I entered. I could see the questions that passed between everyone’s eyes when they looked at me then Lily, then back at me. I wanted to say something, but wanted to give Lily a chance to go first.

She looked back at me and smiled before she turned back to face her family.

“Hey, everyone. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a guest along with me today. Everyone this is Arie.” She took turns pointing out who was who. The four small boys who appeared to range from the ages of two to six were all playing on the floor and giggling while Lily finished introducing everyone. One of the boys screamed and caused the baby to stir in her seat. I placed the seat down on the floor and bent down so I could take her out. She wouldn’t remain sleeping now that she’d been disrupted. It was almost her feeding time anyway, so she would’ve been waking soon.

“Come here, princess. It’s time to wake up so everyone can see you,” I whispered to her as she stretched my arms. She looked up at me and yawned before she let out a disgruntled sound to let me know how dissatisfied she was about having to wake up. She loved her sleep.

I placed her against my chest so her head was on my shoulder and rocked back and forth as I rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

Turning back to the crowd, I smiled at everyone when I noticed the four women, Lily included, were all looking at me with odd glances on their faces.

“It’s nice to finally meet everyone. Lily’s told me a lot about you.” It was partially true; I mean, she had just told me enough in the car.

“We’ve only heard just a little about you. What are your intentions with my sister?” her brother asked with his arms across his chest. His stance did nothing to deter me or frighten me the way he’d intended. If anything, it made me want to show him just how much I cared about his sister.

“I intend to make her one happy woman if she’ll let me.”

“And what about, Hali?”

“I plan to raise her alongside Lily. I don’t know how much you know, but the only thing that matters now is that I’m here and I want to be a father to this little girl more than anything else in the world.” I didn’t care about making an impression, but I wasn’t going to allow anyone to question my intentions with Lily and Hali.

“Well, alrighty then. Let’s go eat. Mom made her famous spaghetti,” her brother said as if nothing had just transpired between us. At the mention of spaghetti, my stomach rumbled.

“You handled that well,” Lily whispered in my ear as we walked down the hallway to the dining room/kitchen area. There was a table that seated ten on one side of the room and another smaller table that seated six that sat off in the breakfast nook area. Lily’s sister and sister-in-law got the plates ready for the boys and sat them around the table in their booster seats so they could sit comfortably and reach the table. I lay Hali down in the swing that sat in the corner and buckled her in. She seemed to enjoy the one that Lily had at her apartment. With a push of a button, the swing started to move, and Hali began to kick her feet in excitement.

“If you eat all your dinner, there are brownies and ice cream for desert,” Lily’s mom said as she spoke with delight at the four boys.

“Yay,” they all cheered in unison and then began to dig into their plates on an agenda.

Lily’s mom motioned for all of us to sit around the table. We all took turns passing the food around until everyone’s plates were filled with spaghetti and garlic bread.

“What do you do for a living, Arie?” her dad asked after he took his first bite of food.

“I help develop companies. I act as more of a silent partner in most of my ventures and help them get off the ground. I have a background in marketing as well, so I help them get traction on all avenues to grow their business without putting all of their cards in one basket.”

“What about family. Do you have any siblings?” This was the part of the conversation I would’ve avoided if I could.

“I’m not sure. I grew up in an orphanage in Greece. Once I was of age, I started the process to come to America.” I tried to find my parents, but never had any luck. The only thing I had were names on a birth certificate.

“You’ve made a life for yourself then,” her sister-in-law said.

“I certainly tried. It wasn’t easy, but I was a determined teenager.” I came to this country with one goal. To be someone I could be proud of. I didn’t want a family only because I didn’t know what my family history entailed. I could pass something off to a child that I didn’t know was a possibility. It wasn’t a chance I was willing to take. Until now. Having Hali changed my perspective on having a child. On what I wanted out of life.

“Lily tells us you work together. Is that how you found each other again?”

“Alright, enough with the interrogation. I’m sure Arie would like to enjoy his dinner in peace,” Lily spoke up. I didn’t mind the inquisition. I wanted them to see that I had nothing to hide and that I could be trusted with Lily. Keeping secrets, however difficult to discuss, wouldn’t do anything but damage what I was trying to build with her.

Hali started to fuss in the swing. I held out my hand to let Lily know she could remain sitting and went to get the baby. I made a bottle before I walked over and took her out of the swing.

“Is this what you want, sweet girl? Daddy’s got you,” I told her as I walked back over to my seat at the table and sat down.

“Brandon, how come you never did that?” her sister asked.

“Arie, you can’t go doing things like that and making us other men look bad. It’s in the man code,” her brother argued.

“I don’t mind it. Lily deserves the break, and I want to bond with her. I missed enough time. I don’t want to miss anything else.” I meant every word.

“He’s a keeper. Oh, and you men could learn a thing or two from him apparently,” Anna said with a wink.

I grinned at her before I looked down at my hungry daughter. Feeding time and bedtime were my favorite times of the day. She looked up at me with so much love and trust in her eyes, and my heart melted even more than the time before. In this short amount of time, she’d wrapped me around her little finger. I’d give her the world and then some.

The rest of the time spent at Lily’s parents’ home went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to like that I was there for Lily and Hali, and they even seemed interested in getting to know me. I took that as a good sign.

Lily looked exhausted by the time we were set to leave.

“How about you rest while I drive us back to your apartment?”

“Are you sure? I can drive,” she said with a yawn. Nope, not happening.

“I’m sure,” I replied, reaching out for the keys to the car.

She strapped Hali into the car and climbed into the passenger seat as I started the engine.

Before we got onto the main road, Lily’s soft snores filled the inside of the car.

I smiled at myself and how well I’d gotten to know her tells in the past month and a half.

We arrived at her apartment in no time at all since there was little traffic on the road.

Gently, I shook Lily’s arm to rouse her. I’d carry her up to her room if I could, but that wasn’t likely with having to carry Hali as well.

She mumbled something before she sat up fully in the seat.

“I wasn’t that tired when we left. I swear,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out on the pavement of the parking garage.

I grabbed the baby and her diaper bag out the backseat and let Lily lean onto me as we walked to the elevator. I pushed the button on the key fob to lock the doors before we got too far away from the car and placed the keys in my pocket.

Once we arrived on her floor, I pulled her keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. Placing my hand on Lily’s back, I guided her into the apartment.

“Why don’t you go get in your pajamas, and I’ll get this little one ready for bed?”

She didn’t object as she walked down the hall and in the direction of her bedroom.

I made a bottle and placed it in the water to warm. While it was warming, I got a washcloth warm so that I could wipe the baby down before I dressed her in a sleeper for bedtime.

She smiled up at me as I walked down the hall to her room. I laid her down on the changing table and took off the pretty dress that her mama had picked out for her to wear today.

“You were so good today at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten,” I said to her as I wiped her down with the cloth and rubbed lotion on her skin just like I’d seen Lily do the other day.

Of course, she didn’t respond, only tried to roll over while she kicked her little legs.

“Not so fast, young lady. You’ll fall off here if you keep trying to do that. And Daddy doesn’t want his baby girl getting hurt,” I continued to talk as I put her in the sleeper and zipped it up.

Just as I picked her up from the changing table, I heard the door squeak behind me.

“You’re such a good father,” she said from the doorway.

‘I could be so much more if you let me,’ I thought to myself.

“Someday,” she replied. Then I realized that I hadn’t kept that thought to myself, but had said it aloud.

I’d take the someday over the word never coming out of her mouth.

Hali kicked her feet and leaned toward her mom with her arms held out.

“Come here, my pretty girl. You smell so good,” Lily said softly to our growing daughter as she kissed her cheeks.

She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle from the water. After testing it on her wrist, she started to walk back toward the baby’s bedroom. I grabbed her by the arm to prevent her from walking any further. She looked up at me, questioning my intentions.

“Let’s sit on the couch together,” I suggested as I walked toward the comfortable piece of furniture. I sat down on the plush material and took off my shoes so I could sit comfortably.

She sat down next to me as she began to feed Hali. I pulled her closer to me and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. It was moments like this that I wished I could capture and keep forever. That thought sparked an idea, and I moved my hip so I could retrieve my phone from my pocket. Lily sat there feeding our daughter without a care in the world. It was the perfect moment to capture the three of us together.

I pulled up the camera app on my phone and positioned the device so that I could get all three of us in the photo. I pressed the button several times to make sure I got at least one good shot before I pushed the button on the side of the phone to shut it down.

“What did you do that for?” Lily asked.

I thought she couldn’t see what I was doing or I would’ve been more discreet.

“I wanted to capture this moment. Just the three of us,” I replied as I pulled her closer into me with one arm and rubbed the top of Hali’s head.

She smiled and laid her head down on my shoulder while we continued to watch our daughter eat.

I never pictured myself being domesticated, but right now there’s no other way I’d rather be.