Knocking up a girl at twenty didn’t give me room to decide if I ever wanted to get married or have children. I stepped into the role of a father and accepted it knowing I wasn’t going to be like mine. I promised myself that Tess and Hannah would have a present father. But I had no idea how to keep that promise when I never had a good example.

Nonetheless, I tried my best. At times I felt like a failure, and others, I just tried not to screw up. Some days I wondered if not taking my daughters away from Alicia was fucking up. If I should do something. There weren’t any signs of abuse. The girls loved her. They never complained about her and went back to her house happily.

But the shit Alicia pulled sometimes was unacceptable. Following the signs was different from following my gut. Something told me that Alicia both neglected and spoiled my children when I wasn’t watching. Today wasn’t an exception; her actions never failed to infuriate me. And when they affected my girls, it enraged me to the point of wanting to call the lawyer and fight her for full custody.

“That’s a flower shop,” Hannah pointed to the big sign that read Hummingbird Flower Designs.

She crossed her arms and came to a complete stop.

“Trust me, Pumpkin,” I opened the door and directed her inside. “Is anyone home?”

“You promised to take me somewhere fun where they’ll organize my party,” Hannah pouted and stomped her feet. “This is just a boring flower shop.”

Her frustration didn’t allow her to listen to reason. It wasn’t her fault. Her mother had failed her. Since that woman always poisoned the girls against me, I had no doubt that Hannah didn’t expect much from me. But I always came through with my promises.

“Sweetheart, I get that you’re upset about what happened, but give me a chance.”

“Nothing is boring in this shop, young lady,” Raven said as she walked toward the counter. “We have books, toys, fun things to color, puzzles, and coming next week, kits to make your own jewelry.”

“Kits to make your own jewelry?” Hannah gave Raven her full attention.

“I see you guys are carrying new jewelry.” I pointed toward the big owl logo on top of the table.

“Yep. Owl Creations came by. The artist suggested the kits along with a few pieces.”

“Thea came through?”

Thea was the wife of a good friend of mine. A former child actress who, after living in front of the cameras for so long, she preferred to keep herself out of the public eye. When I told her about the flower shop and its originality, she agreed to visit and see if she’d sell some of her stuff in here.

“Yep, she’s actually giving some exclusives to the store thanks to a mysterious referral.” She smiled at me. “Sadie is over the moon.”

I looked around the shop searching for the little fairy. “Where is she?”

“Delivering the last bouquets of the day. She got her daily chai tea. Do you know something about that?”

“I might.”

“Who is Sadie?” Hannah frowned. Her light brown eyes stared at me suspiciously.

“She owns this place, and my sources tell me that she also organizes parties.”

“I don’t want flowers.” Hannah clamped her mouth.

“You would if you wanted a fairy party,” Raven said, opening a binder.

“Fairy party?” Once again, Hannah offered her undivided attention to Raven. “You have those?”

“We have pictures of some of the parties we’ve organized. If you’re interested, I can show them to you.” Raven walked into the office and came back carrying a binder. “When is this party?”

“Next Saturday,” I bit the anger.

I had one week to come up with a birthday party for thirty-some kids. Which included her school friends and the girls from her ballet class. Alicia swore she had everything under control. But yesterday she announced that she hadn’t had time to organize Hannah’s birthday party.

You’re kidding, Raven mouthed.

I shook my head.

“Sadie won’t be long,” Raven said, searching around the counter and under it. “Let me call her, see where she’s at.”

“Rae, you never texted me back, and I didn’t pick up lunch.” I heard her voice coming from the back room. “We should order something or call Mr. Fudge Nuggets who spoiled me this past couple of weeks.”

“We have a customer, boss. They want us to organize a party—for next Saturday.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Sadie came to a halt, her wide eyes staring at Hannah. “I assume you’re the customer looking for a party.”

Hannah pressed her lips together and crossed her arms again.

“My name is Sadie, and I will be happy to serve you.” She took off the baseball cap, letting her hair flow around her shoulders.

I counted by twos when she took off her jacket revealing a light pink tank top that showed her perky boobs. If Hannah wasn’t here, I’d be dragging her to the freezer.

“How can I help you?” She rested her forearms on the counter, bending forward and staring at Hannah.

“You can’t,” Hannah dismissed her. “This is a flower shop.”

“It’s not your regular flower shop if that’s what you think,” Sadie said gleefully, fighting Hannah’s surly attitude. “We do a lot of things here, even magic.”

Sadie winked at Hannah. “I can even guess your name.”

“You can’t.” My daughter’s voice came out too harsh.

“Pumpkin, simmer down. Cut the attitude.”

“Let me try.” Sadie drummed her fingers on top of her mouth. “Hannah?”

She gasped. “How did you know?”

“Fairy powers,” Sadie responded. “What can I do for you?”

“I want a party. A big party.” Hannah extended her arms to either side, her eyes opened wide, and her smile followed. “With unicorns and a unicorn cake.”

Then she slumped her shoulders. “But my mom said that unicorns aren’t real and that my friends canceled. But Daddy promised to fix it. He said that it was a misunderstanding.”

“This sounds serious, but like something we can fix.”

“You can’t. This isn’t a party store,” Hannah explained, her voice trembled with anger. “This is a flower shop.”

Hannah pointed at the sign. “You design flowers.”

“No, I design bouquets. The arrangements go to different places. Hotels, weddings, parties of all kinds. But I also have balloons and know people who make the best cakes and can rent me bouncy castles.”

“Tess says that bouncy castles are for little kids.”

“We have all types of different things, even ponies,” Sadie salvaged the moment. “We should start with the details. When did you say is the big day?”

“Next Saturday,” I sighed.

“Oh wow, that’s…” Sadie closed her mouth tight. “In seven days.”

“More or less,” I looked at her, my eyes begging her to do something.

My desperation knew no limits. I’d pay rush-charges and do her laundry for a month.

“Raven, can you take our customer to the table? I have a few things that I need to bring over.” Sadie turned to me. “Would you mind helping me Mr. F—Hades.”

I grinned because Fudge Nuggets was coming out of her mouth.

“What the fuck?” She asked when she closed the door of the fridge behind me.

My jaw dropped the moment I heard her cussing. Sadie had a whole live, love, laugh mentality. When she got angry, it was because someone had fucked up royally. In the three weeks since I’d met her, I’d never even seen her upset, let alone dropping f-bombs.

“Sorry, I didn’t know where else to go.” I rubbed my neck, flabbergasted by her tone and the flare coming out of her eyes. What did I do to her? “I thought … but if you can’t?”

“Oh, I can! I am just raging because of your ex.” Her hands became two tight fists. “If only I could punch her, or at least give her a piece of my mind.”

“You’re not mad at me.”

“I’d be punching you in the gut if I were,” she joked, smiling a bit. “What happened?”

“She never organized the party,” I said, leaning my body against the door. “Poor Hannah is heartbroken thinking that her friends didn’t want to come.”

“Your ex is a bitch.”

“How refreshing. Your mouth is showing me its naughty side,” I smirked. “Are you sweet on the outside and naughty on the inside?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I’m dying to find out how naughty you are, Miss Bell,” I grabbed her hand and brought it to my mouth, pressing a soft kiss on her knuckles. “I’m going to lick the sweet cover and find out how to get to the center.”

Sadie snatched her hand. “Your daughter is only a few feet away, Mr. Hades,” she chided me.

“One day, I’ll be pushing you up against the wall of this fridge and fucking you hard while you scream, ‘More, Mr. Hades.’”

Sadie glanced over at me but continued to walk around. “Party details, Kaden.” She snapped her fingers. “You said next Saturday, but what time?”

“Early, late, I don’t fucking know. Any time would work for me. I’m lost.” I grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from pacing back and forth. “You were the first person I thought of when I got the news. But you don’t have to do anything. If you can just—”

“Hey, Mr. Fudge Nuggets, I’m here for you, okay?” She cupped my cheeks, and I wanted to hold her in my arms and capture her mouth. Bury myself deep inside her and forget about Alicia for a few minutes.

“I’m glad you came to me,” she whispered. “This can be done. We just need to power through it and make it perfect—for her.”

Her words, her voice, everything calmed me. I lifted my hand, caressed her beautiful face with the back of my finger. “You’re incredible.”

“Stop it, Hades.” She pushed me lightly. “Before I go see what I can do for her, I need a budget.”

“Don’t worry about the cost.”

“I won’t splurge, but I’m warning you. This won’t be cheap.” She grabbed a basket, placed a few flowers in it and handed it to me. “Let me go to the office to grab all my binders. You might want to get us some tea and soda. We have a lot to get through.”

Per Sadie’s request, I swung by the coffee shop to buy a smoothie for Hannah, coffee for Raven, and another chai tea for her. For an hour I was invisible to Sadie and Hannah. Everything revolved around my daughter and what she wanted for her birthday.

I couldn’t remember when Alicia had ever dedicated that much time to either one of our daughters. A stranger treated Hannah as if she were the only kid in the world and her wishes mattered more than anything else.

My sometimes-inflexible daughter, who didn’t take well to strangers allowed for a switch from unicorns to ponies. The theme was enchanted forest. One of the activities would be to build your own fairy wings.

“We still need a garden,” Raven said, setting the phone on the counter. “Everything is booked for next week.”

“That’s it.” Sadie exhaled and grabbed her phone. “I’m going to have to make the call.”

“Not the call,” Raven gasped, then turned to me. “Are you going to let her make the call?”

“It’s our last resort, Rae,” Sadie said dramatically, touching her chest before she pressed send. “There’s nothing he can do.”

All eyes were on her, as she took a deep breath. “Hey, Daddy,” Sadie said with a chirpy tone.

I arched an eyebrow, waiting for more.

“How are you?” She rolled her eyes and smiled. “I’m glad that you closed the deal. Oh well, that’s perfect.” Sadie looked at her nails. “That’s incredible. I hope you and Angelique enjoy the trip. What?” She shook her head. “You broke up with Angelique. Ah, that’s nice that you met someone new. I’ll be happy to meet her. Well, since you’re going out of town, would you mind renting me your garden and the pool house for a party?

“No, it’s not for me, it’s for a customer. Yes, I trust them, Dad. You will? Well, that’s pretty generous of you. Oh, that’s my birthday present.”

Her shoulders slumped, and I wanted to ask when her birthday was. But I couldn’t interrupt the call.

“Well, thank you for your generosity. Of course, I’ll be fine, Dad. I’m going to be twenty-eight. You said she’ll be there for six months this time. Well, there’s not much I can do, she’s a grown woman, isn’t she? Yes, Daddy, I’ll make sure the guests don’t go into the main house. Thank you so much.”

She hung up and high fived Raven. “We got it, but I’m going to have to endure dinner with him before he goes out of town.”

“It can’t be that bad,” I suggested. “Spending time with your father must be fun.”

I’d hate it if my daughters didn’t want to spend any time with me when they get older.

“He’s bringing his new girlfriend. I doubt she’s over twenty-two, and he’ll be on the phone,” Sadie explained. “Not as fun as you might think.”

Then she turned to Hannah, “We have the best garden in all of Bellevue. It’s magical.” She whispered the last two words.

“All you have to do now is give us the list of your guests, and we’ll have the invitations ready by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Sunday,” I reminded her.

“Well, the party is next Saturday, and she needs to deliver those invites by Monday.”

“Do you think it will be cool enough that all the kids in my class will want to come?”

“Hey, it’s about having a cool party,” Sadie says, “But they’re also coming because they love you.”

Hannah hugged herself, her chin dropped to her chest. “Mom said that nobody wanted to come to my party.”

“Maybe the invitations got lost, and that’s why they didn’t RSVP, Hannah.” Sadie took her hand, squeezing it.

“This time, we’ll make sure everyone receives it. Maybe your dad can hand-deliver the invitations to your teacher?”

“That’s a great idea,” I agreed.

“Can you get the list to Miss Tinkerbelle, Dad?”

“Sadie Bell,” I corrected her. “Miss Sadie is more like Rosetta or Iridessa.”

“Rosetta!” Hannah gasped.

Then she clapped with enough enthusiasm to make me want to jump from my seat.

“She’s the flower fairy,” Hannah concluded and smiled at Sadie.

“I hate to break up the celebration party, but we have two more arrangements in the queue,” Raven announced, checking her watch. “Do you want me to stay?”

“No, I’ll do them.” Sadie closed the binders and her notebook. “I can come back afterward and close the store. Go home. You have plans with your family.”

“Hey, Hannah. Do you mind if we stay to help Miss Sadie?”

“Can we?” Hannah asked, her face illuminated with awe.

“You don’t have to,” Sadie insisted. “Go home, I have everything under control.”

“Please, it’s the least I can do.”

I needed to be by her side. It had been hard not seeing her today, but after the way she treated Hannah, I wanted to hug her, kiss her. Thank you wasn’t enough. Words weren’t enough when it came to Sadie.

“Okay,” she agreed.

It didn’t take us long to pull the material for the arrangement. After working with Sadie for a couple of weeks, I knew pretty much where everything was stored. Hannah helped her with the flowers while I cleaned the front of the store. When they were done, Sadie and I straightened the working table and swept the floors before leaving. I put the arrangements in my Suburban. It was easier to use my car since I had a car seat for Hannah. We made two stops, and Hannah joined Sadie for the second one.

“I got a cookie,” Hannah declared holding the treat with one hand.

“But we agreed that you can’t eat it until your dad says it’s okay.”

Hannah, who wasn’t patient, handed me the cookie and gave me a sharp nod. Sadie impressed me. She was a pro at handling both last-minute emergencies and children. I wanted to kiss her badly, but with Hannah in the car, I wasn’t going to act.

This was the first time I’d introduced my kid to a woman, but until Sadie and I had something substantial, I would keep things on the down low.

“You made my kid happy,”

“No, she made someone happy, that’s why she’s smiling.”

“Ah the Sadie-Belle-mantra, how could I forget it.” I turned on the engine. “Where to?”

“Home. It’s been a long Saturday.”

“Your birthday’s coming up?”

“Maybe,” she shrugged. “That reminds me. The garden is free.”

“How much does he usually charge for it?”

“Three grand. It’s worth it though, but I don’t ask for it unless it’s my last resort. Dad’s always around scaring away my clients. Thankfully, he’s going to be out of town.”

I didn’t say anything, but I planned on paying her. For the little I could hear during her phone conversation, the use of the garden was her birthday present. If I gave my daughters a gift, it was because I wanted them to enjoy it. Not to pass it on to someone else.

When I dropped Sadie off, I wanted to stay with her for the rest of the evening. But Hannah was with me, and I wasn’t ready to share Sadie with anyone else. Our time together was mine—for now.

“Send me the list to prepare those invitations. If you send me your address, I can drop them by tomorrow.”

“I’ll text it to you when I get home, call me if you need anything else from me.”

“It was nice to meet you, Hannah.”

“I like her,” Hannah said after Sadie entered her apartment building. “Can we go get a magical outfit for my party?”

“Where do we get those?”

She shrugged. “Why don’t you ask Sadie? She might know.”

I didn’t waste time. My daughter gave me the best excuse to spend more time with Sadie.

“Yeah?” Sadie answered her phone.

“We need help.”

“With what?”

“A party outfit, do you have some time to go shopping with us?”

She remained quiet for several seconds. I checked the phone to verify that she was still on the line. “Sade?”

“I shouldn’t, Kade,” her voice was severe, dry.

“Why not?” My heart beat fast. Did she have a date?

“Because I’m getting used to being around you … too much. It’s not healthy, not for me.”

What did that mean? Did she finally confirm that there was indeed some magnetic pull between us? I wanted to run toward her apartment and finally kiss her.

“Those lines are getting pretty blurred, Kaden.”

If she let me, I would erase them all, and demolish all the walls in an instant as well.

“What’s going on, Daddy?”

However, I had to think about everyone. Tess, Hannah, and Sadie. Even Alicia. If she learned I was going out with someone, she’d go batshit crazy.

“Please,” I begged her. “This is a serious matter. We have to find the perfect outfit.”

“Please, Sadie!” Hannah didn’t know the reason for her hesitation though.

“On one condition,” Sadie said.

“What?”

“We don’t see each other until next Saturday.”

My lungs collapsed, my heart stopped.

“Sadie,” I closed my eyes, recovering my breathing.

It had been hard enough to go through a Saturday morning without her. I knew we wouldn’t see each other this weekend, but now that I had a reason to be with her, I didn’t want to waste it. She couldn’t take away my week. Soon I’d be taking off for New York, and I’d miss her like crazy.

“This is a bad idea,” she mumbled.

“Sorry, but I need you.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe that you’re actually sorry, Mr. Hades. But I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”

“Is she coming with us, Dad?”

“Yeah, she is.”