CHAPTER EIGHT
Hank
THE WOOD FLOOR creaks under my feet as I sneak into Colby’s room to give her a kiss goodnight. I hate the nights when I can’t be here to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in. At least I’m home more than when I was a beat cop. The first two years of her life, I worked a lot of night and double shifts. No matter how exhausted I was, I never went a day without spending time with her.
I kneel next to her bed and gently run my fingers through her hair then kiss her forehead. Her eyes flutter open. “Hi Daddy,” she says in a groggy tone.
“Hi Princess. Did you have a good day?”
She nods her head. “I really wike Nora, Daddy. She’s so much fun and nice. We pwayed all day.” A little tired smile slides across her face.
“I’m glad you had a great time with Nora today. Go back to sleep and, in the morning, Daddy will make you chocolate chip waffles.” The morning after working late, we get up early, and I make Colby a special breakfast so we get a little extra time together in the morning.
“Yum. Goodnight Daddy. I wuv you.” Her eyes fall closed.
“I love you too, Princess,” I whisper then lean in to kiss her cheek. There are days when I look at Colby and can’t believe she’s mine, but moments like this, when I look down at her, I feel like I’m the luckiest man alive to have a sweet little girl like her in my life.
I close the door behind me and head downstairs to have a late dinner. The whirl of a sewing machine redirects my path to the dining room. Popping my head through the doorway, I find Nora hunched over her sewing machine surrounded by a mountain of pink, purple, and teal tulle. And yes, I know my tulle from organza. Her glasses sit low on the bridge of her nose, and a messy bun sits atop her head, making her look like a sexy librarian. I could get used to coming home to this view every night. In my head, if she was mine and I came home to her, we’d be rolling around naked all over that tulle.
The machine comes to a stop, and Nora’s head snaps up in surprise when she notices me standing in the doorway. “Holy shit, Hank. You scared me. How long have you been standing there?” she says between deep breaths.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m not use to having anyone but Colby here, so I was curious what you were doing. I’ll let you get back to work.”
“No, it’s fine, please stay if you’d like.” She smiles warmly.
I step further into the room and take a seat at the table across from Nora. “What are you making?” I ask.
“I’m making Colby some tutus for ballet and for play,” she replies, holding up the finished tutu for me to see. “She had so much fun at the class today, that’s all she could talk about for the rest of the day.”
“So, we have moved from fairies to ballerinas, huh?” Colby’s obsessions have changed and evolved since she was two. First, it was all about animals, we spent every weekend at the zoo, then she moved to Disney princesses, to her most recent obsession, fairies.
“The fairies are now fairy ballerinas.” She folds up the tutu and adds it to the stack sitting on the chair next to her.
“I’m seeing frilly tutus in my future.” I chuckle, shaking my head. The things I do to make my kid happy.
“It’s a good thing you look good in tulle.” She giggles. “Welcome to the world of having a girl.”
“I can’t imagine my life any other way. The only part I’m dreading is the teenage years and having boys coming around. If I get my way, she won’t date until I’m dead.” God’s sick fucking joke, giving me a girl to raise in a world full of assholes like me.
“Good luck with that. I’m one of six girls in my family and, I can tell you first hand, that will never happen. We always find a way to sneak around with boys.” Her words fill me with dread.
“That is my nightmare. I just hope I can teach her to make the right choices when that time comes.”
“You are doing an amazing job with her so far. You have a great kid on your hands there,” she praises.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Half the time I feel like I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. I’m just happy I manage to keep her alive most days.” We both laugh.
“I think every parent feels the exact same way. My dad says having kids is like turning on a blender without the lid. It’s wild and messy, but it’s fun and worth the mess. And yes, that very scenario actually happened a few times in our house.”
“Sounds like your house was very wild. Where did you grow up?” I ask, curious to know everything about her.
“I grew up in Renton with my nine brothers and sisters.”
My eyes widen in shock. “You have nine brothers and sisters? What was that like?” I ask, still in awe of the situation.
“It was complete and utter chaos, but I couldn’t imagine growing up any other way. We were there for each other. If one of us was having a hard time, the rest of us were there to lift them up. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we were rich in love. I know it’s cheesy, but we didn’t need a lot of material things. Family was, and still is, number one in our world.”
I hang on her every word while she tells me about her family. I am completely fascinated by her life. I grew up an only child in a world where everything was handed to you. I had all the money I could want, but I always felt like I was missing something. I used drugs and money to fill the void. Here is Nora, who grew up with hardly anything but she is rich in love and family. She had the life I wish I’d had growing up. It’s the life I want for Colby.
“You’re very lucky to have had a good support system growing up. I grew up in a world of self-entitlement. I never had to work for anything, which lead me to be a selfish prick,” I admit.
“I find that hard to believe,” she says.
“It’s true. Before Colby came along, I was headed down a very dangerous road. I abused drugs and fucked around.” Nora’s face drops when I mention the sleeping around part. It sends a pain through my heart thinking the image she had of me has now changed for the worst. “The moment the nurse put Colby in my arms, I knew I had to change. That little girl saved my life. I don’t want her to go down the same path I did. I hope if she sees the mistakes I made it will keep her from following in my shoes.”
The light comes back to her face. I must have redeemed myself somehow in her eyes. “I can see why you love Colby so much. We all make mistakes in our lives, it’s how you use those mistakes to change yourself, hopefully, for the better.” She rests her hand on top of mine. “You’re a good man Hank, and I think Colby helped to bring that out in you. You are both very lucky to have each other.” She warmly smiles.
We get lost in conversation, talking about our childhoods. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a real conversation with a woman that wasn’t about me getting into her pants. I feel so at ease and relaxed with Nora. I want to know anything and everything about her, and I want her to know all the good and the bad about me. This must be what it feels like for my partner, Brian, with his wife Brooke. I aspire to have a relationship like theirs one day. To have someone who knows all your secrets and faults and still loves you unconditionally is a tremendous thing. I want someone I can have real conversations with, laugh with, be a friend to, raise a family with, and have great fucking sex with. I want a partner in crime.
All this talking has made me forget that I haven’t eaten. The loud growl coming from my stomach lets me and Nora know its dissatisfaction with not being fed.
“Sounds like someone is hungry.” She giggles. “I have some leftover chicken tacos in the fridge, I can warm some up for you,” she offers.
“You don’t have to. You already made me breakfast this morning.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Besides you’ve been working all day, you deserve to sit and relax.” She gets up from the table and grabs my hand to help me up. She is too damn sweet. Nora leads me to the kitchen and directs me to sit down.
“If anyone deserves to sit and relax, it’s you. You’ve been running around with Colby all day,” I say, watching her move effortlessly around the kitchen. She looks damn good here in my house.
“I’ve been sitting at my sewing machine since Colby went to bed, so I’ve had my relaxation time.”
“You must let me pay you for making Colby’s tutus,” I insist.
“Nope, I won’t take a dime. I had all the materials on hand, and I love making stuff like that. It was my pleasure to do it.”
“Did you float down from the sky with your umbrella like Mary fucking Poppins?” Nora is too good to be true. Gorgeous, good with kids, and sweet as fuck. She’s like a real-life Disney character.
“Yeah, right after my musical number with a bunch of cartoon penguins.” Her head falls back with laughter. What I wouldn’t give to make her laugh like that every single day.