Travis
I watched the awe dance across Stella's face as seahorses floated in front of her from behind the glass. Every few seconds she would turn to make sure I was watching, too. I'd never been much for the whole macho man thing, but watching my daughter was making me feel particularly soft. I hadn't really been sure what to do with a child her age, but apparently, the aquarium had been a good choice. Before we left, I had every intention of buying season passes for the three of us. I definitely intended to come back.
My eyes flickered back to Ronnie. She was standing several feet away talking to one of the workers. I felt myself flush with irritation. I couldn't read Ronnie at all. In the car, she'd invited me to kiss her, but then she'd looked horrified when she pulled away. And now she was flirting with some dopey guy in a fish costume. When she tilted her head and giggled, I'd had enough.
"Hey, Stella?" The little girl looked up at me. "Let's go get Mommy."
Stella hopped down from the railing she'd been standing on. I put my hand out to help balance her when she wobbled a bit. Once she was steady she went charging right over to Ronnie, putting herself right in between her mom and the fish man.
That's my girl.
I strolled up to join them as if I didn't have a care in the world. The guy didn't look thrilled to see me, and I further leveled him by shooting a warning look in his direction. Then, I turned my attention to Ronnie.
"Hey, babe, Stella wants to see the starfish." I'd seen a sign proclaiming an interactive zone where she'd actually be able to touch the critters, including starfish. I wasn't actually sure if Stella knew what those were, but I figured she'd get a kick out of it.
And because the universe was apparently on my side, Stella gleefully shouted, "Starfish!" at the top of her lungs.
"The starfish are my favorite," Ronnie told her in a soft voice.
The costumed guy only seemed to get more agitated as Ronnie reached down and pulled our daughter into her arms. He'd officially lost her attention, and he obviously knew it. His phone was in his hand like he'd been thinking of getting Ronnie's number. He seemed to eye me as if sizing up my relationship to her. I took a protective step closer, just enough so that he'd notice it but she wouldn't. Super slowly, he lowered the hand with his phone in it.
"Wave bye to the big fishie," Ronnie told Stella as she was already moving away from the guy. Stella eyed the guy uncertainly and then turned away without acknowledging him at all. That only made my grin widen.
I smugly followed my two girls in the direction of the interactive zone, and if my foot happened to step on the guy's shoe as I passed him—well, that was completely by accident, of course. It was petty of me, but the last thing I needed was the guy feeling comfortable seeking her out again before we left. Things were complicated enough without adding some new guy to the mix.
When we made it to the tide pool, Stella stuck her hand right in. She giggled when a crab scurried over her tiny fingers.
"I wasn't interested," Ronnie said softly once Stella was fully distracted.
I turned to look at her, but her eyes stayed firmly on Stella. "Hmm?"
"That guy back there. I wasn't interested in him." Her words were slow and purposeful as if she was trying to make some bigger point that I didn't understand.
Was she saying she wasn't interested in him because of me? After that kiss, it had seemed like she was quick to distance herself, but maybe that had nothing to do with the kiss itself. Was Ronnie feeling our natural chemistry as much as I was? Because all I wanted was a chance at a do-over. Was it possible that she wanted that, too?
"That kiss in the car," I began.
"Was a mistake," she finished, nodding agreeably as if that was what she'd been expecting me to say.
"Right." I laughed but it sounded obscenely fake. "Don't worry about it," I added gruffly.
I brushed past Ronnie to Stella. The frustrating thing was that I knew she didn't mean it. Her nose twitched when she told a big lie—it always had.
"Look over here, Stella." I took her by the hand and moved to the next touch pool, where a group of stingrays were swimming circles.
Stella's eyes widened. "What's that?"
"That's a stingray," I explained. She struggled to repeat the word. "Sting-ray," I repeated, stretching the word out for her.
"Stingray." Satisfied that she knew its name, she shoved her whole fist down into the water.
I took the chance to really examine the little girl. Right away, I'd been able to tell she was mine. So many of her features were identical to mine. As I studied her mannerisms, all I could see was the Ronnie in her. She bit her lower lip in concentration the same way Ronnie did. The way her eyes lit up with excitement was just like Ronnie, too.
When I looked up, my eyes sought out Ronnie automatically. She'd wandered towards the opposite end of the pool. A small, private smile graced her face as she leaned forward to stroke one of the stingrays. I wasn't sure if she felt my eyes on her or if she was just checking on Stella, but her gaze raised and landed on me.
"What?" she mouthed.
I beckoned her over to us. She hesitated for a second, but then abandoned her post to come closer. There wasn't enough room for her to stand on the other side of Stella, which left her squeezing in next to me, instead. When she leaned forward on the edge of the tank, I moved my own arm so that we were touching. She glanced at me but quickly turned her attention back to the tank when she discovered I was watching her.
Deciding to push my luck, when she reached down into the water I did the same, grazing her hand as we both touched the same stingray. Immediately, she pulled away. Instead of letting her get away with that, I splashed lightly in her direction.
"Hey!" she protested.
I splashed again, making Stella laugh from my other side.
Ronnie grinned. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" She leaned across me and sprayed up a little water at Stella, who laughed even harder.
Stella decided to take a turn of her own, only she wasn't quite old enough to understand the concept of a small splash. Instead, she sent up a full spray that soaked the entire upper half of both Ronnie and me. Because of the way Ronnie had been leaned in front of me, she actually got the worst of it.
"Looks like we're in trouble," Ronnie whispered out of the side of her mouth.
It didn't take long for me to find out what she meant, because a worker appeared directly beside us. The cramped amount of space we had meant Ronnie couldn't move back to her previous spot. I stepped back a half step so she had a little more room, but I made no effort to go further than that. It meant Ronnie was stuck pressed against me with nowhere else to go.
"Didn't you read the sign? No splashing," the employee angrily pointed out. Her voice went up a whole octave as she spoke to us.
"I am so sorry," I said, turning up the charm. "My little girl's never been here before. She just got a little too excited, I think. But we won't splash anymore, will we Stella?"
All three of us turned our eyes to the little girl, who proudly proclaimed, "No splash."
If there'd been any doubt whose kid she was before, her knack for helping to get out of trouble left no doubt. Ronnie and I had caused all sorts of issues as teenagers, but we'd—almost—always found out way out of trouble. Apparently, Stella had also inherited that family trait.
"Hey, could you take our picture?" I asked quickly, forcing the employee to move on instead of dwelling on our rule breaking.
"Oh. Uh, sure."
"Great, thanks." I pulled up my camera app on my phone and handed the device to her.
Ronnie seemed a little bewildered, but I pulled her around to my side. Mercifully, when I'd pulled my camera out the crowd around us had naturally shifted out of the way for us. That meant I could hold both of my girls close as the employee framed us in a shot with the touch pool in the background. My smile was wider than it had ever been as the flash went off.
The idea of being a real family with Ronnie and Stella was all too appealing. And despite what Ronnie had said, our kiss hadn't been a mistake. It had been proof that Ronnie was still attracted to me. I could work with that.