Page 55 of Fall For Me
I’ve texted both of them all afternoon, and what did I get in return? Crickets. Way to leave me hanging, assholes.
Is that a little girl giggling? I stop walking, tilting my head to listen closer.
Another giggle echoes out as I start to cross the living room. Okay, that is definitely a little girl.
“No, Seany. That’s a elephant. See his trunk?”
“I thought that was a giraffe.” He laughs.
“You’re so silly. I’m only five, and even I can tell the difference between a elephant and a giraffe.”
“Because you’re so smart,” Sean replies back.
“Yep,” she agrees.
I follow the sound of their voices and round the corner into the dining room. All the blood rushes to my head. Stunned, tingles shootthrough me. Sean sits at the table, smiling down at a little girl, and my heart beats out of my damn chest.
Pretty brown eyes, lined with long, thick lashes, flick up to mine. “Who’s that?”
“That, princess Jade, is my girlfriend, Hannah.”
I’m mute, unable to open my mouth or form the words to dispute the label he’s slapped on us. My eyes are held hostage by a beautiful, miniature, female version of Aiden holding a marker to Sean’s arm and staring back at me.
“She’s pretty,” she says, glancing up at Sean before shifting her focus back to his forearm, and the way she looks at him makes my breath hitch.
“She is, isn’t she?”
With a marker gripped tight in her fist, she drags the tip from his forearm all the way up to his shoulder and asks, “Does she talk?”
“She does, but I think she might be in shock. She’s never seen a real princess before.”
Snapping out of the trance, I take in the room. A set of unfamiliar old eyes studies me curiously while my best friend shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels.
“So, um . . . this is my daughter, Jaiden, but she goes by Jade.” Aiden nods his head in the little girl’s direction.
Well, no shit.
“She’s living with me now,” he adds.
As silence settles over the room and an ugly feeling of how unfair this situation is surges in like a riptide, dragging me under.
Last night, he told everyone that he never wanted children, and now he has a child? What the fucking fuck? Why does it seem like the people who don’t want kids are always the ones to get them, and the ones who do want kids have to fight tooth and nail with God, or the universe . . . or whatever fucking higher power there is and, even then, they still can’t have one.
Biting my lip, I try like hell to fight off the cruel little comparisons. Jealousy is a thief. It slips in quietly and steals your ability to look atsomeone else’s blessings without wondering,why not me? I hate it! I hate this feeling.
Jade’s hand stills on Sean’s arm—her big brown eyes lifting back up to mine—and something passes between us. And just like that, a deep ache climbs its way into my chest and squeezes. Right there on the spot, the jealousy dissolves, and it’s replaced by an overwhelming emotion I can’t even begin to name. It cracks me open. My eyes start to burn. Then . . . a silent tear falls from my lash and drips down along the side of my nose.
Get your shit together, Hannah.
This little girl is sitting here waiting for me to speak to her. I don’t want her to think that my silence means I don’t like her. I close my eyes and take a slow breath, using the moment to pull myself back together. My eyes flutter open, and a smile slowly spreads across my face. I bow my head and place one foot behind the other, bending at the knee in a graceful curtsy.
“How rude of me Princess Jade. My sincerest apologies. It’s just that I’m truly speechless. Sean’s right. I’ve never met a real princess before.”
Jade giggles, and I’m pretty sure her laughter is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my life. I stand to my full height, my attention drifting to the old woman watching me. What role does she play in all of this?
I glance between her, Jade, and Aiden. “Um . . . how . . . what . . . I’m confused.”
“He never told ya ‘bout me?” the old woman asks.
