Page 83 of Fall For Me
“It means ‘my girl’ . . . like sweetheart. Do you want a braid or a ponytail?” I ask, carefully brushing the tangles out of her hair.
“I want a bun like yours.”
“A bun like mine, huh? I can do that.” I gather up her hair and pull the band off my wrist with my teeth.
“How’d you learn to do hair?” She turns her head to the side to look at me, and her silky strands slide right out of my hand. I guide her to look straight ahead, then gather her hair back up, and twist the brown locks around on top of her head.
“When I was younger, I had to get my baby sister ready for school.” I secure the band around her bun, then turn her to face me. “There you go. All set.”
“Thank you, Seany.”
“You’re welcome, princess.”
Aiden glances at us, a stack of papers still in his hand.
I lean against the open door, resting my arms on top of the car. “Okay. Spill. What’s going on with you?”
“All this legal crap. Here . . .” He reaches across the seat and hands me the documents. “You were pre-law, right? Can you make sense of this?”
“I can try. I only took a couple of law classes before I was drafted,”I say, flipping through the pages. The first thing I come across is the paternity test.
“Mark didn’t go over this with you?”
“He did, but I couldn’t pay attention after he read me the test results. I just kinda zoned out. Like I knew she was mine, but gettin’ that confirmation? It just made everything real. She’s perfect, Mac. So damn perfect. I-I mean, look at her. And to think . . . I created that. She belongs to me,” he chokes out.
Jade spins in circles, her dress fanning out mid-thigh, as her sweet laughter carries through the air.
“She’s a special little girl. You’re really lucky,” I say, then focus back on the document, reading over areas marked with sticky tabs. “There’s a petition to have your name added to Jade’s birth certificate and one for you to gain custody . . . and right here is where Mark wants you to create your will and add a plan for Jade . . . as in who will take guardianship of her in the event that something should happen to you.”
“She’ll go to Hannah, of course.”
“Not your mom?” I ask, confused, and hand the papers back to him.
“I love my momma, you know? But she doesn’t have the kind of support system she would need to raise Jade. It’s too much for her.”
I’m actually impressed with how much thought he’s put into all of this.
He clears his throat. “Will you uh . . . will you be Jade’s godfather?”
“Me?” I’m taken aback, but then I think about the differences between us. “I don’t know if you understand what being a godfather means where I come from, Aiden.”
“I know what being a godfather means to you, Mac.” He raises a brow. “I may not understand everything about your culture, but I do understand what I’m asking. I know you’ll be another father figure in her life. I didn’t grow up with a dad, and I don’t want that kind of life for her. . . God . . . this is morbid . . . talkin’ like something’s gonna happen to me.”
“It’s necessary. You don’t want to leave any loose ends or for her to end up in state care.”
“Exactly. I trust you with her, Sean. I see the way you are with her. There’s no one better than you.”
I squat down in front of the little girl who’s had my fucking heart from the moment I met her and remove my shades. She stares back at me, the sweetest smile spreading on her lips, and with the ends of her dress in her hands, she twists from side to side.
“What do you think, mija? Think you can handle me being your Padrino and bossing you around for the rest of your life?”
“What’s Pa . . . pa . . .” Her brows pinch together. “That word you just used?”
“Padrino? It means Godfather.”
Jade taps her chin, as if she’s deep in thought. “Will you buy me all the pretty dresses like daddy does?”
“So many pretty dresses.”
