Page 323 of Tell Me I'm Enough

Neither of the boys have wanted to see their dad since the accident, and I don’t blame them. I also don’t discourage them if they want to, and I don’t pressure them if they don’t. That’s their choice and a part of their stories.

They visit their mom—who they only refer to as Rose now—once a month together still, and I’m proud of how strong they’ve been through all of this.

Several years back, they both started calling Simone Mom—or Ma as they love to call out—and me Dad…well, they’ve actually been calling me Dad fully since I took them in during college, actually.

No matter how old they’ve gotten, it still makes me emotional.

I make my way over to the kitchen, where my two favorite girls are, and I press a kiss to the top of my wife’s head, then to the top of the tiny head bundled up in the carrier on Simone’s chest.

“I see that everyone is in one piece,” I tell her, smiling. “That seems like a pretty successful day.”

“Barely,” Simone laughs out.

From the living room, I hear Asher yelling at the boys. “I’m not an Uber!”

Nash and Jackson both scream, laughing, as they try to climb up him.

Simone’s mouth twitches as she shakes her head. “I’m sending you two to your grandmothers this weekend!” she yells over to them.

I step behind her. “Hold baby,” I instruct.

She presses her hands to the baby’s back as I unclip the carrier. “Now, hand her to me and go sit down.”

Simone looks up at me, relief filling her eyes.

I hold my baby girl in my arms and lean back against the kitchen counter, watching Simone still try to tidy up now that the baby isn’t strapped to her.

“Girl, if you don’t go sit down and stop trying to do everything. You need to rest. I’ve got all that.” Simone opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. “No back talk.”

She narrows her eyes at me, but smiles, walking over to me and lifting up onto her tiptoes to give me a kiss.

“Are you ready to go back to work yet?” I ask with a knowing smirk. “Ready to escape all this and go back to being a kick-ass lawyer?”

Her eyes widen. “Watch your language, Mase!” she scolds automatically.

Lord, I’m trying to get better with my tongue. I really am. I’m sorry. It’s still a struggle some days, though. I’m just focusing on not using it when I’m angry.

Simone’s shoulders slump a little. “And no. Not really…not at all, actually. I thought just getting my career started in the last couple of years would make me want to keep the momentumgoing, but…I feel so full being home lately. No matter how hectic it is some days.”

I walk over to the couch with her and sit down next together, baby sound asleep in my arms. “You know you don’t have to. You just had our third child—”

“Technically, oursixth.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Well, you just pushed out the third one.” I nod toward the living room. “Those first two knuckleheads over there were our practice run.”

Simone glances out at all the boys, her expression softer now as she smiles.

“And our baby up in heaven,” I say, my voice going a little quiet, “is still patiently waiting to meet all of us.”

Simone’s gaze lifts to mine. “Do you still want more?”

I look down at the tiny baby in my arms, and at her cute little bow that Simone changes ten times a day to match every single outfit she has. I look at her tiny hand, clenched into a fist, at her itty-bitty feet poking out of the blanket on top of her, and all I can feel is…complete.

“We finally got our little girl,” I say softly. “I think that was God saying…this is enough.”

Simone lets out a watery laugh, reaching out and stroking her finger along the baby’s cheek. “You wanna be the baby of the house, don’t you, Nichole?” she murmurs.

My heart stutters every time I hear anyone say her name. A little piece of my mom lives in this little girl, and the name couldn’t fit any better.