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“Good. Maybe my mom can be Victor’s mom too.”
“We’ll see, won’t we.”
“Maybe one day.” He shrugged.
“Go ahead and grab Vick so we can go get your mom and take her to lunch.”
“One more thing,” he said, holding one of his fingers up in the air.
“What’s up?”
“Can I call you dad? Not yet, but like, when I get ready.”
“Let’s talk to your mama about that first, OK?”
“OK.” He nodded before going on his way.
With misty eyes, I watched as Theo took off back out on the field. It broke my heart that he had been without his dad for so long. The greatest joy of my life was being a father. The day the Lord selected me to be those kids’ dad changed my entire existence. This was totally different. This innocent little person had selected me to be his dad. It didn’t matter when or if his daddy ever came back. I would never let him down, and that was on everything.
“Can we go get food at that Spanish place with the chips and dip?” Victor asked as he sprinted over to where I stood.
“Let’s see if your sister is going to meet us. We will decide what to eat together.”
“Is Theo and his mama coming with us?”
“I’ll have to ask her,” I replied as we headed to the truck.
“I love the chips and salsa at this place. It’s the best. I’ve tried a couple of the other locations, but this one has the best food. I bet they have some good behind margaritas. Have you tried them?”
My head tore away from watching the boys try to win a prize at one of those claw machines, to my daughter. “Have you?” I asked her, tilting my head.
“Not yet, but I can’t wait to try one.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to become an alcoholic,” I warned.
“A girl can have a couple of drinks without becoming an alcoholic,” Shiloh noted.
“It’s a slippery slope that I don’t want my baby going down.”
“He thinks I’m three,” Amber said, shaking her head.
“I think you’re ten. I know you’re older than your brother.” I corrected her.
“See!” Amber squealed.
“I think it’s sweet that he wants the best for you. Being overprotective is the sign of being a good dad.”
“Thank you, baby,” I said, leaning over to kiss Shiloh’s cheek.
“Usually, I would get grossed out about old people kissing, but it’s adorable that my dad is in love,” Amber spoke.
“What you know about being in love?” I asked, lifting my brows and bracing myself for my daughter’s answer.
“Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes.
It wasn’t that her dating was new. She’d had a couple of boyfriends, one of which I carried out of the house by the neck when I realized that he didn’t know how to fucking act. I didn’t like the idea of her having a boyfriend, but now that she was off in college, I couldn’t monitor her every move.
I spoiled my baby from the day she was confirmed to be mine and treated her like a princess, so she didn’t have to go elsewhere for gratification. I made sure she knew she was beautiful so that the first little boy to call her pretty couldn’t take advantage of her.
