Montie shot me a suspicious look. “O-kay, that’ll give the kids time to finish putting their puzzle together. They were working on it earlier,” he said, walking into the house.
“Yes!” Junior said as he raced off to the half-done puzzle lying on the coffee table in the living room.
“I do the flower,” Montana said, her Pull-Up whooshing loudly as she followed behind Junior. I smiled as she waddled over and picked up a puzzle piece.
Once the kids were occupied, I settled in a chair in the kitchen. It was an open area, so we were able to keep an eye on the children as we talked. Montie poured himself a glass of water. “Would you like anything to drink?” he asked, tilting a glass in my direction.
“Nah, I’m good, Montie.”
“What’s on your mind, Destiny?”
“It’s about the kids.”
“What about the kids?”
“Montie, I’m moving to Miami. I mean, we are… me and the kids.”
He sat his cup down and leaned against the counter. His lips clamped shut as he studied me. I assumed he was assessing whether I was serious or not. He walked over and took the seat in front of me and said, “I guess what the kids have been saying is true.”
“The kids have been talking about moving?”
“Yeah, Montana talked about riding on a big plane and getting American Girl dolls. Junior was pumped about his game console. They told me Jacob took y’all to a big house down there and said you were moving into it. I thought they were just misinterpreting what they saw. Before now, I was one hundred percent sure you wouldn’t do anything to cut me out of their lives. Moving them eight hundred miles away will definitely do that.”
“It’s true that Jacob wants us to move to Miami. He has already picked out our house and everything. But you will still be in their lives.”
“Do you want to move to Miami?”
“To be with him, yes,” I admitted.
Montie’s tight expression fell. “So you’re going to up and move my children to a different state where it will be damn near impossible for me to have any kind of meaningful relationship with them?”
“You will still be able to see them on your weekends.”
“I never agreed to be a weekend father, Destiny. When we got divorced, I said from the jump I wanted to be active in my children’s life. I’m not babysitting every now and then, we are co-parenting.”
“I promise to fly them here every other weekend to see you, and the summers are still yours, Montie.”
“That would probably work if you were dealing with the old me. It’s not as simple as weekends and summers now. I go to Junior’s football games and to the school for Father’s Lunch Day. If Montana is sick, I’m on the list to pick her up from daycare. I’m an all-around dad. Ever since I realized what was most important in my life, I have been there for my kids and now you want to take that away.”
“That is the last thing I want to do. I will keep you updated on any sport Junior is playing and you are welcome to use Jacob’s private jet to travel back and forth between Atlanta and Miami so you can be present for games. And we can always use Skype.”
“I don’t want to talk to my kids over the damn phone, and I damn sho’ can’t eat lunch with them over Skype. As far as Jacob’s jet, I don’t need to use his shit. I need my kids to be in
the same city as I am. It seems like you’re trying to take them away and start over with a new father. They already have a father, Destiny.”
“I am fully aware of who their father is.”
“Are you?” Montie said with a raised brow.
“Of course, and I know this arrangement is not going to be perfect. But we can make this work, Montie.”
He stared at me for a long time without saying anything, until he shook his head in disbelief. “What did I do to deserve this? All I did was try to love you and my children. Am I that bad of a person that you have to move my kids so far away?” he asked.
“My decision to move to Miami has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with…” I paused before stating my reason. It was obvious my love for Jacob was strong enough to move to another continent, if that’s where he wanted to go, but for some reason I couldn’t say it to Montie.
“It has everything to do with being where Jacob will be. I get it. And if it were just you, I would have no problem with it. These are my children you’re talking about moving away with, Destiny.”
“And we are indeed moving. Of course, I want your blessing but I’m moving as soon as summer break starts. They will stay with you while I get settled, but once summer break is over I’ll be back for them.”