Then, looking at me, he muttered, “They’re heathens, totally not like Miss Perfection over here.” He gestured with his head at Nemi, making me snort.
Miss Perfection? On what planet? He’d never seen Nemi have a full-blown temper tantrum or refusing outright to do something. She’d been on her best behavior for him so far, but his day would come.
“That’s right.” Nemi snapped her fingers. “I’m a keeeeen.”
“You are a queen,” Bond agreed, not needing me to be the interpreter for him.
“Can Bumper come for a sleepover?” Nemi squatted down so that her face was only inches away from the bunny’s. “She’s got pretty eyes. I’m sad Bumper can’t see them.”
A couple of minutes later, it was agreed—Bumper would be coming for a sleepover, so long as Hooch didn’t mind. They’d try it, and if he reacted badly or started barking or clawing at the cage, Bond would bring her back, so Bumper didn’t get stressed. In return, Nemi had promised to feed her the vegetables I gave her with dinner because she hated them, and they were good for rabbits.
Clasping Bond’s face in both of her hands, Nemi begged, “Can you come for a sleepover, too? Mommy has a big bed, or you can have the one no one sleeps in. Bumper might feel better if her daddy’s there, too?”
Amused, Bond looked over at me. “Well, we need to ask Mommy’s permission first.”
“Please, Mommy?”
This was something we hadn’t done yet. We’d stolen moments together since our first night, sure, but we were trying to ease my daughter into the change in our relationship. I didn’t have a clue how to start having Bond sleep at ours on the nights he was going to stay over, but this might be an excellent way to break the ice.
“If Bond would like to, then he can definitely sleepover at ours with Bumper.”
Nemi squealed and began listing the things Bond should pack, then decided he didn’t need a toothbrush, just ‘clean drawers’ because he already had a toothbrush in her bathroom.
I swear she was prouder of that fact than she was of anything else because she kept telling people about it. “Bond’s got a toothbrush next to mine. Cool, right?” It sometimes made things awkward, but on the whole, I think we were both tickled by how much it meant to her.
With a smile on his face and his eyes dancing as he looked at me over her head, Bond mouthed words that soothed something inside me I didn’t realize was raw.
“I love this kid.”
I hadn’t trusted there was someone out there who’d give my daughter the care, love, and attention I gave her. That’s why I’d made the promise to myself that I wouldn’t get involved with anyone until after she’d gone to college. Part of me felt guilty I’d broken the promise, so seeing the expression on his face, witnessing how good he was with her, knowing it came naturally to him and wasn’t forced, and seeing him say he loved her…
All of it helped me accept something I hadn’t even wanted to think about before now. I was falling in love with Bond Klein.
“Ah, this time three years ago, her head was pressed up against your vagina,” Jacinda mused, getting a grossed out look from Cody before he jogged over to where Alex was standing with Evie.
“No, I had her by cesarean.”
“Damn, girl,” she crowed. “Too posh to push. I like it!”
“She was ass first, Jacinda,” my sister explained exasperatedly. “The doctors tried everything to move her so she was head down, but that little nugget was determined to stay as she was.”
“Because she’s a princess. That girl knows how to make an entrance, and having her head squished on the way out”—Jacinda leaned in and patted my arm—“I’m sure your oonie’s tight, honey,” she assured me, then went back to what she’d been saying before.
“Anyway, having her head squished wasn’t to Miss Nemi’s liking. You know, I saw this thing on television where they recorded women having their babies, and some of them came out with legit coneheads.” She looked horrified as she patted her head. “Hell no! Kudos on the vagina tight enough to reshape a human head, but nuh uh.”
She had a point, and for the millionth time, I was grateful I’d a c-section.
“I’m not sure I know what to do with you anymore,” my sister sighed as she looked at Jacinda. “I swear we go everywhere twice. The second time’s always so I can apologize for bringing you there the first time, though.”
Jacinda sniffed haughtily. “I just like to have fun. Let me live, woman.”
When Tabby and her sister, Jose, arrived with their little daughters, the three girls screamed and started jumping up and down. Jose’s daughter, Olivia, was slightly older, and Tabby’s daughter, Sheena, was the same age as Nemi, but all three of them were thicker than thieves, and I loved seeing them together.