“The problem is…” I take a deep breath. “The problem… is…” I start nodding.
“What? What is with the nod?” Ella asks.
“I think I really do love her. I can see us. The ring, the wedding, the house, more kids. My own little pack of princesses. Who will wear Sick Boyz shit, not Shrike Bikes.”
“You’re rambling,” Luu says.
“Or stalling,” Ella adds.
“The point is, I’m getting old, girls.”
“You’re practically ancient.” Rina snorts. “You’re lucky a girl like Daisy even looks twice at you.”
I shoot her a look at that says, Don’t overdo it. I’m still a catch. And the way my genetics go, I’ll be a catch well into my sixties the way Pops is. But I don’t want to be like Pops. I don’t want to be dating women in my sixties. That’s fucking stupid.
I want to be settled. And I want to be settled with Daisy and Vivian.
Now that I know they exist, there is no way I can settle for second best.
“Are you ever going to spit it out?” Ella asks.
“I think I’m going to marry her,” I say. All three of them narrow their eyes at me. “What? Isn’t this what you’re after? Commitment? That’s the ultimate commitment.”
“No, monthly child support checks are the ultimate commitment,” Luu says.
“You’re here about child support?” I laugh again.
“Why is that funny?” Ella asks.
“Because… money, Ella. I’m not attached to it. I’m happy to share. You think I’m out to get her? I’m not. I’ll put her name on the deed. I’ll send money straight to her checking account. I’ll start a college fund for the sis. Money is not the issue.”
“Money is always an issue when you’re a single parent,” Rina says.
“Understood.”
Ella puts up a hand. “But wait. You said, ‘The problem is…’ Why is that a problem?”
“The problem is this is all very new.”
“Finally, he’s catching on,” Rina says. “That’s why we’re here. You can’t just babysit her daughter for a day and then win the freaking lottery with our Daisy!”
“She’s my daughter too. And I didn’t walk into her life. Vivian walked into mine.” I put up a hand before they can object again because this is taking way too long and I have clients coming. “The main point is this—I want to rush things, girls. I want it all, and I want it all right now. But she’s gonna be all cautious and shit. She will want to take it slow, and think about it, and weigh all the pros and cons.”
“You want us to convince her that you’re the real thing after one week?” Luu says, planting her hands on her hips.
“No.” I mean, yeah, that’s what I want. But I get it. So I need to deny it. “I just want you guys to be on our side.” I smile at that last part.
The three of them look at each other.
Then Ella says, “Can you give us a moment to confer?”
“Why not.” I throw up my hands. “Come find me in my studio when you’re ready. It’s the one closest to the front.”
I leave them in the breakroom and walk down the hallway. Everyone is lingering in their studio doorways.
“What?” I ask, passing Belinda and Vann. “What the fuck?” I ask again, this time passing the twins. But they say nothing. Just shoot me knowing smirks as I go into my studio and turn my computer monitor on to check my schedule.
But I don’t check my schedule. I just stare at the screen and smile as I picture how life is gonna change and how much better it’s going to get.
“OK.”
I look over my shoulder and find Ella, Luu, and Rina staring at me from the doorway. “OK?”
“We have decided that we won’t actively deter her from dating you,” Rina says.
“But hear us now, Vicious Vaughn,” Luu snarls. “If you hurt her—”
“I won’t. Why would I do that?”
“This is the nature of relationships,” Ella says. “They are imperfect.”
“And we expect a commitment from you,” Rina adds.
“The deed?”
“To start,” Luu says. “Put her name on that deed and then you put your name on that birth certificate.”
I let out a breath. Then I smile as I point to the annoying geniuses standing in front of me. “That’s brilliant.”
All three of them shrug. Smugly.
“OK, then. We have a deal.”
They stick out their hands and we shake.
“You do your part, Vicious,” Ella says, “and we’ll do ours.”
“But if you fuck up,” Luu adds, “we will not cover for you.”
“No second chances,” Rina says. “Not at this stage of the game.”
“Agreed.”
They leave and I just lean against my counter smiling as I cross my arms and consider all the new possibilities in life with Daisy and Vivian.
I have won over the friends.
Nothing can go wrong now.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - DAISY
I’m nervous about Vic coming over to my apartment. It’s nothing like his sister’s house. And I don’t just mean the décor. My apartment is furnished with the free dorm-room furniture the college provides. My living room consists of one uncomfortable austere chair and one equally ugly loveseat, both with thin cushions upholstered in a drab, institutional gray. I have to pile old blankets over the cushions to make them anything close to comfortable.