"That," Casey says, “is the deed to the land and the house."
"I don’t understand?" I say. “Why is my name on here?"
"Well, we wanted you to have something to come home to,” he says, and Olivia just smiles. “You’ll see that all debts have been paid."
I shake my head, the lump in my throat making it hard to breathe. "I …" I start. “I can’t accept this."
"It’s nonnegotiable," Olivia says, standing beside Casey. "We did this," she says, and she can’t come out with the words.
"What my wife is trying to say is,” Casey says with a smile on his face, “welcome back home, Hazel.”
Chapter 27
Reed
“Momma,” Sofia calls Hazel from downstairs. “Are you ready?”
“She’ll be right down,” I tell Sofia as she turns in a circle, wearing the new dress my mother had delivered today. “Look, Uncle Daddy,” she says, and I try not to laugh at the name. “I’m like Anna from Frozen.” I just look at her, not sure who that person is.
We both look over at the stairs as we see Hazel come down. I watch and see her feet and then her long legs. My mouth gets suddenly dry as I see more leg and finally the beige skirt. My eyes are staring at her legs as she turns, and the skirt flows around her. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She puts her hand to her stomach, and I see that the white shirt she is wearing is tied at the waist.
“Momma, look,” Sofia says. “I got new shoes.” She goes over to pick up the new pink shoes my mother bought.
“More shoes?” Hazel asks, and I look at her and shrug. It’s been two days since we told my parents Sofia was mine. Even though they wanted to go out and tell the world, we thought it would be good to tell people slowly, for Sofia’s sake. At this point, I didn’t give a shit who else knew because she knew I was her dad. “She got ten pairs yesterday,” Hazel says, slipping her feet into the flip-flops.
“We warned you,” I say, getting up from the couch. “My mother has no control when it comes to shopping. Zero. My father built her a house once, and no one went into it because she ordered all this delicate stuff, and we were afraid to ruin anything.”
“What?” Hazel asks, shocked. “Wait, was that the white house?” I nod my head. “I heard about it.”
“Yeah, heard about it,” I say. “Never saw it.” I laugh now. “I’m living in it now.”
“You live in the white house?” Hazel shrieks.
“Are you the president?” Sofia looks at me. “He lives in the White House.”
“I’m not the president,” I say, picking her up. “Far from it. Now, let’s go, or else your grandmother is going to blow up my phone again.”
“Are you sure about this?” Hazel says. “I mean, babysitting.”
“Hazel,” I say her name. “You have to pray that she wants to come back and live with you after she’s at my parents’ house,” I say. I don’t know how my mother did it, but she called and asked to babysit Sofia for the night. I saw the turmoil in her eyes, and I said no for her, but then she caved and agreed. So tonight, we are going to drop Sofia off and then go have a drink at the bar. It’s totally a date, but I’m not calling it that in front of her. I also won’t admit it to her, but tonight when I drop her off, I’m taking that fucking kiss. I mean, I think I am. Fuck if I know. I’ve never been this nervous in my life.
“Where are the keys?” I ask Hazel, who holds up her hands. I put my hand out for them, and she looks at me.
“It’s my car,” she says, putting her hands on her hips.
“And I’m the man,” I say, looking at Sofia. “The man always drives when you are together.”
“I thought she wasn’t allowed to date,” Hazel reminds me, laughing as she hands me the keys. Last night, when we talked about Sofia, I said she wasn’t allowed to date, something that Hazel agreed to also.
As I put Sofia in the truck, she tells me what needs to be done. She is very quick to let me know when I’m messing something up. I get into the truck and look over at Hazel, who is breathing now. “Relax.” I put my hand on hers. “Worst case, my parents call us and we go get her.”
“I know it’s silly,” she says and looks in the back. “But she’s never been to a sleepover.”
“Momma,” Sofia says. “I have a princess bed,” she tells me. “Grandma bought me one.”
“Of course she did,” Hazel says, shaking her head. I can’t help but laugh, and when we get to my parents’ house, my mother is sitting on the steps waiting. She jumps up and claps her hands.