“You ready, Daddy?” McKinley asks. She’s standing in the doorway to the living room, camera bag in one arm and my daughter in the other.
“Yes.” I reach for Lexi and she holds out her arms for me. This is something new she’s been doing. I hold her in the air and blow on her tummy, making her giggle and grab my hair.
“Let’s go, you two. Did you get the car seat strapped in on the Mule?” she asks me.
“Yes, ma’am. We’re good to go.” We make our way outside and I strap Lexi into her seat as Kinley climbs in the front and get her camera bag situated. “Where to?”
“I thought we could go down to the meadow with all the wildflowers. The lighting will be good, with both bright lights and shadows. I also thought it would be cute to put one of the flowers behind her ear and set her in them.”
“You know she’s just going to try to eat them, don’t you?” I ask her.
She laughs. “Probably, but that will just add character to the shot. What did Mr. Fields say when he called earlier?”
Just the mention of my attorney’s name causes my blood to boil. It’s nothing he’s done, but it means I’m still dealing with Misty’s parents. Their attorney filed an extension, claiming they were giving the court time to investigate if McKinley and I are good parents. We’ve met with a social worker twice already.
“Nothing really. The social worker has to make a total of four visits. One planned, which we’ve already been through, and three unplanned. It’s their way of trying to catch us being bad parents.”
“She can come every damn day if she wants,” she seethes.
I reach over and lace my fingers through hers. “I know, baby. It’s just a process we have to go through. You ready to get rid of me already?” I tease her.
“No! It’s not that, I swear. I just . . . hate this. I hate that it’s still looming over our heads, that they want to try and take her. It’s not right.”
“No, it’s not right. They’re playing a game, Kinley. They know they can’t win, so instead, they’re trying to catch us screwing up. It’s not going to happen. They will not win this,” I tell her.
She squeezes my hand and we remain silent the rest of the ride to the meadow. Well, we do, Lexi laughs and babbles as the wind hits her face. She loves taking rides on the Mule. Her little baby voice yelling “da da da” flows to my ears and straight to my heart. That’s new too. About three weeks ago, she said it for the first time and I was the only one to hear her. McKinley kept saying I was making it up until two nights later when I came through the door after work. She started saying it over and over and over. I didn’t stop grinning for a week and still haven’t really. Life is good. No, life is great!
We reach the meadow and Kinley goes into photographer mode. I let her do her thing while I get Lexi out of her seat. “Okay, I think we should start with her single shots first before she gets worn out and over the whole process.”
“Good angle. Where do you want her?”
“Over there in the wild flowers.” As she mentioned earlier, she picks one and hands it to Lexi. She’s so interested in it, she doesn’t notice McKinley shoves one behind her ear. “Now move back and I’ll get a few before she starts to get away,” she laughs.
“Da da da,” Lexi babbles on while crumbling the flower in her hands. I’m standing close for the minute she tries to eat it. I know that’s the plan; she puts everything she can get her little chubby hands on in her mouth these days.
“There she goes, Dad,” Kinley giggles. Lexi, done with the flower, is now on all fours, rocking back and forth. Kinley and her mom, even mine, says she’s going to be crawling any day now. I baby-proofed the house last weekend just in case. I need my little girl safe when she’s on the move.
I grab her and she chuckles, her hands tapping my cheeks. “Perfect,” I hear Kinley say.
Lexi and I both look at her at the same time. She continues to snap pictures. “My turn,” I say, handing Lexi off to her. Instead of her camera, I reach into my pocket and pull out the one she bought for me when Lexi was born.
“You could have used mine, Evan,” she laughs.
“Hell with that. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to use that thing. Besides, I like this. My wife bought it for me.” I grin. That’s something else I never get tired of hearing, her being called my wife.
“What do you think, Lex? You think we should let Daddy take our picture?”
“Da da da da,” Lexi rambles on. Kinley tickles her belly and they both have their heads back laughing, wild flowers in hand. I snap a picture or twenty. Capturing memories just like she said I would.
Kinley ends up setting her camera on the tripod and using the remote control to take some portraits of us all. This wasn’t her plan, but I insisted. I can’t wait to see how they turned out.
“I think our girl is about done,” I tell McKinley as she packs up her gear. Lexi is rubbing her eyes with her head resting on my shoulder.
After throwing her gear in the back of the Mule, she walks over to us. “You were such a good girl today, Lex.” She reaches out, brushes her cheek. That’s when it happens.
“Momma,” falls from my baby girls tired lips.
McKinley gasps, throwing her hands over her mouth. Her eyes instantly welling with tears.