Nip it in the Bud (Bunch-A-Blooms 3)

I’m intrigued by this man.

“And what do you believe?” I lean in to hear him over the voices and music surrounding us.

“Oh, we’ve progressed,” Olive says in a sing-song voice.

Drew chuckles. “I know it’s a girls’ night, so I won’t intrude any further.” He takes out his phone, and I follow suit. We both know there’s plenty left for us to talk about. It’s refreshing meeting a man who’s so d

ifferent from the ones I’ve known before. I want to peel back his layers and see what actually lies beneath.

He stands. “You ladies enjoy your night. Willow, I’ll be talking to you soon.”

Smiling, I watch him disappear into the crowd.

“We send you to the bar, and you came back with tall, polite, and handsome,” Olive teases.

I giggle. “I guess I did.”

“Still worried about Ross?” Petunia asks.

“Who?”

She nods her head. “That’s my girl. I think we’ve successfully cured her, Olive.”

“No, I think, Drew did that all on his own,” Olive replies.

“Come on, you guys. He seems like a nice guy, but how any times have we thought that only to be proven wrong? I’m not getting my hopes up.” Even as the words leave my lips, I know I’m lying. There’s something special about Drew. The current that flowed between us begged to be explored.

“Don’t go into it with a closed mine. We all deserve a happy ending. Maybe he’s yours?” Olive says.

I’m not going to burst her bubble. Olive’s always been a little new agey, and her unexpected romance with candy billionaire, Luca Davenport, has her seeing, even more, stars in the sky. I learned a long time ago that what we deserve and what we get are often two completely different things.

“You’re right.” I give what I hope is a convincing smile. “But what I want to hear more about is this international honeymoon you’re going on. What countries are you hitting again?”

She beams as the conversation shifts, and I let Drew drift into the back of my mind.

***

Drew

The sound of little girl laughter floats up through the wooden fence. The symphony of joy brings a smile to my face. It’s an outward sign of the happiness Neomi and Iliana feel. Seeing them happy, healthy, and safe is all I’ve ever wanted for my daughters. They’re secure with me. There’s no endless stream of daycares as they move from place to place, strangers in and out of the house, or downward spirals.

I tried to give Monica the benefit of the doubt. I know what recovery is like. Addiction is a lifelong battle. As the son of an addict and a former user, I know this better than most. But she had plenty of chances to prove herself. Taking the girls and keeping them with me full time was the right thing to do. They’ve blossomed over the past couple of years, and I refuse to let anything happen to halt that process.

Children deserve the best we can give them. They didn’t ask to be born into this world, especially not the way the twins had entered. My stomach turns at the thought of that night. We were both a part of that disaster in one way or another, but I chose to get off the train track. She’s still speeding toward the locomotive.

The weekend was more than a boys’ night. It was a time for me to clear my head and make some tough decisions. I’ve put it off for a couple of reasons. I wanted to be fair. I’m scared to go to court, and deep down I’m concerned she has the edge over me. Courts don’t like to permanently sever ties between mothers and their children, and our circumstance are not the norm. I’m going to try to talk some sense into her once more before I pull out the big guns.

I can’t live worrying what’s around the corner. Being a parent means protecting their future at any cost. I’ve never been a punk, but guilt is a poisonous thing. It seeps into your soul, steals away common sense, and toys with your emotions. I’ve always had mixed feelings when it comes to Monica. It made me hesitate when I shouldn’t. I’m breaking away the chains of culpability. We both made our decisions. I chose the high road, and she chose the low. It’s time that becomes a statement of fact instead of an argument for why I owe her anything.

At peace with my final decision, I unlatch the gate and push it in.

“Daddy.”

Twin balls of energy with springy, coarse, dark curls and large, brown eyes race toward me. I rock back as they reach me and wrap me up in a hug. The sweet smell of coconut hair products, grass, and popsicles fills my nose. Their slender arms wrap around my waist, and I cherish the moment. I never wanted kids. Not after everything my father did. I didn’t believe I was capable of giving a child everything they deserved. But life has a funny way of giving us what we need.

Those girls lit a fire under me in a way no one else in the world could. I picked back up my pen and paper and went after my career with a renewed hunger, nothing but success would fulfill. I had to because I wanted better for them, and the nine-to-five I was working wouldn’t allow me to hand them the world on a platter.

“Did you grow while I was gone?” I ask.