I had been right in the middle of turning her down, once and for all, when Emmy had rushed into the cafe. I had tried to defuse the situation but that all went out the window when Emmy blurted out that Daisy was my girlfriend.
I only lied to protect Daisy. To spare her from the tabloid headlines that would inevitably follow: ‘Preston Hotel Mogul has secret affair with Teacher at Estranged Niece’s Upper East Side Pre-School!’
Daisy wouldn’t just lose her privacy. She would lose her job. She was already on thin ice before, and a newspaper scandal would no doubt destroy her prospects at Bellamy Day School. I thought I was doing the right thing, but when I saw how much my words devastated her, I realized I had gone horribly wrong.
“Tell you what,” I said, picking up the plate of grim grilled cheese to change the subject. “Why don’t we forget about Uncle Caleb’s sad attempt at cooking and just order Chinese? How about that?”
Emmy’s face lit up, and she nodded enthusiastically. I may not have known the right way to explain Daisy’s absence, but I definitely did know the way to my niece’s heart, noodles.
“Will Miss Preston be having the usual?” I asked, as I reached for my phone and tapped open the food delivery app. “Chicken lo mein?”
“And two spring rolls!” Emmy nodded excitedly.
“Two!” I gasped. “How can one little girl eat two spring rolls?!”
“One for both of us, silly,” Emmy giggled. I felt my heart melt a little, and I tapped the order into my phone.
I knew the lo mein was only buying me time. I would have to answer her questions eventually. I would have to offer a better explanation for why Daisy suddenly wasn’t around anymore.
And that’s not all I would have to explain.
“Emmy,” I said, setting my phone down. “There’s something we should talk about.”
Emmy blinked up at me.
“It’s about your mommy.”
In between my attempts to reach Daisy, my brain had been in overdrive trying to figure out the best way to tell Emmy the truth about her mother.
The day after the cafe fiasco, I got a call from the family attorney. He informed me that my sister had relapsed and left rehab. I believe ‘dropped out’ was the term that he used over the phone, but knowing my sister, I imagined that the truth was more dramatic than that.
I wasn’t shocked to hear that Calista’s latest attempt to get clean had failed. But I was shocked by what he revealed next. Apparently before she had left rehab, my sister had been in touch with the attorney. She had requested paperwork be drawn up, granting full custody of Emmy to me.
“She said you were a better parent to Emmy than she ever could be,” the lawyer had relayed.
I had gone through the spectrum of emotions. Shock, sadness, concern. And finally, I had settled on relief. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to send Emmy back to an unstable home with my unstable sister. And, selfishly, I was relieved that I wouldn’t lose my niece.
While I was more than happy to accept the full responsibility of raising Emmy for the foreseeable future, I wasn’t sure how she would react. Would she be happy? Devastated? Confused?
“What about my mommy?” Emmy asked now, blinking up at me. She didn’t look afraid or forlorn, just curious.
“Well,” I took a deep breath, “She loves you very, very much, Emmy, but… sometimes love isn’t enough. Your mommy knows that you need more than love, and she knows that she can’t give you all of the things you need right now.”
“I know that, Uncle Caleb,” Emmy said bluntly. “I love my mommy too, but she’s a hot mess.”
I had to fight the urge to laugh at my niece’s sass.
“So,” I said. “How would you feel about living with me permanently?”
Emmy twisted her face into a thoughtful smirk, then the expression melted into a smile.
“I’d like that. A lot.”
“Good,” I smiled back, relieved. “I want this to feel like your home, Emmy. And I want us to be a family.”
“But...” Emmy said thoughtfully, her smile fading. “A family is supposed to have a mommy and a daddy.”
“Not all families are the same. Families are people who love and care about each other.”