He laughs, catching her in his arms. “How could I ever forget about Princess Paisley?” he asks sweetly. I can see her melt under his affection. Sad thing is, I do the same damn thing. “I have something for you.” He hands her a small pink gift bag, setting her back on her feet. Leaning against the door, I watch them.
“A pink glove!” She launches herself at him for the second time in a matter of minutes. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I so so love it. It’s beautiful. A princess glove.”
“For a princess,” he beams his megawatt smile at her.
“Hey, Ris.” He pulls his attention from her and smiles at me. “You ladies ready to go?”
“Yeah, let me grab my bag.” I reach for my small Under Armour backpack.
“What’s in the bag?” he questions.
“Supplies. Baby wipes, a change of clothes, snacks, and a couple of bottles of water.”
“Babe, everything today is provided by the team. We’re going to have a picnic with booths open throughout for beverages.”
“Habit.” I shrug.
“Come on, you two.” He reaches for my hand, and I take it without hesitation. I’ve missed his touch.
“I need to get her seat,” I tell him, stopping next to my SUV and pulling my hand from his.
“I got it covered.” He bounces Paisley on his hip as they skip down to his truck, both carefree and laughing. I rush to catch up with them and see a bright pink booster seat in the back of his truck.
“Is this your daughter’s?” Paisley asks him.
“No, princess. I bought this for you. I thought it would be nice for you to have a seat in my truck too.”
“For me?” she says in awe.
“Just for you,” he confirms, setting her in the seat and buckling her in as if he’s done it a thousand times. I’ve lost count of the amount of times this man has brought tears to my eyes for including my daughter, for thinking about her best interests. This one is no exception. I take a deep breath, willing the tears not to fall. He’s going to think I’m a blubbering mess, when in reality, these tears are happy. He includes her in everything we do. What more could I ask for in a man?
“You did better,” she tells him, referring to the last time he was fumbling to get her buckled.
He laughs. “Can I tell you a secret?” he asks, lowering his voice. She bobs her head up and down. “I practiced. A lot,” he adds. “I wanted to make sure you were safe and I was doing it right.”
I choke back my tears when she places her little hands on his cheeks and focuses all her attention on him. “You’re my best friend,” she tells him sweetly.
“And you’re my princess.” He tweaks her nose before closing the door.
“Thank you,” I push the words past my lips.
“I’m just taking care of my girls.” He reaches in front of me and opens my door. And it’s a good job too as I can barely stop myself from throwing myself at this man. When I’m inside, he places his hand on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’ve missed you, Ris.”
“Me too,” I whisper, trying to keep the little ears in the back seat none the wiser of our private confession. He closes my door, and I watch him as he rounds the front of the truck. It’s still hard for me to believe this is happening. Can he really be this perfect?
“Who’s ready for the zoo?” he asks, pulling out of the lot.
The drive to the zoo is about thirty minutes, and the two of them talk the entire way about all the animals they want to see. They debate which is better—the rhinos or the elephants. Easton never stops smiling, and from the chatter in the back seat, I know Miss P is already having the time of her life garnering all his attention.
By the time we’re parked and out of the truck, Paisley is beside herself with excitement. “What are we going to see first?” she asks Easton.
“How
about we see it all? We’ll start at the beginning and take it all in.”
“Yay!” she cheers.
We make our way to the entrance, and Easton gives them his name, retrieving our passes. He places the lanyards around our necks and grabs Paisley’s hand. “All right, princess, you ready?” He gets an enthusiastic nod, and then we’re off.