Her face was pressed up against his chest, and if it hadn’t been nighttime, I doubt I would have heard her muffled response. “My mom’s a bitch.”
“From what I’ve heard tonight, not gonna argue that, honey.”
“And a ho.” There was a brief pause, and then she added, “I wish you were my mom.”
This time when he looked at me, I’m pretty certain my expression mirrored his. I’m also certain that expression was a what the fuck one.
“I don’t think that’s biologically possible, Jose?”
Pulling her head back, she went onto her tiptoes to tap him on the top of the head. “Duh, you just poop the baby out instead of your cooter becoming a baby shooter. I’ve been there, I know these things.”
Figuring now was a good time to take her from him – more for his mental well-being than anything – I walked down the porch steps. Just as I reached them, Jarrod held a finger up asking me to wait a minute, and held Jose in place by the shoulders.
“Josephine Harrison, I’m not sure how the world works, but I do know that you deserved better than what you got. I also know now that you’ve got better than most people with your sister, your daughter, your man, and your friends – and I’m fucking beside myself that that’s the case. I’m also a firm believer in karma, so I have zero doubt in my mind that your mom and ex-husband will eventually have to reap what they sowed, while you’ll be living a life of love and happiness. That said,” he paused, leaning down so they were eye to eye, “if I could have pooped you out, I’d be beyond blessed to call you my poop.”
She was quiet for a second, and then she threw her arms around his waist. “I’d be proud to be your poop.”
I swear I have no idea how I did it, but I held the laughter in while they hugged it out. I was a freaking saint for it, but it was a pivotal moment for the two of them, so I wasn’t going to interrupt it, regardless.
“Ok, honey, go see your man,” he turned her to face me, giving her hair a tousle.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, her hands coming up to hold her cheeks. “You’re a magician.”________________
Ten minutes later…It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but I’d got her into the house, the door locked, alarm set, and into the bedroom without her breaking either herself or anything we came across. Right now, she was lying on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge, trying to lift them up to get her shoes off.
“How much have you had to drink?” I muttered, kneeling down to undo the laces of the first Converse.
“I was a badass, dude,” she whispered dramatically. “I had three beers and two tequila shots.”
That was badass?
“Check you out, killer.” I threw the first shoe to the side and started on the next one. “How are you feeling now?”
“I have no legs,” she stated, like it was nothing unusual. “I lost them.”
Leaning forward, I rested my forehead on her knee. This was a serious matter – a really fucking serious matter – and it really wasn’t a good thing if I burst out laughing. But man, it was hard.
“Did you know I have a dad?” she whispered suddenly, all the amusement leaving me with those six words. “I actually have one, and his ADN matches and everything. We have the same squiggles in our bodies called heliums.”
Finishing the last shoe, I stood back up again, and picked her up to move her across the bed so I could lie down beside her. Once we were situated, I leaned up on one arm and watched the emotions flying across her face. This is what I’d suspected and how I assumed I’d react in her shoes – what emotion and thought do you settle on?
“How do you feel about that, baby?” I asked softly, reaching for her hand, and rubbing her palm with my thumb. “Having the same DNA and helixes as him?” I subtly corrected the words, just in case she tried using it when she was sober. She let out a long sigh as she rubbed her face with both hands in frustration, finishing it by pressing her fists into her eyes. “I don’t know how to feel. I never thought about this day happening, so I’m not prepared. Do you think they do a Dummies Guide to finding your father?” she asked, lifting her hands and looking at me. How I kept in my reaction to what she’d just done to her eye makeup I’ll never know, but I did it. “Like maybe Luke Skywalker wrote one?”
“We can check online tomorrow, if you want?”
Thinking about it, she shook her head and went back to staring at the ceiling. “It’s probably out of date, I don’t think they did NBA testing back then. Hey, maybe his story was wrong then? Mine isn’t, because they can do that shit now, so if our NAD matches, it’s a match of the BNR in both of us. Oh, and Tabby, because she has the same as me, too.”