Harper
I was nervous to have Ace come over on Sunday. It was partly that I remembered exactly what had happened the last time he had been at my apartment. We had all had dinner together in the kitchen, a perfect little family. Mom, dad, and daughter. Exactly what we were about to explain to Ava.
But then afterward, even though I’d know it was a bad idea, I had ended up inviting Ace into the shower with me, and we’d had scorching-hot sex. I couldn’t do that again. I knew I had to keep my hands off him, to keep some distance between us. As much as I wanted him, as badly as my body craved his touch, I knew that it was only going to complicate things between the two of us and between Ava and each of us. That wasn’t fair.
Having him there in my apartment, though, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep my hands to myself. I knew that I needed to, but I had known that in Kuwait, too. I just wasn’t much good at resisting his charm and good looks.
There was more to it than that, but I was careful in not considering my feelings for him. I had to think of him as just the father of my daughter. That was it. He was a friend, and he was the father of my daughter.
If I thought it enough times, maybe I would actually start to believe it.
Ace rang the doorbell, and I took one last deep breath before I went to answer it. I knew that telling Ava was the right thing
to do. That it was the only fair thing to do. She had gone long enough without knowing who her father was. And Ace had gone long enough not being a part of her life. But I couldn’t even begin to fathom how she might take the news.
When I answered the door with Ava peering around my leg, Ace was standing there with a bouquet in either hand. He bowed down low to give the first bouquet to Ava. Then, he handed the second set of flowers over to me.
I felt my nerves melt away, just like that.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Ava said excitedly. “These are prettier than the last ones.”
“You loved the sunflowers,” I said, my tone mildly scolding.
“Yeah, but Mr. Ace brought me these ones!” Ava said, as though that made it all the better. And maybe it did.
I smiled to myself as I sniffed the delicate bouquet Ace had given me. My heart felt mushy, and I suddenly realized I was totally in love with this man.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Ace scooped Ava up into his arms. “You know, the sunflowers were from me as well,” he confided. “I just had to have one of my friends deliver them. So it would be a surprise.”
“Oh,” Ava said. Her face lit up. “Mr. Ace, you’re the best!”
Ace laughed and carried her into the kitchen. “You want to show me where your mama keeps the vases for the flowers?”
“Up there!” Ava said, pointing excitedly.
I stood in the doorway, watching as she and Ace arranged the flowers. His fingers moved quickly; he clearly knew what he was doing. Another hidden talent. Another thing I wouldn’t have expected from him.
He glanced up, flashing me a quick smile. “Ta-da!” he finally said.
“Ta-da!” Ava echoed, adding jazz hands to the mix. Then, she practically collapsed with giggles.
“Come here, you little giggle-puss,” Ace said, scooping her up and bringing her into the living room. “Your mama and I want to talk to you.”
“Am I in trouble?” Ava asked, her eyes going wide and round.
“No!” Ace said quickly. He glanced over at me and then sat in the armchair, leaving the couch seat next to Ava for me.
I sat down slowly. The whole scene still felt so surreal. It was as though it had just now, suddenly, hit me that Ace was really there, in Boston. Part of our lives.
I suddenly wished that Ace and I were sitting together on the couch. I wanted to reach over and hold his hand. To brace myself while I told our daughter who he really was. But I forced myself to take a deep breath, smile, and tell her myself.
“Honey, you know how Ace has been coming over here to see you a lot?” I asked tentatively.
Ava nodded. “I like Mr. Ace,” she said. “He has doggies.”
She sounded so excited, and I had to smile. “He works with doggies,” I agreed, nodding. “And you know how we talked about families, and we said that I was your mama and my mama was your Grammie? Well, Ace is your daddy.”
I hoped she would make the connections and understand. I knew a lot of the cartoons that she watched, not that she watched a lot of TV, had families made up of a mom and a dad.