Page 105 of Skate the Line

I laugh and follow.

She’s bright-faced and as excited as she is on Christmas morning.

It’s fucking adorable.

“You ready, Printsessa?” I ask, getting down on her level.

She nods with a smile. I hand her the bundle of balloons and stand to lean against the cabinets.

I haven’t done anything like this for someone’s birthday, other than Ellie.

I don’t know what that means, but it means something.

Sunny’s sweet, familiar laugh faintly flows into the kitchen. She’s talking to Marco about something regarding her nana, butthe words disappear when she appears in the entryway. Her jaw drops slightly, and I can’t help but stare at her parted lips.

So goddamn beautiful.

Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun with rich brown strands framing her glowing face, likely falling throughout the day. She has something chalky on the apple of her cheek, probably clay or something from the art studio downtown that she’d gone to for ‘open studio.’

“Happy birthday!” Ellie shouts, pulling my attention away from lusting over Sunnyagain.

Lusting. Observing. Same difference.

Sunny lowers to the ground to get on Ellie’s level, and my daughter takes off, bouncing into her arms. The balloons fly high, but I jump into action and grab them before they rush to the ceiling of my kitchen.

Sunny peers at me, still mid-hug with Ellie. Her smile is knowing, like she assumes that this was my idea instead of Ellie’s.

I will absolutely deny it, though.

“Sunflowers?” Sunny sits back on the heels of her feet.

Before Ellie can throw me under the bus, I clear my throat. “Ellie’s idea.”

My daughter turns to look at me as Sunny grabs the bouquet and puts her face to the flowers. I send her a stern look,Don’t you dare.

If I could trust that Sunny wasn’t getting better at her Russian, I could talk in code, but I can no longer trust that.

Ellie shrugs and goes along with taking the credit for the flowers.

“Sunflowers for Sunny! Get it?” Ellie wiggles her eyebrows, and it takes everything in me not to laugh.

Sunny smiles. “These are my favorite flowers. My grandpa used to growhugesunflowers in his garden for me.”

Ellie’s eyes turn into saucers. “How huge?”

She follows Sunny farther into the kitchen and watches as she rummages around for something. “Taller than you.”

“Taller than my dad?”

Sunny glances at me and then shakes her head. “No way. Your dad is huge.”

My ego just got huge too.

Marco pipes up from the opening in the kitchen. “You’re not going to find a vase, Ms. Edwards.”

Sunny spins with her hands on her hips. She pouts for a second and then shrugs. “We will improvise, then.”

We all watch in silence as she walks over to the trash, opens up the recycling and pulls out the can of SpaghettiOs that Ellie had for dinner the night before.

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