Page 83 of The Path To Us

“I thought you were excited to jump off the jumping board.”

“Unca Beau! Wook at it. It’s for big kids.”

I grin and hop off the ledge and grab hold of her hand. “Okay. How about that slide, then? You can sit right next to me on that one. Not too scary, right?” I point over to a big and wide family slide that’s dark green. Some kids are going down by themselves, some have parents or what looks like older siblings or babysitters going down with them.

“Yeah!”

I look behind me to see Addy watching us.

“You coming, too, Mama?” I ask her, extending a hand to her. She takes my hand, grins, and stands up. She might be wearing sunglasses, but I still don’t miss the way her eyes dart down to my dick but then again, I don’t hide the fact that I’m checking her out, either. Her swimsuit is modest but so fucking sexy. A black one piece. That’s all it is. But it dips low between her breasts and has a cutout on each side. When she took off her coverup when we got here, I almost had to bite my fist to stop the moan that wanted to escape.

It’s the best kind of torture.

To be able to watch her all afternoon in nothing but a tiny swimsuit but not be able to touch her the way I want to. The way a man should be able to touch his woman.

Eyes are on us as we grab hold of Zoey’s hands and make our way to the big slide. We smile at each other and let them watch. It’s not as if I have anything to hide.

The cement is hot beneath our feet so we walk quickly to the slide. The three of us sit side by side with Zoey in the middle as we slide down the slippery surface.

She giggles and demands we do it again and again.

If it wasn’t for her giggles, I wouldn’t consider going down in the first place but seeing her happiness makes it worth how stupid I feel.

We stay at the pool for about two and a half hours before it’s obvious that Zoey’s done and needing to head home when she becomes irritable and a little bit grouchy.

As we walk to the parking lot, I carry an exhausted Zoey who was beginning to whine, which she only acts like when she’s really tired. I’m sure she’ll fall asleep on the way to Addy’s house and will likely take a short nap before we bring her to my parents’ house to spend the night. Hopefully she’s able to get rested enough that the sleepover still happens.

Maybe it makes me a selfish dick, but I’m done being patient when it comes to Addy.

As suspected, Zoey drifts off to sleep during the short drive to Addy’s house and luckily stays asleep as I carry her inside, laying her down gently on her bed. Addy changes Zoey out of her damp swimsuit and Macaroni jumps onto the bed, curling up to take a nap with her.

We both take showers, unfortunately not together, while Zoey sleeps then I wake up Macaroni and take him for a walk. By the time I get back, Zoey’s awake and she and Addy are cuddling together on the couch reading a book.

They both greet me with matching smiles while I refill Macaroni’s food and water dishes. It’s then that it hits me.

Everything about today has planted me firmly in their routine and absolutely nothing about today makes me feel like an outsider, an uncle, or even simply Addy’s friend. It’s not that I’ve ever felt out of place before, but it hit me just now what it will be like. For me to be a part of their day-to-day lives, if they’ll have me.

“Bring her here. That’s how you’ll make it a home.”

From my place in the kitchen, I see the back of Addy’s head and just a little bit of Zoey’s peeking over the back of the couch. I hear Addy’s voice as she reads a familiar Dr. Seuss book that’s full of hilarity and gibberish.

I stand back, watching mother and daughter together and want to shout at the unfairness of it all that Chris is no longer here to see it. Then I want to get down on my knees and thank God for allowing me to have this chance.

Richard is right.

She makes it a home.

They’rewhat makes this house a home.

Now I just need to figure out how to keep moving us to a point that I’m dreaming for us.

They must feel my eyes on them because Zoey pops up on her knees and looks over the couch at me.

“Unca Beau!”

Addy looks back also and our eyes connect for a brief moment before I turn my attention to Zoey. But that moment was long enough that I was able to catch her bite the corner of her lip while her eyes danced. It’s just long enough that it gets my heart pounding. But it’s still not long enough. It never will be.

“Hi, baby. Did you have a good nap?”

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