Page 61 of Ms. V's Hot Girl Summer

My phone shook in my hand while I composed one of the most important texts in my life.

Laying it all out to Trinidad would have been torture in the past. To be honest it wouldn’t have happened at all. But I wasn’t about to let my cowardice to life fully dictate my future.

Trinidad would decide to do whatever she could with the information in my text, with my heart bared completely to her, but I would always have the peace of knowing I put it all out there.

My finger hovered over the send button while I reviewed the text over and over, cleaning it up, deleting some parts and adding new ones.

Agonizing about the words, I pressed Send.

No response. A few minutes passed while I paced back and forth, checking the phone every two seconds. A boulder materialized in my throat when the three dots appeared under my message, but after a few more minutes, I realized no message would come.

Trinidad had made her decision.

I went for a run under the scorching sun. The heat cleared my head and restored my body’s well-being, all the rum sweating out of my pores until there was only water left. My heart, though, that shit was hungover, beat up, and aching. There was no run that would fix that.

After a long shower, I got some pastries and cleaned up the living room, finding one of Trinidad’s panties underneath the sofa, next to a watermark. Fuck. Everything reminded me of her. I took care of the spill and got everything to rights about an hour before Maria and Maya were set to arrive. Not knowing what to do with myself, I fluffed all the pillows and shams in the living room, then went into the kitchen and fiddled with things until my chest felt ten times bigger than normal.

The front doorbell sang the arrival of Maria and Maya, and for a second, I froze. Two deep breaths, and my feet were moving.

And there she was.

My daughter.

The pictures did her no justice. She was tall for her age, with a yellow blouse and skirt, her thick coily hair in two adorable buns with yellow bows. As expected, she held her mother’s hand with a tight grip, searching her mom’s face for reassurance. Maria seemed as nervous as I felt, and for a second, we just all stood there facing each other.

“So…” Maria started.

“Yeah…” I responded, not sure what to say. My heart palpitations were faster than the Flash on his fastest day, and still…

“Maya, baby, this is the man I told you about. This is… .this is your father. He is a very good friend of mine, and he lives in another city, but he came here to meet you!” Maria kneeled next to Maya, bringing the comfort that our daughter needed to go through this new experience.

Our daughter.

Sweet words I didn’t know I’d love to say, not so soon in my life, but they felt right as fuck. Meeting Maya now was the right timing; I wouldn’t have been able to be the man, the father she needed before. It had taken meeting Trinidad, Brian, and Brandon to evolve outside my everyday point of view. Crouching next to Maria, I extended my hand to Maya.

“Hello, Maya, I am Orlando, your dad. You can call me Dad, or you can call me Orlando, whatever you prefer.” Everything stood still. The birds outside and the palm trees completed their dance to the afternoon breeze. In the house, the AC stopped, and silence reigned, and just when I thought my daughter wouldn’t respond, she surprised me by putting her little hand in mine and stepping in, enveloping me in a sugar-, shea butter–scented hug that melted every hard corner I’d ever had.

My daughter.

If I could hold on to her and never let her go, I would, but I didn’t want to spook her.

“Hello, Daddy,” Maya said, timid but with force. She’d squared her little shoulders and gifted me with the brightest, most beautiful smile in the world.

“Hello, sunshine, can I call you sunshine?” I asked her and she giggled, nodding and making her puffs shake.

“Okay, why don’t you and Mom come in, huh? I got you some pastries, and I have a gift for you too,” I told her, and we all went to the living room.

After a few awkward conversation starters, we all sat in silence, chewing on our pastries. My heart, as full as it was, felt bruised and achy; missing Trinidad would always feel like this.

As if I had conjured her with my yearning, the door swung open, and sunlight and the scent of lemons and warmth walked in through the door, a smiling Trinidad bringing warmth and laughter into the room.

“I am so sorry I’m late! Hi, y’all, I am…” Trinidad’s eyes roamed from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, and with that, the ache in my heart dissipated, washing away all my other worries.

“This is my girl, Trinidad; she wanted to meet you too, sunshine,” I explained to Maya, who perked up. Clearly, they were kindred spirits because in less than a minute, Trinidad had Maya giggling, and she showed her the dress I gifted her, which she insisted on putting on right away.

“Damn, Orlando, you did good, my friend; that lady is…” Maria nodded her approval, giving me that “okayyyy” stare.

“I did damn good, and I will never ever take that for granted,” I said loud enough for Trinidad to hear. She turned from her very entertaining conversation with Maya and winked at me.

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