Page 181 of The Plan

I smile at how demanding her voice comes out. Mariana tries to push her away, but Vid only holds her tighter.

“No, Mami!”

I walk over to them and kiss Marina’s head. “Let your mom hold you.”

Vid’s been crying about how she’s getting big too fast. I tried reassuring her that she only turned two today, but that somehow proved her point. Mariana sighs in defeat and goes limp in Vid's arms, resting her head on her shoulder. Vidia smiles up at me, thanking me with her eyes, but then our daughter shoots her head back up.

“No more!”

Vid sighs, then leans over to put her down, and I laugh as Mariana walks off like she owns the place, but she may as wellwith how bossy she is. She definitely gets that from her mom. I pull Vid into my side and kiss the top of her head.

I pull her hand so we can sit with everyone else. I help her down the three steps that lead to our inground seating area. We sit on the couch around the fire pit, and I make Vid sit on my lap. She’s been complaining that she’s heavy; she’s not, but I think it reassures her when I let her sit on my lap or even carry her up the stairs.

“I’m going in the bouncy house.” August shoots up from his seat, and I shake my head at him.

“Wait, me too!” Sage shoots up next. “I didn’t want to be the only adult in there, but let's go together.”

I laugh at them and take a sip of my Sprite.

“Don’t crush my daughter in there!” Vidia calls out to them as they race to the purple, castle-shaped bounce house. We let Marina pick out most of what she wanted for her birthday party. Vid says I need to stop spoiling her, but it’s her birthday, so she can have whatever she wants.

Shit.It’s herbirthday. At the reminder of my gift, I kiss Vid’s cheek and move her so I can stand. “Be right back.” I quickly run into the house to grab her gift. On the way back out, I pass my mother-in-law talking with Hazel’s mom.

“Para ti.” I hand her one sunflower, and she smiles down at it, thanking me. I continue walking through the backyard to my wife. Once I make it back to her, I hand her the bouquet of sunflowers wrapped in a big pastel blue bow.

She smiles at her gift and then takes it. “Thank you, mi amor.” I lean down kissing her. While it is our daughter's birthday, it’s also my wife's birth day. It’s the day she went through unbearable pain to bring our beautiful daughter into this world after nine long months. I show my appreciation to her for that every chance I get.

This morning, I went out back to the sunflower field and picked her twenty-six flowers. Nine for the nine months of being pregnant with Mariana. Fifteen for the fifteen hours she was in labor and two for the two years we’ve got to hold our daughter in our arms.

“Uncle Sigh! Titi Vid!” I turn my head to Isabella as she makes her way to me. “Right, it's okay if I carry Mariana?” She folds her arms as she waits for my answer. I look up at Jackson, and he shakes his head, silently telling me to say no. I smile at him and then respond to his daughter.

“Yes, you can carry her.” Jackson rolls his eyes at me, and I chuckle at him. “She’s about to turn ten, Jackson. She’s old enough to carry my kid.”

“If she drops her, I don’t want to be blamed for it.” He puts his hands up in surrender and takes a seat with the rest of us. I notice Vidia spinning her wedding ring, and then she turns around.

“Make sure you hold her back, Isa!” Vid calls out to her. Mariana does like to throw herself sometimes, but it’s fine. Kids take falls. It’s not like she’ll be falling from very high. Isa is about four feet tall.

“She’s going to drop her.”

I turn my head to Lisette, and she laughs as she watches Isa try to pick up Mariana. “Just let her walk, Belle!” She calls out to Isabelle. I turn back around just as Mariana throws her head back and falls onto the grass from Isabelle’s arms.

“Oh my god!” Vidia shoots up from her seat, but I grab her hand.

“If she didn’t cry, just leave her.”

She looks down at me with the most panic in her face. “Are you insane?!” I bite back a laugh only because of the stern look she gives me. “Do you not check on her after she falls when I’m not home?!” I do, not that she falls much when Vid isn’t home, but Icheck on her. It’s just that she’s fine almost every time she falls, but as soon as we ask her if she’s okay and baby her, she fakes a cry for attention.

“Does me not checking on our daughter after she falls sound like something I would do?”

“Yes.” She answers so quickly I’m offended. “She said she’s a big girl once, and you let her run with it. Letting her do a bunch of crazy shit. She's not a big girl, Sire.”

I take her hand and sit her back onto my lap. “I like to see her be independent, and I don’t let her do crazy shitallthe time, beautiful. I let her jump into the pool once.”

She turns to me and is looking at me like I’m crazy. “Exactly my point. She can’t swim, and you let her jump anyway.” I laugh at the memory but cover it up with a cough at the way Vidia glares at me and quickly defend myself.

“I kept telling her not to jump, and what’d she do? She kept jumping, and I kept catching her before she hit the water. After the fifth time, I let her ass go in.” Vid rolls her eyes at me, but Mari was being a little shit and wouldn't listen to me. “She didn’t jump in after that, and now she can swim. No one got hurt.” I kiss her neck, and she mumbles that I’m crazy, but my method worked.

I was literally right next to her when she jumped, and I didn’t leave her in for long. Either way, she learned her lesson the hard way, as kids need to sometimes. Vid is a bit overprotective, but I don’t tell her since she got offended the last time I tried telling her.

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