Page 81 of The Plan

“My name is Isabelle. But Uncle Sigh calls me Isa, and Daddy calls me Belle. Wow, that's a big sweater! I want one.” Vid looks down at her hoodie and then breaks into a short laugh.

“Is this Jackson’s baby?”

I give her a smile and look down at Isabelle. Her curly blond hair and gray eyes are definitely all Jackson. “Yup.” We start making our way back to my car, and Vid looks down at Isa, who’s holding my hand.

“Oh my God, she’s so big. I haven’t seen her since she was like, what? A few months old?”

As I nod, another smile breaks through at the memory of when the two of us first met Isa in the Aquarium four years ago. I remember Isa’s mom being there, and I feel my mood shift.

Jackson told me Isa asked for her mom the other day, and he didn’t even know what to tell her. I definitely feel for them because everyone deserves to have a mom, especially Isabelle. Maybe that’s why a part of me feels obligated to her. Like I’mtrying to fill the void we both have from a missing parent. I know I say Kat is my mom, and she is because my bio mom doesn’t deserve that title, but still…

I opened the passenger door for Vid and then the back door to put Isa in her car seat. I’m strapping Isa’s seat belt when she tries to whisper but fails. “She looks like that girl you show me. The one you always talk about. You know, the love of your—”

“Let’s get ice cream!”

“Yay! I want ice cream!” I climb into the driver seat, and when I steal a glance at Vid, she’s biting back a smile. Little shit heard her.

We drive into the drive-thru ofBaskin Robbins, and I look in the mirror at Isabelle. “What flavor do you want, Isa?” She taps her chin like she’s trying to solve the hardest math problem. She always ends up getting the same flavor anyway.

“Cotton Candy! Can I get a cone this time?”

“No. You make a mess every time you get it.”

“I won’t make a mess this time. Please, Uncle Sigh.” She intertwines her fingers and holds her hands under her chin. She’s so spoiled. It’s my fault, but still. I turn to Vid, and she’s already looking at me. I’m assuming she’s entertained by Isa and me.

“Chocolate chip cookie dough in a sugar cone?” She looks a bit surprised, maybe that I remembered, then nods with a smile. Her mood seems lighter than before, and I’m glad I brought her with me.

I order our ice creams, and Isa ends up getting hers in a cone like she wanted. I’m about to drive off when my phone buzzes with a message.

Agent Jackson Jones:

Where the fuck is my daughter.

Ugh, I quickly go into his contact and change his name, then smile when he texts me again.

Isa’s annoying ass dad:

I’m pressing charges for kidnapping.

That name suits him a lot better, and he’s a fucking liar. I reply and tell him he isn’t going to do shit, I’m literally on her blue card. It’s not kidnapping.

When we get to the apartment, Vidia puts her birthday box on my kitchen counter and then digs through it, probably looking for the certain numbered ones.

She pulls out a few gifts, and Isa’s eyes light up. “Can I help you open them?”

“Of course, you can. Come on.” I watch Vid as she helps Isa onto the kitchen island. “Let’s clean this first.”

Isa tries to secretly look at me, then fails to whisper once again. “Don’t tell Sigh I made a mess.” I pretend I’m doing something and bite back a smile at her horrible effort of a whisper. Vidia pinky promises her she won’t tell me even though I’m standing a few feet from them.

When Vid kisses her thumb, locking in the promise, her eyes fall on mine, and in the three seconds we’re looking at each other, I’m taken back to all of the promises we made to each other.

From our first. “I won’t do it again.” She squints her eyes at me as if she’d be able to see if I’m lying. “Promise?” I walk over to her and hold out my pinky. “Promise.”

To my favorite.“I’ll take more pictures.” She doesn’t look too happy, repeating after me, but she’s too beautiful not to want to take pictures. I lean over and hold my pinky out to her. “Promise?” A smile grows on her pretty little face. “Promise.”

To the only one I broke.“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

When she looks back at Isabelle, I’m pulled back into reality. I shake my head at the thoughts of things I can't change, no matter how much I want to. She’s twisting her ring again, and I can’t help but feel like we were both just sucked into the past.

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