Page 73 of Mr. Almost

I slap her shoulder. “Be nice.”

Chloe raises her hand. “Look, all I’m saying is you were afraid of what she would learn from me, when really you should have been worried about the day care.”

I roll my eyes, even though she isn’t wrong.

“What else can you tell me, Littles?” Chloe asks her as she starts to paint Ari’s nails.

“I saw Daddy and Mommy kissing.”

Chloe’s head whips toward me, but I avoid looking at her.

“Did you now? How did it make you feel?” Chloe asks.

“It made me happy. Now I have a mommy and daddy just like everyone else.”

“We’ve talked about this, Arianna, not everyone has a mom and a dad,” I remind her.

“Still, I like having two parents now,” Ari says.

Chloe slaps a hand to her chest. “And what am I, chopped liver?”

Ari giggles. “You say the funniest things, Aunt Chloe.”

“She really does, doesn’t she?” I quip.

“Looks like you’ve been holding back on me, momma,” Chloe says as she works on Ari’s nails.

“I really haven’t,” I say, making her scoff. “No, I’m serious. It’s new.”

“Tell me about it.”

I bite my lip as I try to find the words.

“It might help if you start at the beginning,” she adds.

“You mean the very beginning? Because I’m pretty sure you were there for part of that,” I tease.

Chloe discreetly gives me the middle finger where my daughter can’t see.

“No, we had a run-in with Cruella de Vil,” I say, referring to Mason’s mother. “And it just set off a chain of events. I ended up going to his office to express my frustration, and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me. Then he took me out for brunch and then went and picked Ari up early and went to an indoor park.”

“We’re going to have to circle back later because I want to know what Cruella was up to,” she warns me. “But I’m happy for you. He seems like a good dude.”

“That means more to me than you know,” I tell her.

Chloe’s eyes soften. “Trust me, babe, I know. Besides, the guy can’t be all that bad. He helped make one of my favorite people and has a badass house.”

I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you just let yourself in.”

Chloe chuckles. “It was so worth seeing the look on your face.”

“You brought up roaches, like seriously?” I laugh.

Chloe tips her head back as her shoulders shake. Once she has herself under control, she says, “The best part is you missed the other guys’ reactions. Oh, it was priceless. Then you just had Littles sitting there like it was a normal day.”

“Because she’s used to dealing with your shit,” I say sarcastically.

“Please, I’m a delight.”

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