Page 37 of Defended By Bam
“Ugh. I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a grown-up doctor. But I feel…I dunno. You know the runningjoke when a woman is going through something she wants to get bangs or color her hair? That’s where I’m at.”
“I can schedule a cut and color. I’m sure the bunnies can tell me where to send you.”
“Well, typically, it’s not a good idea to follow the urge. It’s a kneejerk response. I’m fine.”
“It’s just hair. If you don’t like it, it’ll grow back. If not, they sell extensions.”
She giggled and the sweet sound was like music to my ears. “How do you know about extensions?”
“Allie loves them. And she loves to color her hair a lot. Plus, you have such a pretty face. I think you’d look cute with it shorter.”
“I always joked about getting a bob and dyeing it green. But…well, nevermind.”
“I dig it. I’ll check with the ladies later. But nevermind what?”
She rolled her eyes. “He didn’t like that idea. Said it was tacky. He didn’t think women should have tattoos either, but he had them and so did most of his friends.”
“So, I need to schedule a hair cut and run you by the shop to look at designs.” We had a tattoo shop where a few members were artists. And just to help her break free from him, I’d get her covered in tats and have a rainbow pixie cut if she wanted it.
“What? That’s insane.”
“Mommy, you could have permanent stickers!” Sadie squealed.
“You both need to calm down. Let’s do one thing at a time. Check up for Mommy, thenmaybeice cream. Big maybe!”
Grinning, I pulled into the clinic. Once we got her checked in and they took her back, I sat with Sadie and let her play some candy game on my personal phone. Since she had no current socials or name, I made sure all of that was bypassed when we arrived as discreetly as possible.
“Bama,” Sadie said without looking up from her game.
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Is Mommy getting shots, like I have to when I have a checkup?”
Sighing, I answered honestly, “Not sure. Grown-ups are different but sometimes we need shots. I bet it’ll be easier to talk her into ice cream if she does.”
She giggled, still swiping little pieces of candy on the phone. “Bama?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Are you going to be my daddy now?”
Well shit.“Why do you ask?”
“You seem more like a daddy. And mommy said we may be staying with you for a while and asked me if that was okay.”
A small sense of relief hit me. I had hoped she’d planned to stay, but knowing she spoke to Sadie about it was more confirmation. “And are you okay with staying with me?”
“I’masking the questions here,” she said, finally looking up at me with wide, serious eyes. “But I told her I wanted to stay if you must know. Now your turn.”
Adjusting in my seat and clearing my throat, I said, “For now, let’s keep it simple. I’m Bama, and you’re Sadie. What do you think?”
She stopped her game, tapping her chin. “I guess that’s okay if that means things stay how they’ve been since we came.”
I offered my hand, and she gave me a hearty shake. “Good deal.”
She went back to her game, but then said, “Mommy seems really happy now. And I’m not scared with you.”
This poor kid. How bad must it have been for her to say such a thing? My arm went over her shoulders, and I pulled her closer. “You’re both safe with me. Promise.”
