Page 59 of Wreck Me
“Is that true?” the little girl asked. “Is he your prince or something?”
Margot dropped her forehead into a hand. “Oh no. I’m sorry. She’s obsessed with everything Disney princess.”
“Do you like Disney princesses, Miss Megan?”
“I do. Hey,” Megan’s hand slid out of his when she crouched down to get eye level with the girl. “Do you like that tiger?”
Abby glanced up at the tiger and back to her, nodding.
“Okay, well if it’s okay with your mom and dad, I’d love for you to take it and give it a good home.”
Abby spun around, her dark hair swinging around with the motion. “Daddy, please? I know you tried so hard earlier to get me a stuffed alligator but I’d be happy with a tiger. Please? Please?”
Rob smiled down at her and sighed. “Yes, you can have it.”
The little girl jumped up and down as Aidan handed it over to Megan to give to Abby.
“Now, you have to promise to take great care of him, or her, whatever you decide, okay?”
The end of the tiger’s tail dragged the ground as Abby swung back and forth, her arms wrapped around its neck, her cheek resting against the head of the stuffed animal.
Aidan was struck by a vision that nearly brought him to his knees. The vision of a little girl with Megan’s dark hair and his blue eyes. He could see it in technicolor and it caused his vision to blur.
“…Aidan.”
He tuned back in when he heard his name. “I’m sorry, what?”
Rob looked at him funny for a second before saying, “I was just thanking you. You okay, man? You zoned out for a minute.”
“Uh, yeah. Fine. Sorry about that.”
Rob clapped him on the back. “No worries, man. Y’all let me know if you need any volunteers for the parades again this year. I’d be more than happy to help with crowd control.”
“Will do, buddy. You know I’ll take you up on that.”
They shook hands, and everyone said their goodbyes before they parted ways.
Megan sighed and slid her hand back into his before snuggling up to his arm. “What a sweet little family. Abby is so stinking cute.”
“She is. They tried a while with no luck. It took an anniversary trip to Vegas to get Margot pregnant.”
Megan laughed, her smile huge. “I love stories like that.” They walked a few more moments and closed in on food row as it was dubbed. The smells of sweet funnel cake, hot dogs, pizza, peppers, and turkey legs all mingled together to form an intoxicating scent that would always remind Aidan of the festival.
“You ever thought of having kids?” she asked.
He looked away and swallowed before answering. “Once upon a time I did. But things change.”
“Things like what?”
He shrugged. “Just life. Things don’t always end up how you expect them to.”
All he had to do was look at his parents as an example and at how devastated his mother had been at the sudden loss of her soulmate. And she’d never remarried.
Or his brothers. Sure, Del and Addison were back together now, but they’d lost a decade of time together and both had gone through hell while apart.
And Noah? His wife had grown bored of small town life just a year into their marriage, and they had divorced.
Marcus lost his wife to cancer five years ago and the man was just now beginning to come out of the hold grief had on him.
