Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Gigi unlocks the door and pulls it open.
“Daddy!” she screams and jumps at him.
Zeus catches her in his arms and holds her close, hugging her. “Morning, baby girl.” He kisses her cheek. His eyes drift to me. “Morning, Cam.”
“Hi,” I say. “What are you doing here?” I try to say it without sounding too accusatory.
“I wanted to see my girl before school.”
Gigi slaps her hands to his cheeks and brings his focus to her. “You means, giwls, Daddy. You wants to see Mommy before work, too, right?”
“Right.” He smiles at her. Then, his eyes move to mine. “I always want to see your mom.”
The wanting look in his eyes makes my heart go kaboom.
Welp.
“Also, I got you something,” he tells Gigi, moving his stare back to her.
“You dids?” she squeaks.
“A surprise,” he whispers.
“I woves surprises!” Gigi exclaims. “What is it?”
Zeus looks at me. “Am I okay to come in for a minute?”
I glance at the clock on the wall. “We’ve got only a few minutes,” I tell him.
“That’s all I need.”
He puts Gigi down and walks into the hall with her glued to his side. I shut the door behind them and lean up against it.
Then, he pulls an envelope out from the pocket of his biker jacket, gets down to his knee, and hands it to Gigi.
“You gots me a wetter, Daddy?”
His lips tilt into that devastating smile of his. “Kinda. Open it,” he urges.
Intrigued, I step closer.
Gigi rips open the envelope, dropping it to the floor. There’s a folded piece of paper inside.
Gigi opens the paper, and something that looks like tickets flutter to the floor.
Zeus quickly picks them up.
“What’s it say, Gigi girl?” I ask her.
“It’s a picture of Sweeping Bweauty’s castle, Mommy.” She turns the picture to me.
Huh?
Zeus hands the tickets to her. “And what are these, Gigi girl?”
She frowns in concentration. “I dunnos, Daddy.”
“They’re tickets,” he says. “And who’s that right there?” He points at something on the tickets.
“Mickey Mouse,” Gigi answers without hesitation.
“And where would you find Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty’s castle?”
“Disney World,” I whisper at the same time as Gigi screams, “Disney World!”
“That’s right, baby girl.” He beams at her. “I got us tickets to go to Disney World this coming weekend.”
This weekend?
“You dids?”
“I did.”
“You’s the best Daddy ever!”
She launches herself at him, and he catches her, chuckling as she wraps her arms around his neck.
And I start to feel sick.
He’s taking her to Disney. I’ve never been able to afford that.
And it’s all the way across the country. Meaning he’s going to be taking her away from me. I’ve never spent a night away from Gigi since the moment she was born.
“Mommy! Looks!” She disentangles herself from Zeus and dashes to me. “We’s going to Disney! I gonna gets to see Flynn Wider! I’s can tell him we gets married when I’s a big girl. I gonna need my pwettiest dress, Mommy! I can’t wait to tell Granny Elle!”
She’s bouncing off the wall with excitement, and I’m smiling big for her, but inside, I’m sinking.
“That’s great news, Gigi girl. I’m super happy for you.” I bend down and hug her. “Would you do me a favor? Go grab your reading book from your room for me. We need to take it back to pre-K today.”
“Okay, Mommy!” She runs off, up the stairs, singing “When Will My Life Begin” from the Tangled movie.
My eyes meet Zeus, who’s now standing across from me.
“You should have talked to me first,” I say quietly, an edge to my voice. “You can’t just go off and book a vacation without consulting me.”
“It’s just a few days in Disney World. And I would’ve run it past you, but I haven’t been able to get five minutes alone to speak to you.”
He’s got me there. But still…
“Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch or be awkward, Zeus. It’s just…”
“What?”
“I’ve never been away from Gigi,” I admit. “I haven’t spent a night away from her since the moment she was born.”
His expression turns tender. “There are three tickets, Dove.”
“What?”
“I booked it for you, me, and Gigi to all go together.”
“Oh.” Oh. “Hang on. You’ve booked this for me, too?”
Well, if that doesn’t just annoy the crap out of me.
He nods, eyes carefully watching me.
“And it’s for this weekend?”
“Three nights actually. We leave Friday.”
“I work Friday.” I fold my arms over my chest, feeling somehow wronged that he just went off and did this.
“Not this Friday, you’re not.”
“Says who?”
“Your boss. I had Elle ask on your behalf for the time off. It’s all been arranged.”
“Aunt Elle?” I blurt out.
“Yeah. I told her that I wanted to surprise you and Gigi. She was more than happy to help me out, getting you the time off work.”
And, apparently, Aunt Elle is now a traitor.
“Gigi has pre-K,” I counter.
“It’s a few days, Cam.” He sighs, clearly frustrated by my reluctance.