Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 100441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
I laugh more. Maggie and Lyric’s family join in half-heartedly as if they feel they need to humor the crazy man who’s realizing I’ve gone to stupid lengths to keep something from my daughter when there has absolutely been no reason to.
Both Chase and Kaylee look confused at my outburst, but as I go over to them and sink to my knees beside Lyric, I hold out my arms for my daughter, and she doesn’t hesitate to step into my embrace.
“Marriage might be a long time away,” I say into her hair as she hugs me.
Next to me, Lyric’s eyes widen. “Long, long, long, long, long, long, long time away.”
“Good to know where you’re at.” I pull back so I can look Kaylee in the eyes. “But would you be okay with Lyric being here more?”
She nods vehemently.
“You’re all right with Daddy having a boyfriend?”
Lyric sucks in a sharp breath, and yeah, maybe I should’ve had this discussion with him first instead of my daughter.
Though, when he smiles and reaches for my hand that’s not wrapped around Kaylee, I figure it’ll be a short conversation.
“You always tell me boys can like other boys,” Kaylee says. “And boys can wear dresses! Chase wants to wear one of my other Elsa dresses to my party.”
Lyric and I turn our heads toward Chord and Brenna, who appear to have no issues with that, so I take the one she’s holding.
“Then let’s find him one that isn’t completely stained or torn because you’ve worn it everywhere.”
As we sort through Kaylee’s thousands of costumes, I hear Maggie mutter behind me. “If only the rest of the world reacted to coming out like a five-year-old does.”
Amen.
Oh God. The rest of the world.
“Hey, Kaylee?” I say.
She looks at me with her big green eyes, and I hate, hate, hate what I have to say next.
“You know how those bad men with cameras follow us when we go out sometimes?”
“Yeah.”
“If they find out about Daddy and Lyric, they’re going to follow us even more, so we can’t tell anyone.”
It’s not that I want to keep it from the world. I know what’s going to happen when it all comes out, and I’d like Kaylee to be at a less vulnerable age when it happens.
“Why?” she asks.
That’s a loaded question. One I can’t answer in a way a five-year-old will understand.
“Because he’s famous,” Chase says. “Famous people are followed all the time.”
The wisdom of kids.
Kaylee hugs me. “You’re just Daddy to me, but I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Oh, shit. I might cry.
The best part about not having to hide our relationship from Kaylee anymore is being able to give in to the urge to give Lyric more of me. All of me.
To have an actual real relationship for the first time in my life.
It’s amazingly easier than I expected it to be.
Whether it’s thanking him properly for helping me at Kaylee’s party by having him stay the night or randomly being able to pop in whenever I want to give him a kiss while he’s looking after her, it’s so much easier now that Kaylee knows.
Maggie has officially moved in and has been sleeping in the nanny’s quarters while she looks for a job, and the three of us have this family unit thing going on.
It’s weird when I think about it from an outside perspective, but it works for us.
Anyone else would think it’d be awkward for me to be lying on the couch, my feet in my boyfriend’s lap, my one-night-stand baby momma on the other couch while we watch a kids’ movie with our daughter and my boyfriend’s nephew on the floor.
But there’s a peacefulness to it, and we’re content.
This peace scares the shit out of me even more than getting involved with Lyric to begin with, because the only way to go from here is down.
I’ve asked Lyric about any upcoming auditions, but he said he hasn’t been looking. I wanted to push, but he shut it down pretty fast.
The niggly feeling in my gut that tells me he’s holding back because of me is pushed down by my selfishness, wanting him not to get signed to a label.
I’d never block his chances at a record deal, and I know it’s inevitable because of his talent, but I’m not ready to let go of what we’re developing. I’m not ready for long distance and lonely nights. It’s why I never tried the relationship thing when I was with Eleven.
Lyric’s hand finds my foot, his thumb running from my arch up to my toes, and I almost have a full-body-gasm. Damn, that feels good.
“You okay? You look like you’re thinking pretty hard over there.”
I throw my head back on the armrest of the couch. “Whatever I was thinking, it’s gone now. Keep doing that.”
“This is why I need a boyfriend,” Maggie mumbles.