5. Wyla

Chapter 5

"Rise and shine, Stevie Bug. We have a big day planned." I gently rock my sleepyhead awake. Stevie takes one of her million blankets and pulls it over her head and rolls away from me. "Stevie, come on, baby. It's time to get up."

Stevie groans. "I'm sleepy, Mommy."

"I know, sweetie, but we're going to Crossroads, and we're going to meet someone new today." I try to sound as enthusiastic as I can to mask the extreme anxiety I have over introducing Jett to Stevie.

"Who we meeting?" Stevie asks, peeking out from her blankie.

"You gotta get up to find out, stinker." I tickle her side.

Stevie giggles. "I'm not a stinker. You're a stinker."

"No way, you are." I tickle her again, and her head falls back in laughter .

Stevie rolls out of bed. I wrangle her into some clothes and manage to get her hair pulled up into two buns. Normally, they're called space buns, but Stevie calls them her "fun buns."

There has been a knot in my stomach all morning. My nerves are shot. Am I happy I've found Jett so Stevie can know her real father? Yes. Am I terrified of how shared custody with someone who lives in Seattle is going to work? Abso-fucking-lutely. Did seeing Jett also bring up a lot of built up sexual tension? Oh, big time.

How could someone pull so many emotions out of me? Figuring out how to co-parent should be our focus, but damn, if seeing him didn't also bring back so many memories of that night.

So many regrets too. The look on Jett's face when he left yesterday haunted me all night. His words only made the guilt I feel worse.

We pull into Crossroads a few minutes before nine-thirty, and I turn back in my seat to talk to my daughter. "Okay, Stevie, like I said, we are meeting someone new. Let's remember our manners, okay?"

Stevie smiles sweetly. "Okay, Mommy. I like meeting new people."

My social butterfly .

I unload her from the car, and we walk into Crossroads. I set her up at one of the tables by the window and go up to the counter to get our usuals.

"Morning," I greet Ivy. "Win here?"

"Hey, Wyla." Ivy gives me a stressed smile as she pops a lid on a cup of coffee, then hands it to a man waiting to the side. "Win's in the bathroom throwing her guts up. She said she was craving one of my strawberry cupcakes. Apparently, the baby didn't agree with her."

"Oh goodness, I hate how sick she's been."

"I know." Ivy races back and forth from one machine to the next filling orders. "You guys want the usual?"

"Yes, please. No rush, though, Ivy. Take your time." I walk back over to our table, and Stevie kicks her dangling feet back and forth on her chair. I take the seat next to her. "I love you, baby, so much."

I snuggle her up in a hug, and she peers up at me. "I love you too, Mommy… Did you get me a muffin?"

I chuckle. "Yes, stinker, I did."

"Mommy, you're the stinker!" She giggles.

"Nuh-uh, you are." I crinkle my nose then rest my forehead against hers, and she laughs, rubbing her nose against mine.

I feel someone walk up to our table, and I turn to see Jett staring at us. I can't tell how he's feeling, he's so hard for me to read. Is this too much? Are we going to overwhelm him?

"Hey… um… want to sit?" He takes a moment just looking at us, and it makes my heart race in my chest. A beat of silence passes, then he sits in the chair across from Stevie. "Stevie, this is Jett. Can you say hi?"

"Hi, Jett." Stevie smiles at him sweetly, then looks up at me again. "Mommy, is this who we are meeting today?"

"Yeah, baby." I take a deep breath preparing to bite the bullet but Winry walks up to our table with our stuff.

"Winnie!" Stevie beams.

"Hey there, Evie Girl. I got a banana chocolate chip muffin for you, and a strawberry muffin for mom." She sets down our muffins, then my latte and Stevie's water. Winry turns to Jett hesitantly, "Hi, Jett, good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too. This is a nice place. You own it, right?"

"Yes I do," Winry says with pride. "Anything I can get you? Ivy makes some killer coffee and muffins."

"I'll take a double espresso, thank you."

"You should get a muffin," Stevie says with half her muffin on her face. "They are so yummy. The banana chocolate chip is my favorite."

Jett smiles. "Okay, and a banana chocolate chip muffin. "

"Coming right up." Winry walks off to get his order, and I honestly have no idea how to navigate this.

"Mommy likes the strawberry one. Ilike strawberries too, but not peaches, they make me sick." Stevie sticks out her tongue and shakes her head.

"She has a severe allergy to peaches," I say, and take a napkin to her face.

The moment my hand moves Stevie adds, "Mommy says I'd need a shot if I eat one."

Jett glances at me with a hit of fear in his eyes but doesn't press. "No peaches, got it."

Winry drops off Jett's order, and Stevie waits anxiously for him to take a bite of his muffin. "Try it, try it."

Jett laughs lightly and takes a bite of the muffin. "Mmm, you were right, it is good."

"I told you, stinker."

Jett chokes while he laughs. "I thought you were the stinker."

"Nope, that's you," Stevie says as she takes a bite of her muffin. Well, there's one thing out of the gate he needs to know about his daughter, she's not shy.

Jett smiles at me, and warmth spreads through my chest for a moment, but my head brings me back to reality. "Hey, Stevie, listen, you know how Uncle Graham is Georgia's daddy? "

Stevie nods. "And Uncle O is Belley's daddy, right?"

"Yes, he is. Well… uh, Jett is your dad." Oh, gah. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm fucking this up. I'm going to mess up my kid. Might as well put money aside now for her therapy.

Stevie looks at me confused. "I don't have a daddy. I have a Papaw, an Uncle Graham, and an Uncle O."

Jett winces at her words. I know it must be hard to hear. I place my hand on Stevie's back. "You do have all of those people, baby, but you do also have a dad. Um, your dad has been… working. He wanted to make sure you had everything you needed."

Stevie turns to Jett, studying him. "Are you really my daddy?"

Jett takes a deep breath. I can't even imagine what's going through his mind right now. "Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner, Stevie."

Stevie studies him some more and shuffles in her chair. She doesn't seem upset, more as if she's sizing him up. I knew letting Owen take her to watch Annabelle's self-defense class would bite me in the ass one day.

I run my hand up and down her back. "Stevie, would you be okay if Jett spends the day with us today?"

Stevie cocks her head up to me. "But wait, do I call him Jett or Daddy? "

Jett and I glance at each other.

Therapy, definitely going to be paying for therapy.

I hesitate with my answer, unsure of what to say but then Jett speaks. "Whatever you're comfortable with, Stevie. You don't ever have to do anything that you're not comfortable with. Even today, if you don't want me to tag along with you and your mom, I won't."

Stevie purses her lips and scrunches her nose, processing his words. "I'll call you Daddy," she says adamantly. "It's like a nickname, and I like nicknames. You can also play with us today."

Jett looks at me, and I just shrug. Stevie has always been a go-with-the-flow kid, but she also has strong opinions when she feels passionately about something. I knew her deciding to call him Dad was going to be a toss-up. I wasn't going to be surprised either way.

"Alright, sweetie, what do you want to do today?" I ask as I wipe more chocolate off her face.

"Can we go to the walking track and ride my bike?"

"Yes, we can." I nod and take a sip of my coffee for the first time since sitting down.

"She can ride a bike?" Jett asks, impressed.

"It's a training bike, it—"

"It's so fun. It's pink, and I can go so fast on it." Stevie smiles a proud toothy grin.

Jett and I both smile back at her. "The bike is at our house. You can meet me back there, and we can ride to the track together?" I suggest this because I know logically, it makes sense to not take two cars the whole day, but I also hope he doesn't want to because being in his presence makes me have this weird feeling in my chest.

"Okay, sounds good." Jett looks at me with those damn blue eyes.

My heart twists, and I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing. My lady parts have the same feeling, and that's definitely a bad thing.