Page 23 of Aquarius Awakening (BLP Signs of Love #20)

Life as We Know It

It had been a quiet few weeks since the meeting with Mason.

Jacob had gone out to Los Angeles shortly after to shoot a new project.

Within the first couple of days after Jacob left, I was back to my routine of solitude.

This was our first time being separated since we became a couple.

I was down bad sleeping in his T-shirts, trying to keep his scent.

The video and phone calls weren’t enough. I missed my man.

While I missed Jacob, Jada seemed to miss me as well.

After three days without seeing me, Jacob’s mother called me.

Jada had been asking for me nonstop. Jacob, his mother, and I decided it would be good for Jada and me to spend time together.

I laughed at how Jada had Jacob and his mother wrapped around her finger.

Jada now had me wrapped around her finger too.

We filled our time at the park, having tea parties, watching movies, and having slumber parties.

Jada was such a sweet and well-mannered little girl.

Spending time with her was helping ease the feeling of longing I had over missing Jacob.

The more time I spent alone with Jada, the more I understood why Jacob always had a hard time leaving her.

Today, I was in the office while she was at camp. I tried to distract myself during meetings while I waited for our afternoon call. Just as she did with Jacob, Jada would FaceTime me to ramble on about her day. Baby girl had a lot to say.

I sat at my design desk staring at the blank canvas. Louisa and I met yesterday to discuss some concepts for the fall line. Time was winding down, yet I hadn’t come up with anything worth showing anyone. My phone rang with a call from Jacob.

“Hey, love. Someone wants to say hi to you,” he noted as he pointed the camera toward Jada.

“Oh, my God. You’re home. Princess Jada, did you skip camp today?” I teased.

They shared a laugh as if they had a secret only the two of them shared.

“I scooped baby girl up from camp early. Imagine my surprise when she gives me a dry hug then says she wants to see Miss Faith,” he shared.

“That’s my boo, that’s why. Of course, she would want to come see her favorite person. Right, princess?” I teased.

“Right.” Jada giggled.

“How about we come to the office and meet you for lunch?” he asked.

“I would love to see my two favorite people. See you guys soon,” I replied.

We disconnected the call as I smiled to myself.

I found some jazz music, and I outlined a sketch.

With each stroke of my pencil across the canvas, I saw a design come to life.

Lost in my own world of creating, I didn’t remember looking up from the canvas until there was a knock on the door.

Without looking up from my design, I instructed mid-sketch, “Come in.”

“Miss Faith!” Jada’s little voice filled the room as she ran to jump into my arms.

“Hey, princess,” I declared as I hugged her tightly.

As we embraced, I looked up to see my man a little tanner than he was when he left.

Jacob wore a tank top that put his toned arms on full display.

His linen slacks and white low sneakers pulled his resort vibe together.

He looked like he had stepped off a runway in Paris.

As I let go of Jada, I went over to Jacob to hug him next.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I admitted as I inhaled his woodsy cologne.

“I missed you, too, love. Thanks for taking care of our girl while I was away,” he whispered in my ear then kissed my lips.

“Eww! You guys are kissing!” Jada blurted out with her hand covering her eyes. She peeked in between her fingers to see if the coast was clear. When she saw we were apart, she directed her attention to my sketchpad.

“This is pretty. Can you show me how to make a dress?” Jada asked.

I pulled a chair close to Jada and tore off a piece of paper from my sketchbook. “Of course,” I confirmed.

Jacob looked at us with a smile on his face. As I sketched a dress for Jada, I took her hand in mine so she could get the feel of my movements. Together we designed a sleeveless dress that stopped at the knees with flowers going along the collar.

“This is pretty. Can we make it pink?” she asked.

“We sure can. Come on. We can take it over to the seamstress,” I replied.

As we left the office, Jacob stayed behind while I gave her a tour. I introduced her to some members of the design team before we made our way to the seamstresses.

“Hey, guys, we have a special guest today. This is Jada. She helped me sketch this gorgeous dress. Does anyone have time to make this for us?” I asked the three ladies.

Lyndy, one of the younger seamstresses, spoke up first as she looked in Jada’s direction. “I can help, Jada.”

Jada and I walked over to the station and gave her the sketch.

“If you give me a couple of hours, I can have this ready for you. Does that sound okay?” Lyndy asked.

Jada nodded. “Can you make it pink?” she requested.

“You got it,” Lyndy confirmed.

We walked back over to the office where Jacob was.

“Jada is getting her very own design brought to life. Lyndy is going to work on it. Should we go grab lunch while we wait?” I asked.

“Food sounds amazing right about now. Come on, baby girl. Let’s go eat,” Jacob declared as he took Jada’s hand and followed me out of the office.

I decided to take them to Hill Top, which was a burger place fifteen minutes from the office.

The place reminded me of an old school diner.

The vast menu would give us plenty of options to choose from.

We hailed a cab as it was too hot out for the walk.

Jada looked out the window of the cab as we drove down the busy New York City streets.

She pointed out the buildings and different people she saw walking down the street, full of excitement.

When we stopped in front of Hill Top, Jada gasped.

“Wow, look at the big burger.” She gushed as she pointed to the burger on top of the restaurant.

It was amazing to see the world from the perspective of a child. Everything amazed her, which was so cute.

“Baby girl, what are you in the mood for?” Jacob asked Jada.

“I want the big burger that’s outside,” she requested.

“You can’t have that burger because it’s not real. We can get you a burger, though,” he explained.

Jada seemed satisfied with his answer because she started coloring the kids’ menu that was in front of her.

The server came over, and we placed our orders.

I looked from Jacob to Jada and smiled. This was my life with my unexpected family.

We had lunch and enjoyed each other’s company before heading back to the office.

Jada fell asleep during the short cab ride back.

By the time we got off the elevator, she had woken up.

“Is my dress ready?” she groggily asked.

“It should be. Are you ready to see it?” I asked her.

She nodded her head but laid back on Jacob’s shoulder. We made our way over to Lyndy’s station just as she was finishing the hem of the dress.

“You guys are just in time. Jada, are you ready to see your design come to life?” Lyndy asked.

Jada popped her head up in excitement. “Yes!”

Lyndy took the dress off the sewing machine and held it up for Jada. She tapped Jacob’s shoulder so he could put her down. Any sense of sleepiness seemed to fade away quickly. Jada walked over to Lyndy and took the dress from her. She held it up in front of her and swayed from side to side.

“It’s pretty. Daddy, can I put it on now?” Jada asked.

“Actually, princess, why don’t you save it for dinner tonight? Remember, we have that surprise planned for your dad,” I said.

“Daddy, Miss Faith and I have a surprise for you, okay?” Jada said.

“Okay, baby girl. I can’t wait for my surprise,” Jacob said.

I thanked Lyndy for helping out as she placed the dress in a garment bag for us. We headed out of the office and made our way to Jacob’s home. The cab ride was bumper to bumper, but Jada continued to enjoy the view. Forty-five minutes later, we pulled up at Jacob’s place.

Once we entered the house, I instructed Jada to wash her hands and meet me in the kitchen.

“Are you going to tell me what the surprise is?” Jacob asked.

“Jada wanted to do something special for you. We settled on cooking you dinner and baking some cookies. You go relax and we will come get you when everything is done,” I explained.

“Are you sure you’re up for cooking and baking? I thought the kitchen wasn’t your strong suit.”

“It isn’t, but I couldn’t disappoint my boo. Even if everything comes out nasty, just pretend to like it for Jada’s sake, okay?” I instructed under my breath.

“Your secret is safe with me. You guys seriously don’t have to do anything for me. Today was great hanging out with both my favorite girls. I’m good with takeout,” Jacob suggested.

“Oh no, you don’t. Jada has her heart set on doing something special for you. She really missed you, so this means a lot to her. There will be no takeout tonight. Don’t worry, I bought a frozen pizza if dinner doesn’t work out,” I assured him.

“Baby girl and I are so lucky to have you.” Jacob kissed my lips, then went into the living room.

I made my way into the kitchen. As I grabbed what we needed for dinner out of the refrigerator, Jada appeared.

“Look, my hands are clean,” she announced while opening and closing her hands.

“Very good. You can grab the cookie dough out of the fridge. I’m going to boil the water for the pasta,” I stated.

“You got it,” Jada confirmed.

I put a pot of water on and then grabbed the small plastic cutting board and knife for Jada.

She would be in charge of dicing the peppers and onions.

I put the ground beef on while she worked on that.

We were having spaghetti and garlic bread.

I watched many videos online after Jada decided we needed to cook for Jacob.

There was no way I could tell Jada I couldn’t cook.

I looked over at her while she chopped the vegetables.

When she was struggling to cut, I stood behind her and guided her hand.

After she finished her task, I pulled out the cookie sheet. I placed one cookie on the sheet as a reference for her. Jada followed my lead and lined the cookie sheet.

“All done,” she announced after she placed them all.

“You did such a great job. Your daddy is going to love this,” I encouraged her.

Jada watched as I mixed the spaghetti, then put the cookies in the oven. Everything smelled good. I only hoped it tasted good too. Ten minutes later, the oven beeped to alert us that the cookies were finished.

“Princess, can you grab your dad? Dinner is ready,” I informed him.

“Daddy, come to the table! Dinner is ready!” Jada shouted without moving from the kitchen.

“Excuse me. Do young ladies yell, or do we speak in even, leveled tones?” I questioned Jada.

“We speak in even, level tones. I’m sorry,” Jada apologized.

“It’s okay. Now, please walk to the living room to get your dad,” I directed.

This time, Jada left the kitchen to grab her dad. When Jacob made his way into the kitchen, I overheard their conversation.

“It smells so good. What did you guys make?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise; you have to wait and see,” Jada teased.

I emerged from the kitchen with their plates.

I then went back to grab mine along with the iced tea I had made.

It was a powder mix, so I simply added water.

Once we were all seated, Jacob prayed over the food.

I was too nervous to eat, so I waited for them to try the food first. When they both continued to eat, I realized it must have been good.

“This is some of the best spaghetti I’ve ever had,” Jacob stated as he winked at me.

“I helped, Daddy,” Jada proudly declared.

After dinner and dessert, Jacob went to get Jada ready for bed.

“No. I want Mommy to put me to bed,” she whined.

I looked around and realized she meant me. Jada walked over to me and pulled me toward her bedroom. I helped Jada grab her pajamas. She changed and then went to brush her teeth.

“Mommy, can you read me a book?” she asked.

I nodded. I was too afraid to open my mouth.

If I were to say anything, I might cry. Jada had called me Mommy not once but twice.

I grabbed the book she held out and read until she fell asleep.

Jada looked so peaceful. I kissed her forehead then turned to leave her room.

Jacob stood in her doorway with a smile on his face.

We left her room and softly closed the door behind us.

“Did you hear her call me Mommy?” I asked as my voice cracked.

“I did,” he confirmed.

“Did you know about this?” I asked.

“On our way to your office earlier, she mentioned it to me. We talked about what makes someone a mom. After I explained it to her, Jada asked if she could call you Mom. I told her if it felt right for her, she could. That was all her,” he assured me.

Jacob pulled me in for a hug and whispered in my ear, “Let’s go to bed so we can work on expanding our family, love.”