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thirty-nine

Lane

“Happy birthday, sweet girl!” Olive chimes as she walks into my penthouse.

“Owive!” Sage shouts, dropping the boa she was going to drape around my neck. “You here!”

“Of course, I’m here!” she replies, sweeping my daughter off the floor and into her arms. “I would never miss your birthday party! My mom is coming soon, too!”

“Eiween!” Sage claps happily.

“Yes,” she laughs before hugging her to her chest. “How old are you now, Sagie?”

“I fwee!”

“My little three-nager,” I boom, mussing up Sage’s hair as I walk over to join them, standing beside Olive. I lean in close and brush my lips over her ear. “You look damn good holding my daughter, Ballerina.”

Olive’s eyes catch mine, and she bites her lip. “I love your daughter.”

There it is.

The first time she’s said it.

Olive loves my daughter.

Sage loves Olive.

And if I’m being honest with myself, I’m already well on my way to falling in love with her, too.

But we’re not even actually together.

I’m going to have to remedy that soon.

“So, what color is your party dress?” Olive asks Sage, acting like she doesn’t already know the answer.

“Purple! Wanna see?!”

“Of course I do!” she says excitedly, and I watch as she and my daughter disappear together down the hallway.

I’m so lost in my thoughts that I must not have heard the elevator doors, and I don’t realize I’m not alone until somebody clears their throat behind me.

“Sage really adores her, doesn’t she?”

I turn around and find Eileen standing behind me, trying to tamper down a smile. “Hey, Eileen. I must not have heard the elevator when you came up.”

“No,” she grins. “You seemed a little preoccupied.”

I chuckle. “I don’t think there’s much denying that.”

She smiles at me softly. “What’s going on between you and my daughter, Lane?”

“Honestly,” I sigh. “I don’t really know. With everything she’s been through, Olive is reluctant to put a label on anything.”

“Does that mean she’s opened up to you?” Eileen asks, a mixture of hope and trepidation in her voice.

“I know everything,” I breathe. “After our date last month, she opened up about all of it.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

“Why would it?” I answer. “I think she’s strong as hell, and I want Sage to be able to look up to someone like that.”

My response must be good because she nods her head appreciatively. “You’re older than her, you know.”

“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Nine years. I know it seems like a lot, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.”

“Did you know Oscar is seven years older than me?” Eileen looks at me in amusement. “He was forty-six when Olive was born. And our age difference never mattered to either of us.”

“I didn’t know that.”

She rests her hand on my shoulder. “I can see how much you care about her, Lane. And Liv has been doing wonderfully lately. She was already on a better path before she met you, but there’s no denying you’ve had a positive impact on her.”

“I like her,” I admit, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “Your daughter is incredible, Eileen. And my daughter absolutely loves her. I know I have a past—Sage is living proof of that—but I promise those days are well behind me. I’m not the man I used to be.”

“I trust that, but most importantly, Olive trusts that.” Eileen turns to face me. “She likes you, I can tell. Promise me you won’t hurt her.”

“Never,” I reply quickly. “Olive deserves the damn world. I’ll give it to her if she lets me.”

“Eiween!” Sage shouts as she and Liv come back into the room.

“There’s the birthday girl!” Eileen says happily, bending down to hug my daughter.

“You should see her dress, Mom,” Olive states. “Sage is going to be the prettiest little princess today.”

“She always is,” I smile as I watch the happiness radiate from my daughter. “Isn’t that right, Lovebug?”

Sage nods happily with a big, toothy grin. “Daddy says I pwetty!”

I scoop her off the ground and hold her in my arms as she squeals. “Because you are pretty,” I say, tickling her side as she tries to break free of my hold.

“She looks just like her daddy,” Olive adds with a slight chuckle.

I position Sage on my hip and raise my eyebrow. “You saying I’m pretty, Ballerina?”

“Your ego knows no bounds,” she replies dismissively, but her cheeks still flush.

Sage places her hands on my cheeks and turns me to face her. “Daddy pwetty.”

I can’t help but smile as I kiss the top of her head. “Thank you, Lovebug.” I glance over at Liv and speak lowly. “What do you think about Olive?”

Sage lights up in excitement. “Owive pwetty, too!”

Olive walks over with the brightest smile on her face. “Thank you, sweet girl.”

When she places a soft kiss on my daughter’s cheek, I practically melt.

This is the family I’ve wanted Sage to have.

Olive is the one we’ve been waiting for.

When I throw the last bit of the streamers into the trash can, I breathe a sigh of relief. “Well, my home is officially de-purpled.”

Olive throws her head back and laughs before she slides onto my kitchen island. “I’ve never seen so much purple before today.”

Sage’s entire party was purple.

Purple streamers, purple decor, purple plates and silverware.

It’s like a purple tornado swept through.

She’s even wearing her new purple pajamas to bed right now.

“My daughter sure knows what she likes,” I chuckle as I reach for the bottle of wine on my counter. I grab two glasses and slide in next to Olive on the island.

“You’re a good dad, Lane,” she smiles.

I lean over and kiss her softly. “Thank you, Liv.”

“What’s with the wine?” she asks, gesturing to the bottle still in my hand.

I smile at her. “You helped a lot today, so I thought you deserved something nice. This is the same wine we had on our date last month.”

“The French burgundy?”

“That’s the one,” I say, popping the cork using the corkscrew I keep in the island drawer. “You loved it.”

“I did,” Olive grins. “That’s really sweet, Lane.”

“You deserve good things, baby.”

I pour two glasses for us and set the bottle down on my other side.

“Should we toast?” she asks.

“What do you want to toast to?” I question.

“To Sage’s third birthday?”

“Sure, to Sage’s third birthday.”

I smile as we clink our glasses together, toasting to my daughter turning three. We each take a sip before setting the glasses on the marble beneath us.

“You know,” Olive says softly. “I saw you talking to my mom earlier.”

I lean back, bracing my hands on the counter. “Yeah. We were talking about you.”

“You seem to really like talking about me.”

“You’re my favorite subject, Livvy.”

“I figured that would be Sage,” she teases.

I chuckle. “You’re right. You’re my second favorite subject.”

“Honored to be in the top two,” she smiles, and I feel it in my heart. She’s already taken up permanent residence there.

Olive leans closer to me, so I meet her halfway, pressing my lips to hers. She slides closer, so I wrap my arm around her shoulder.

“I think I’m addicted to kissing you,” I say, lips brushing over hers.

“I don’t mind that addiction,” she breathes, her green eyes sparkling in the kitchen lights.

“Didn’t think you would.”

I rest my hand under her hair at the nape of her neck, angling her head and bringing her in again, kissing her more deeply than before. She swipes into my mouth, and I can taste the wine on her tongue.

After we part, Olive sighs and presses her forehead to mine. “I love being around you, Lane.”

I brush my fingers over her cheek. “Your mom has noticed that, too. She also mentioned how well you’ve been doing the past few months.”

“It’s not all because of you,” she replies softly, “but you’re definitely part of it. With everything you’ve been teaching me, I’m learning so much more about myself. I feel like I’m gaining confidence finally.”

“You are,” I assure her. “I can see how your confidence has grown. It’s fucking incredible, Liv. I love getting to watch you take yourself back.”

“I’ve been trying to think of other ways to do that,” Olive says.

“And what have you come up with?”

“That I should figure out what I want to do with my life. I’ve considered signing up for the GED test since I never graduated high school. That probably has to be my first step.”

“Is that what you want to do?” I ask.

“Yes,” she replies, a small smile on her lips. “I want to do that. I love ballet, but I don’t think I want to teach it for the rest of my life. I feel like I’m meant to do something else.”

“Then that’s fucking amazing, baby.” I capture her lips again. “It’s just another way you’re taking yourself back.”

“It is. I want my life back, and I want to feel normal. I think that’s really going to help.”

“Have you thought about what you want to do?”

“Not really,” Olive sighs. “But I need to pass the GED before I can even think about a career.”

I place my hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes. “Whatever you decide you want to do, you’re going to fucking kill it, Liv. You’re kind and passionate, and you can do whatever you set your mind to.”

“You think?” she asks, looking at me hopefully.

”I know. And honestly, I’m really fucking proud of you.”

Olive gazes at me with pure affection, letting me feel everything she feels.

She’s excited and nervous, but she’s optimistic.

She knows she can do this.

And she knows she has all of my support.