Page 43 of Quiet as Kept
Destin shot out of the room like she knew where she was going. Dakota and I followed the sound of her footfalls, which led us to the kitchen.
It was a remodeled number, but it wasn’t modern. It looked like it had been done in the early 2000s. The countertops were a speckled brown and beige granite. The cabinetry was the same orangish-wood as the bedroom furniture, and the floors were a dingy white laminate. On the back wall of the kitchen was a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto a very small deck that led directly to the lake. There was no backyard, just a small deck and then the lake.
Kept met us in the kitchen, immediately catching the expression on my face.
“Yeah, this is one of the reasons I don’t come here. I like the proximity to the water, but I don’t trust Destin at all. This house lets me know that there is such a thing as beingtoo close to the water.”
I nodded my agreement, all while imagining myself in one of the Adirondak chairs with a cold drink and a book.
“You’re right, but as a grown-up, I love it.” I spun around in a 360 degree turn. “I could do so much with this place.”
His eyebrows went up as surprise registered on his face. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I responded as I watched Destin circle the center island over and over again. “Our girl is exhausted,” I muttered.
He scooped her up as she rounded the structure for the tenth time.
“Daddy.” She giggled, burying her face in his shoulder.
“We should probably feed them and then settle down for the night,” I suggested.
“Movie night!” He bounced Destin in his arms.
“Yay!” Destin cheered, clapping her chubby hands together.
Dakota gave a small smile and a big yawn.
“I’ll get the food ready.”
While I got the food that Kept brought from the house, he set up the living room. He connected the television to his portable hotspot then let Dakota select a movie since it was her birthday.
We ate crab boil, drank soft drinks, and watchedMoana 2while nestled together on a blanket. The last time I watched a movie while stretched out next to somebody else had been when Yahirah and I were still in high school. Doing it with Kept and his girls felt like exactly what I needed. It felt like contentment, warmth, and happiness all rolled into one.
When Kept took the trash and the plates to the garbage, I pulled the girls closer to me, and the three of us snuggled. My heart was full. I knew for sure that I wanted a life like the one I was currently living, one filled with a man and children who loved and cherished me.
I opened my eyes to find Kept standing in the hallway staring at me. When our eyes met, he smiled.
“I must’ve dozed off,” I said, wiping my left eye.
He nodded, still smiling.
I smiled too. “Why are you smiling?”
“I like the picture I’m looking at.”
“What took you so long to throw out the trash?”
“I made up the beds. I figured the girls would be ready to lay down when the movie ended.”
My eyes moved over to the television where the credits for the movie rolled. I stretched then yawned.
“Let’s put them in bed then shut it down. It’s been a long ass day, and I, for one, will be glad to see it come to an end.”
“Part of it was messed up,” I agreed. “But I like the part where the four of us snuck away together.”
He winked at me before bending down to pick up a sleeping Dakota. “Say less.”
I picked up Destin and followed him to the first bedroom. We situated them side by side in the bed on top of the pink butterfly sheets I picked out and under the matching comforter.