Page 48 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

forty-four

. . .

I told Kelli not to come over to the house before nine in the morning in order to give us plenty of time to sleep.

But since I’m used to getting up at five, and Melissa’s body is on Chicago time, we wake up with hours to spare.

That doesn’t mean we have to actually get up and start getting ready for the day, though.

“Can we take a nap today?” Melissa murmurs against my chest. I woke up to her curled around my side, much like the morning in the trucker motel in Illinois, but with fewer clothes.

I tap my temple. “I’m putting it on my agenda right now.”

“You think Kelli is going to abide by your agenda?” she asks.

“I have every reason to believe she will not.”

Melissa laughs, lightly ruffling my chest hair. “I like her. Granted, I only spent a couple minutes in her presence last night, but she seems like a great kid.”

“A little overenthusiastic, maybe, but yeah, she’s the best.”

She raises her head to look me in the eye. “I love how much you love her.”

I stroke my hand down her hair. “She’s easy to love.”

“I’m pretty sure you’d love her just as much if she was hard to love.”

I smile at her. “I think you’re right. There was a time when I didn’t believe I was capable of loving someone as much as I love my little girl, but I’ve proved myself wrong. ”

“Yeah,” she lays her head back down, “you’re just a big softie, remember, B.S.?”

“I do.” I think that’s the nickname I love the most, because it’s a side of myself I don’t let many people see.

“And you love me, too.” I feel her smile against my skin.

“I do.” I love her so much it both makes my chest ache and makes me feel like I’m floating, which is a strange combination, but it’s the only way to describe it.

I want to go ahead and tell her we’ve all agreed to move to Chicago as long as she’s on board with that, but I promised Kelli I wouldn’t say anything without her being there, and I promised Melissa I would let her be part of the decision-making process.

There is one thing I think I can safely talk about, though, without bringing my daughter’s wrath down upon me. “Diego offered Nanette a job, no matter where we live.”

“I know.”

“You do?” I crane my neck so I can see her face, and she tilts her head to look at me.

“Yeah, he called me to ask for advice.”

“On whether or not to offer my ex-wife a job?” I’m not sure how I feel about that.

“No, he already had his mind made up on that. He wanted to know if he should have you or me tell Nanette, or if he should contact her directly.”

“Ah.” I nod. “You made the right decision.”

“Of course I did.”

I tickle her side, and she squeals and swats me away before lifting up onto her elbow to look down on me.

“I love you so much, Bobby Joe.”

A cheeky grin takes over his face, and he glances over at the alarm clock. “We have plenty of time for you to prove that to me once again before my daughter comes knocking.”

When we finally roll out of bed, it’s still not nine o’clock, and Melissa asks if my pool is heated. When I answer in the affirmative, she cheers and digs a bikini out of her suitcase. She holds it up like a trophy.

“To the pool!”

“Just a warning,” I say wryly, “the second Kelli spots you out there, she’ll be joining you. And I can almost guarantee she’s currently either already outside or camped out by a window watching for any sign of you.”

“Sounds good to me. Swimming is no fun alone.” She waltzes into the bathroom with her swimsuit in hand.

While I’d love to join her in the pool, I decide to let the two of them spend some time getting to know each other without my presence.

So I head to the kitchen and start prepping for breakfast, which is when we’ll be talking about the move.

That way we’ll get it out of the way and can move on with enjoying the rest of the weekend.

Several kitchen windows, as well as the glass door, face the pool, and I watch Kelli race out of her mom’s house in her pink-and-white striped swimsuit within minutes of Melissa heading outside.

Every time I glance out, they’re laughing and splashing or playing some kind of game.

Twenty minutes later, Nanette joins them.

I watch as they interact, and I’m smiling like a fool, but I don’t care.

I want the three most important women in my life to love each other as much as I love all of them, and it appears that’s exactly what’s beginning to happen in my pool.

I give them fifteen more minutes before wandering outside, and I drop down to the edge of the pool to let my legs dangle in the water. Kelli immediately splashes me, which makes Melissa dissolve into giggles.

“Pull him in! Pull him in!” my girlfriend begins chanting, as she wades toward me.

The other two join in, and I don’t put up much resistance as the three of them each grab a limb to pull me into the pool.

Expecting something of this sort to happen, I had donned a pair of swim trunks and a thin t-shirt instead of regular clothes when I dressed earlier.

Kelli latches onto my back like a monkey and tries to dunk my head under.

After resisting her efforts for a few seconds, I let her push me under, but then I twirl around under the water, grab her waist, and launch her up and out toward the deep end.

She resurfaces with a splutter and gives me the evil eye while trying not to smile.

“Sharks and Minnows!” Kelli yells. “Dad, you’re the shark!”

Melissa screeches as I lunge toward her, and she glides away. “Hey, you gotta stay in the middle of the pool, Mister Jaws!”

We play a few rounds of the game before I declare it breakfast time.

I head inside to change out of my wet clothes, and the women are still drying off and goofing around poolside as I bring the food and drinks out to the large outdoor table.

I crank open the red-and-yellow umbrella to give us some shade while they don colorful robes Nanette brought out for the three of them.

“Melissa,” Kelli says around a mouthful of fresh fruit, “do you really want to?—”

“Kell, don’t talk with your mouth full,” her mother cuts in.

Our daughter holds her hand over her mouth while she finishes chewing. “Sorry. Anyway, do you really want to talk through both options, or is it OK for me to just tell you we’re moving to Chicago?”

“Kelli!” We talked about this, but I should’ve known she wouldn’t follow the plan. At least she gave Melissa some time to get to know her before declaring we’ll all three be descending upon her city in a few months.

Kelli huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “There’s no reason to waste time talking about something we’re not going to do, Dad.”

All eyes turn to Melissa, and she looks at me for a few seconds before looking first Kelli and then Nanette in the eye.

“I am perfectly willing to move to California if that’s what’s best for all of you.

Why upset three lives instead of just one, right?

But I would definitely not complain about you three moving to Chicago, if none of you are opposed to it.

Then I’d have everyone I love in the same city. ”

Kelli throws her hands up in victory, and Melissa smiles at her before turning to me with love in her eyes.

I reach over and grasp my girlfriend’s hand.

“I’ll have everyone I love in the same city, too.

” It stings a little that Nanette will have to leave her extended family behind in order for me to have my dream, but like she said, she rarely sees them anyway.

That’s not a compelling reason for us all to stay here.

“Awww, look at you two,” Nanette says, and she’s not being sarcastic.

Believe me, she can be, but this is not one of those times.

“I can’t tell you how happy this makes me for both of you—for all of us, actually.

I think this move will be great for everyone.

Kelli will be able to spend more time with her dad, and I’ll be able to go to back to work. ”

I need to have a private conversation with Melissa, so I look at her and nod toward the house. “Help me bring out breakfast dessert?”

“Breakfast dessert? What’s that?” Kelli asks. “And why don’t we have it every day?”

“It’s only for special occasions,” I tell her as Melissa and I head to the house.

When we get inside, I pull her to where the others can’t see us, and I kiss her deeply.

“I love you so much,” I say as I cradle her face in my hands, “and I love that you seem to have bonded with Kelli and Nanette already. Am I right about that, though? I need you to be honest with me if not. That doesn’t mean the end of this, but we might need to slow things down if there’s any tension between you and either of them.

I can understand if you need more time to get to know either of them before making a big life decision that will involve them. ”

“No,” she shakes her head, “no tension. I’ll admit I was a little worried that Nanette might still be in love with you and you’re too close to the situation to see it.

But she seems genuinely excited for you and me, like a friend or sister would be.

I don’t get the feeling that she has any sort of romantic interest in you.

” She goes up onto her tiptoes and kisses me on the nose.

“Is it weird that I may someday live next door to your ex-wife? Yeah. And the three of us will need to sit down and hash out what that looks like and what rules we’ll all need to put in place to make us all comfortable. ” She shrugs. “But we’ll work it out.”