Page 124 of Whiskey and Regret

“Hell no.”

“I thought since he was your dad that you had him come in support of you.”

“No, Mrs. Reyes. I know better than to make your job harder than it already is,” I winked and laughed a little, and color rose to the apples of her cheeks.

“It’s okay.” Her stern gaze was now focused on Alexis. “Mrs. Freeman, can you refrain from having additional, unplanned guests join us? It’ll make our time together a lot smoother.”

“Sure. I just thought it would be helpful to hear Dad’s side of things too. We’re both concerned.”

“That may be true but Evander’s father does not have custody of Francesca. I will hear your concerns when Mr. Freeman, the older one, is out of the office.” The awkward silence that followed was laughable. Dad had to scoot that chair back and walk out because he didn’t run everything everywhere.

Once the door was closed, Mrs. Reyes looked between Alexis and me. “Okay, now tell me what brings us here today, Mrs. Freeman?”

“Well, as I said on the phone, I’m concerned about Francesca’s constant presence in Evander’s home. He hired a nanny for Francesca without consulting me and he’s also fucking the bitch in my house.”

“Woah, okay time out. We’re going to refrain from using language like that.” Mrs. Reyes held up her hand and shook her head.

“Well, it’s true.”

“Evander, did you start a relationship with your daughter’s nanny?” The mediator asked.

I wanted to explain that Xari wasn’t just Frankie’s nanny. She was more. She’d always been more. I knew she would be the second she walked into my office for her interview.

I saw the fire in her eyes, and she had the attitude to match. She was more than designer labels and a gorgeous face though. She was pure and good. I couldn’t say that about a lot of people. Hell, I couldn’t say it about my father or the mother of my child but I could say it about Xari. She was a good person.

I couldn’t tell the mediator all of that so instead, I said, “Yes. I’m in a relationship with Frankie’s nanny.” She lifted an eyebrow then nodded.

“See? He’s not even trying to hide it!” Alexis tossed her hand in the air, disgusted with me.

“If he hid it, things would be worse,” Mrs. Reyes said.

“Why would I hide it?” I frowned at Alexis.

“You should be ashamed. She’s supposed to be there for Francesca. Not for you to stick your dick in.”

“Alexis,” Mrs. Reyes warned.

“I’m sorry. It just upsets me that he has this woman around my child. I’ve never liked her. This is all so inappropriate. You know they had sex right in front of Francesca’s face?”

“That’s a motherfucking lie,” I blurted. “Excuse my language, I’m sorry.”

“What’s the true story, Mr. Freeman?”

“Wait why didn’t you reprimand him the way you did with me?” Alexis pouted. She looked so much like Frankie when she made that face.

“Let’s continue. Evander, your ex-wife’s concerns are valid. Has Francesca seen anything inappropriate between you and her nanny?”

“Well,” I sighed. “It was unintentional. She walked in on us before we had a chance to tell her what was going on.” I hated reliving that moment. Frankie looked so hurt. It was hard to believe three weeks had flown by since then. Frankie still got creeped out by seeing Xari and me hold hands or kiss but she was coming around nicely.

“Was it a one-time incident?”

“Yeah, of course. We all talked about it and she’s fine now. Actually, Frankie and Xari are in the neighborhood grabbing lunch. If it helps this session any, I can have Xari bring her over.”

“That would be helpful. Don’t you agree, Miss Freeman? That way we can hear Frankie’s side of things.” She told me to call Frankie, so I did. I asked Xari to bring her over then went back to the session.

“Mr. Freeman, you have to understand that having a new significant other can be jarring for children. This is especially true when your significant other is someone they see every day in another light.”

“I get that, Mrs. Reyes. I do. That’s why we talked about it. Frankie sat down with me and Xari and had a conversation about our relationship. Nothing is going to change. I also apologized for her having to see something not meant for her eyes. I fail to understand why Alexis is bringing me in here just because I’m in a relationship.”