"Come on, peanut, you gotta get a move on," I yell as I'm making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the counter. My head is down swiping both sides of the bread with the strawberry jelly when I hear Izzy's little feet pound down the hallway.
"Okay, I'm ready, mama!" I glance up quickly, my brain taking a minute to process before it settles in. I bite my bottom lip, place the knife down on the counter and then glance up once more.
"And what do we call this look, hm?" Izzy's bright blue eyes shine up at me. A proud smile takes up her entire face as she twirls around a few times in her outfit.
"I wanted to be a pwincess. You like it, mama?"
It takes me a minute to think about my answer. A part of me wants to yell because we're running late this morning but another part of me wants to laugh at how adorable she looks. I shake my head letting out a little sigh and then bend down in front of her so we're eye level.
"You look amazing, baby girl."
"Thank you!" She smiles at me so big my heart melts.
"But...," her little pout almost makes me want to cry but I push on, "I think it's a little too cold out to wear your butterfly dress today, okay? Do you think we could go put on some pants and a long sleeve shirt? And maybe fix up your hair a little bit?"
Those big blue eyes stare at me, wide and shocked. I know what's coming before she even opens her mouth. "No. I wanna be a pwincess today! This is how pwincesses wear their hair!"
Another sigh leaves me before I stand up and shake my head. "Isobel, mommy does not want you to be cold outside in a dress, can you please go put on a different outfit? If you need help I will help you right after I finish making our lunches, okay?"
"No, I wanna be a pwincess!" With that and a little scream, my little girl runs off to the room while I stand in the kitchen trying to breathe. It's the tantrums no one ever truly talks about. When your little one wants to be independent but they express themselves in such a way that makes you want to rip your hair out. I return back to the sandwiches, getting out a paper bag to put them in when there's a knock at the door.
"Coming!" I yell to the door before walking over to look through the peephole. When I do my heart stops before speeding up rapidly. Fuck. Shit. Gah!
I swallow down a golfball-sized lump of nerves before unlocking the door and staring at another pair of beautiful blue eyes.
Jesse smiles back at me, giving me that slow sexy smirk of his that will forever haunt my dreams. "Good morning."
I clear my throat moving my eyes from his lips up to meet his. "Morning."
We stand there for a few seconds, him in the hallway and me in the doorway just staring at each other before I hear, "Who's at the door, mama?"
Izzy's little voice knocks me out of my trance with Jesse and I blink before stepping back into the apartment. "Come in, sorry it's a bit of a mess." I step back and gesture for Jesse to step inside before answering Isobel. "It's your Uncle Jesse, baby, do you want to come say hi?"
My little girl comes running down the hall like I just told her Santa was here. I watch as she barrels down and runs straight into Jesse's waiting arms like she's done it her entire life. A few weeks ago she had never even met him in person but now it's like he's her favorite person. A small ache forms in my chest at the sight of her in his arms.
"Who's that, mama?" Isobel asked when I had picked her up from daycare the day Jesse turned up at the cafe.
I got down on my knees and whispered to my little girl. "Do you remember the pictures I show you of Aunt Lily?"
"Mhmm," she said still staring up at Jesse's blue eyes.
"Well, this is her brother," Izzy sucked in a gush of air, "Uncle Yesse?" she turned and looked at me with big eyes. Behind me I heard Jesse's small breath and felt him move an inch. Was he shocked that she knew about him?
"Yes, baby, Uncle Jesse. He just got into town and wanted to see you. Is that okay?" Before I even finished the sentence Izzy was nodding her head, her eyes back on Jesse like he was some sort of present for her.
It was then that Jesse had bent down to his knees, getting eye level with Izzy and me. "Hi, sweetheart, my name's Jesse, what's yours?"
I sucked in a small gasp. How did it slip my mind that he didn't even know her name? How could I have not told him? Not mentioned anything? A part of my heart snapped and I put my hand over my chest to help ease the pain.
"I know silly, mama says you're my uncle cause of aunt lily. I'm Isobel but some pweeple call me Izzy."
Jesse let out a small laugh before putting his hand out to Izzy, "Isobel...like your grandma." I held back my sob at that. He knew the second she said her name that I named her after my mom, "Well it's very nice to finally meet you Isobel, I've wanted to for a very long time."
Izzy's eyes shot over to me before looking back at Jesse and shaking his hand. She stared at him a moment before asking, "Do you like chwoclate milkshakes?"
Jesse and I both laughed before he nodded his head. "Absolutely, I do. Would you and your mom like to go get one?" He looked over at me just as Izzy's bright blue eyes looked at me pleading. Just then Jeremiah walked out of the school with his girls and stared at the three of us. I swallowed down a lump in my throat before clearing it. "Sure, but first Mommy has to go talk to Jeremiah, okay?"
Izzy turned around at the mention of Jeremiah and waved before running over to his daughters. I stood up before Jesse did and then made my way over to Jeremiah. His eyes were already focused behind me, a weird look grazed his face before he looked down at me. "We're going to go get a milkshake with him, okay? I can call you or come over later?"
Jeremiah's eyes lifted once more behind me before looking back. He cleared his throat before giving me a curt nod and then leaned down and placed a tender kiss on my lips. A small gasp left me when he did because we hadn't kissed much in front of the girls before. "Okay," he whispered to me, his eyes meeting mine, "call me if you need anything."
My eyebrow had raised at the weird tone in his voice but I nodded before telling Izzy to say goodbye. We turned around to a waiting Jesse who smiled softly, "Ready?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Izzy shouted holding my hand as we walked.
Jesse smiled before looking over at me. "Do you mind a small hike? I know just the place to go for the perfect milkshake."
I looked at Izzy before looking back at him. "Sure," I almost whispered while nodding my head.
That was only a few weeks ago but ever since that milkshake Izzy has been hooked. I can't really blame her, I forgot how wonderful it felt to have Jesse in my life but I can't help but wonder how long it'll last.
