It's a small world

Adeline gets creative

Jason's pov

*a few weeks later*

Me and Brad are sitting on my tailgate drinking and joking around. He's sitting on the tailgate. I'm sitting on the side by the tire. "I'm surprised you never could tell." I say. "I never paid much attention." He gapes still shocked after I told him about Carrie having a crush on him. That girl really did go to American Idol and she really did win big. Now she's the newest sensation since Kenny Chesney. I bet broken bow wishes they signed her now. "That's why she always tried to be your partner." I mutter. "I'll definitely talk to her. She's pretty hot." He says. "A genuine sweet pretty little Christian girl. Just like my Kimmy." He laughs. "Don't turn all lovey dove on me!" He gasps. "I'm surprised you started dating again so soon right after Bethany broke your heart." He says, annoying me. "Don't even mention that chick's name." I grumble. "Sorry." I drink my beer some more and stand up to toss it in the trash but I end up falling out of the truck bed. Idiot drunk move. I lay on the ground, not wanting to get up. I close my eyes and when I open them again, Kim stands by me looking terrified. "What's wrong? What happened?" I ask, sitting up ignoring the throbbing pain in my head. "You hit your head really hard. You've been out for 2 days." Brad says. "2 days!" I cry, shocked. She nods and hugs me. "I-I'm okay now, honey." I say, patting her back. I didn't even know I konked out. "Probably a mix of getting drunk then hitting your head." Brad says, pulling up a chair for Kim who sits down. "Where's Adeline?" I ask. "Ben's taking care of her for me so I can be up here with you." She says. "I don't trust that guy around her." I mutter annoyed. "No, Ben does care about Adeline. And he promised he wouldn't drink when she was in his care." She says. "And you believe him?" I ask. "When it comes to Addy, yeah. She's his pride and joy." I wish she was my pride and joy. Wait? Why am I thinking these things? And why does it make me so mad to know Ben is taking care of her? It should be me. Oh man, my head hurts. I can barely think with all of these thoughts running through my head. She's not my daughter but I wish she was. I lay back down, my head pounding from the weird thoughts and probably from hitting it.

*a few days later*

I look at my head in the mirror. I've got a giant knot where I hit it. And man does it hurt. Instead of dwelling on it, I work on the new song I was working on called Love was easy. Can ya tell me the last time we really laughed, the last time we had a moment when we hated that the moment passed. Here we are down the road, standing here lookin' back. Seein' what we used to have is what we're missin'. Just then Adeline bursts through the door. "Hey Mr. Jason, I made ya somethin'!" She calls excitedly sitting beside me. I set the notebook down. She gives me a bunch of pictures she drew. I'm singing onstage. "That's not all. It's a story." She says. "Ok, honey why don't we read it together." I say. I turn the page and read it aloud. "One day Mr. Jason was getting ready for his show and he could hear the fans chanting his name." In the next one I'm holding my guitar. "He played several hit songs like why, big green tractor, and the truth." I turn the page and I'm guessing that's Kim on stage with me. "Is that your mommy?" I ask. She nods. "That's you, me, and mommy." She says, pointing to each one of us. I continue reading. "Tonight was a big night because he had a special surprise." Hm, I wonder where this is going. I turn the page again and I've got a ring and I'm on one knee in front of Kim! "He made the three a family. He completed what was once broken." I whisper read it. Wow. "Addy, you have a great imagination. And you're so good at writing maybe you could write songs for me." I say, trying to recover from what I just saw this little girl write. Well she sure knows what marriage is. This is so unexpected. "Don't leave mommy." She whispers. I hug her. "I'm not gonna leave mommy, don't worry." I say. I sing to her and she falls asleep sucking her thumb. I get up and walk into the living room. "Ben, I'm not getting into it with you. What you did is unforgivable. If I see you again before I die, it'll be too soon. And don't expect to see Adeline anytime soon!" She screams crying. I run outside as his truck peels out of the driveway. "Baby, what happened?" I ask. "He was snorting cocaine while he was supposed to be taking care of Adeline!" She cries. I hug her. "It'll be okay. He's never gonna see our little girl again." I whisper. We walk back inside. I hand her the papers. "What's this?" "Somethin' Addy made. I don't know what to make of it. She's asleep in our bed." She flips through it and her eyes go wide meaning she got to the page that disturbed me. "I-I don't know what to say!" She gasps, dropping it. "Jason, I'm sorry I'm not ready to get married again!" My eyes go wide. "No, I'm not proposing not now anyway! She just drew this and I'm not sure what to do about it!" I gasp. "It wasn't some collaboration between you two?" I shake my head. "Let's just drop it. She'll forget about it soon." She says, taking a deep breath. I'm worried she thinks I don't care about her enough to marry her. I'm just not ready for marriage right now. "Hey, don't take this as anything bad I mean maybe in a few years but neither of us are ready right now." "Jason, it's okay. I'm not upset." She says with a smile. "I do love you." "I know you do. You're worrying too much!" She gasps laughing. I smile. "Only about things that matter to me." I say, kissing her, my hands resting on her hips. She wraps her arms around my neck as we kiss. "God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you." She says. "I love my girls." I whisper. I don't care if she's not by blood. She's my little girl and I'm gonna keep them safe from Ben and anything else that might try to hurt them.