I was four and had to go.
The time I told my whole first grade class about how my dad was the best police officer because he had superpowers and a “long tail in the front.”
I walked in on him in the bathroom and thankfully my innocent mind just thought dad had a tail in the wrong spot.
That is the first, last, and only time I will ever see my dad's “tail.”
The time I threw up fruit punch all over the floor of the local McDonald's because I had been riding the rides at the local fair all day.
I haven't been able to drink fruit punch since then but I still love roller coasters and thrill rides.
All the times I went streaking through town between the ages of three and six because I didn't have “boobies” yet, so it was fine.
I try to avoid doing that. My boobs barely fill out a C cup so I'm sure with the right amount of bandaids I could streak if I wanted to, I just choose not to.
Thankfully, he also shared a few more endearing stories, like the time I brought him in for career day at school because I was so proud of him for making sergeant, or the time I donated my hair to Locks of Love after growing it out for a whole year.
Kai listened so intently, laughed when he couldn't hold it back, and looked at me with so much adoration at times that all I could do was blush and look away.
Then Dad told him something I never expected him to. He told Kai that if it weren’t for me he would have given up on living a long time ago.
Totally out of left field.
Definitely something I'm going to have to get the old fart to explain to me later.
After dinner, Kai insisted on helping me clean up. He dried dishes as I washed, putting them away where I directed. It was domestic and natural and I liked it way more than I should have. Then he surprised me by saying he loved dinner and he'd never had chicken and dumplings before, so I packed up the leftovers to go home with him.
We argued about that.
Kai refused because he didn't want to take anything I needed, wanted to make sure I had everything I needed, then offered to buy me everything I needed so I wouldn't go without.
I insisted because he obviously is lacking in the home-cooked meal department and I wanted him to have it for lunch tomorrow.
And because he is so much sweeter than someone as intimidating as him should be, Kai relented and agreed to take home the leftovers.
I win.
I gave dad his pills and Kai watched with rapt attention, a thousand questions clearly racing through his mind but he never made a peep. He gathered himself and got ready to leave, though reluctantly, and to be quite honest I wasn't ready for him to go.
And bless my dad's big beautiful heart, he told Kai to make himself at home in the living room with a beer and sit tight while I helped him get ready for bed. Of course he couldn't just leave it at that though. No, my dad had to tell him he could stay as long as he didn'tdefile meuntil dad's sleeping pills kicked in.
Ass.
So I, being the absolutely smitten woman I am, practically drown my father in the shower while I rushed him through his bedtime routine and thankfully he just laughed it off. When I tucked him in he asked if I thought Kai was different, if I thought he might be special and when all I did was blush, Dad told me he figured that's what I'd do because he thought so too.
He's something special for sure, Josey Posey. Try not to let him go.
I roll my eyes and set up his phone. "I don't have time for a serious relationship, Dad."
That's a bullshit excuse, Josephine.
I blink at the serious, stern look on his face.
I know taking care of me and providing for the both of us is hard, takes up a lot of time but you need to live your life. You can't keep everyone at arm's length just because you're afraid they'll bail the first time things get hard. Not everyone is like Anna.
I bite my lip and nod.
I want you to be happy, Posey. I love you so damn much and I'm so grateful for all the sacrifices you've made to stick by me all these years but I saw the way Kai looked at you. I can't let you give him up, sacrifice something special on account of me.
