“Hey, Wren, I have something I want to talk to you about.”
She stops skipping. “Look at the ducks!” She points at the two ducks that seem to always be on our lake. “I wish we had some food for them.”
“Next time. So, listen?—”
“Could I give them part of my s’more?” She goes to tear off a piece.
“No. Come on, let’s continue.” I nudge her to walk again. “So, Wren, what I want to talk to you about…”
“Is this about building the house? Because I don’t want to move away from Uncle Jensen and Nash. I like living with them.”
“No, it’s not about that, but we can’t live with them forever.” I shake my head. I do not need to start that line of conversation when there’s something much more pressing. “It’s about your friend Leia.”
I regret the words the minute they’re out of my mouth. I can’t start the conversation like that.
But it does stop her and make her turn around to face me. She’s got chocolate and marshmallow all over her mouth. “Can I have her sleep over?”
Yeah, maybe every other weekend and on Wednesdays.
“I’ll talk to her mom, but…” We come upon the small dock that’s only used for jumping off into the lake. “Let’s go and sit.”
She runs to the small wooden dock and sits at the edge, her legs hanging over, finishing off her s’more. I sit down next to her.
“This is sticky,” she says, holding up her two hands, fingers spread wide open.
“I should’ve grabbed a wet towel from Grandma.”
She sticks one finger at a time into her mouth, licking it away.
“So, you remember how Mommy and I came here from California after we found out we were pregnant with you?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait until we can go on vacation there.”
I forgot I’d promised her last year that we’d go there and see the ocean.
“Well, Leia’s mom lived there too at the same time.”
She turns back to me with her mouth open. “Really?”
I nod. “Remember how I dated her mom in high school?”
Keep this going, she seems to be understanding.
“Well, we became friends then because we worked at the same company. And… well…”
She’ll never understand this, and maybe I should’ve rehearsed it with Lottie and Romy, although they don’t have kids to know how I can word this so that she understands.
“Mommy and I were taking some time apart.”
Her forehead wrinkles. “Time apart?”
“We still cared about each other, but we weren’t living together or planning our life as a family at that time. When Delaney returned back into my life, I was dating her during that time, and I just found out that Leia is my daughter.”
She doesn’t say anything, her eyes on the water and the two ducks paddling around.
“Grown-up issues can be confusing, so?—”
“You mean Leia is my sister?” Her eyes are wide when she turns to face me, one leg bent up on the dock and the other one hanging off.
