Ella bounces back to the table and climbs onto her chair. “Can we watch the movie now?Iced Outis waiting!”
Tiff glances at the clock. “It's getting close to your bedtime, baby. Maybe we should save the movie for another night.”
“But you promised!” Ella juts her bottom lip out. “Jamie hasn't seen it yet! He needs to meet Princess Blanca!”
Tiff looks at me, then at Zach, clearly torn. “I did promise,” she says finally.
“I'm actually heading out,” Zach announces, standing abruptly. “I’ve got a meeting in twenty.”
“You sure?” Tiff asks, but I can tell she's not disappointed. “I thought Coach canceled because of the away game prep.”
“Different meeting,” Zach says vaguely, already clearing his plate. “NIL stuff. Boring.” He turns to Ella. “Sorry, princess. Save me some popcorn for next time?”
“Kay.” She's too excited about the movie to be disappointed, already wiggling in her seat. “Mommy, can we have popcorn too?”
“Yes, but a small bowl.”
As Tiff gets up to make the popcorn, Zach passes behind me, pausing just long enough to speak in a voice only I can hear.
“Hurt either of them, and I'll end you. Understood?”
I nod once, not bothering to look up. It's a fair warning. One I'd give if I were in his position.
“Good.” He squeezes my shoulder hard enough to make his point, then moves on, pressing a kiss to Ella's head. “Be good for your mom, princess.”
“Always am!” she says, full of the confidence of someone who’s never spent a second in time-out. Unlike me—who’s lived there my whole damn life.
Zach leaves without another word, and the atmosphere shifts immediately, the tension easing from the room.
Tiff returns with a small bowl of popcorn dotted with rainbow sprinkles, and Ella claps in delight. “Living room's through there,” she tells me, nodding toward an archway. “Make yourself comfortable. We'll be right in.”
The living room is as ridiculously modern as the rest of the house is. There’s a massive sectional facing an equally massive television, and the walls are decorated with Zach’s framed jerseys.
This guy really thinks he’s the shit, doesn’t he?
I settle onto the end of the sectional, accidentally knocking the little unicorn slippers beside the coffee table. I bend down, trying to rearrange them when Ella races in. With a popcorn bowl clutched in both of her hands, she makes a beeline straight for me. Before I can react, she's climbed onto the couch and settled herself right next to me, thrusting the bowl into my lap.
“Hold this,” she instructs, then snuggles in like we've done this a hundred times before.
I freeze, terrified of doing something wrong, of moving too suddenly, of somehow ruining the moment.
Tiff appears in the doorway, her expression softening at the sight of us. Something passes across her face too quickly for me to identify.
“Mommy, hurry! We have to show Jamie the Mr. Nibbles dance before the movie!”
“I’ll set up. You can dance.” Tiff moves to the TV, and navigates through streaming services, knowing exactly where she needs to go, all the while Ella is dancing, giving me her best snow fox impression.
As the familiarIced Outlogo fills the screen, Ella moves back beside me, bouncing with excitement. “This is the best movie ever,” she informs me solemnly. “Princess Blanca has ice powers and she's lonely but then she meets Princess Isla and they become best friends and there's a magic snowstorm and a talking fox named Nibbles and—”
“Ella,” Tiff cuts in gently, “Let Jamie watch and see for himself, okay?”
“Kay.” She pops a piece of popcorn in her mouth, still vibrating with excitement.
Tiff settles on Ella’s other side, and this warm feeling settles deep in my chest, filling a hole I didn’t know was there.
This is where I should be.
That’s my only thought as I sit with my daughter tucked into my side.