She wanted me to marry Somee. I would be on board with walking down the aisle, because that was my endgame, but we weren’t there yet.
“You want to stay with me?”
When her little face lit up, my heart melted.“I like living at your house. I like my new school and my friends. If I stay with you, Somee will be sad because nobody will be at her house with her, but if she stays here, then she has us.”
Things with kids were simple. Somee was damn sure right about that.
A pout eased onto her face before her hands were moving once more.“And I don’t want to go back to my old school because she might come and get me. I don’t want to live with her anymore.”
She, as in Felicia…
“Your mom?”
She nodded and I kneeled, lowering to her height.“She’s not coming to get you. Even if you went back, you wouldn’t have to be with her. I promise. So if you want to live with just Somee, that would be okay. Do you want to go back to Chicago and live at her house so that it’s just the two of you?”
I hated to ask, but a part of me needed to know if she only wanted to stay with me so Felicia didn’t have access to her anymore. If that were the case, I would deal with it, but it would crush my fucking heart. I needed my sister to see me as her safe space, her home, and not to replace what Somee provided in her world, but just to add to it. They had only been with me for a couple months, but I already needed them.
She shook her head.“I want to stay here with you and Somee said that you have to stay here because of football. We can live with you at your house if you buy Somee a ring.”
“How about we give her something for her birthday that will promise that we’re always connected. No matter what, she’ll be with both of us and you can make it.”
“What is it going to be?”She was instantly happy again, which eased something in me.
“Come on. It’s going to be a surprise and you have to promise not to tell her what it is. Our secret, okay?”
“Okay.”She beamed.
Somee’s birthday present was mentally locked down, now I just had to see if my girl Lacie, the designer with Unique Jewels, could get this done for me in three days. Money made shit happen, so hopefully this worked in my favor. Cost didn’t matter, as long as they got it done.
“You like it?”
The way my sister’s face lit up when she saw the sketch of the necklace Lacie created from the heart Rylee drew was priceless. Every penny spent was going to be well worth the reaction from her and hopefully Somee.
“It’s pretty. I like it.”
“You said Somee likes when you make her stuff, so you get to make her birthday gift.”
Her smile bloomed even more as she pulled the sketch closer and examined the finished product. I wanted the gift to be meaningful, but also give Rylee what she wanted, a reason for Somee to stay. With each of us having a piece of Rylee’s heart as a charm that connected the three of us, I was hoping Somee would see that as a promise that we were a family.
It was a bit too soon to give her a ring, but this was a perfect alternative to communicate that Rylee and I both wanted Somee to stay.
We need you just as much as you need us…
“Do you think Somee will like it?”
“She’s going to be so happy. It means we have to stay together.”
“We do.”
I removed my phone, pulled up the site for Perfect Pick, and handed it to Rylee.
“We have to get flowers. Pick which ones you like so I can order them.”
She grinned and took the phone, sitting back while I spoke to Lacie to finalize everything.
“She’s beautiful.”
I glanced to my left and nodded. “Yeah, she is.”