seat next to her. Her happiness seems to have subsided, and now she seems a little nervous. Tightness blocks my airway as I try to find words to put her at ease, but they don’t come. What do I say? How do I put her at ease when I’m feeling just as out of my element? I want to ask her so many questions, but I don’t even know where to start.
She suddenly reaches for something on the table and pulls it onto her lap. It’s a notebook with glitter unicorns on it. “My mommy helped me draw some of my favorite things. Maybe you can do the same?” Luna hands the book to me, those big doe eyes staring up at me with so much innocence it absolutely rips my heart to shreds. Swallowing thickly, I take the notebook from her and open the page she has dog-eared. Emotion slams into me as I stare at her handwriting and her drawings. It is an absolute chaotic mess, but fuck me, I love it. I want to know every second of her life. Every single detail that makes her up as a whole.
I shoot a glance at her, only to find her smiling at me. All because I accepted the notebook. Her smile penetrates my chest, banishing the nervousness I felt mere seconds ago.
“Why don’t you walk me through all of this before I start on my list, yeah?”
Luna nods vigorously, scooting closer to me. Her small leg presses against mine, and the light touch triggers an array of emotions inside me. “This here is a bowl of macaroni. It’s my favorite food. My mommy makes it for me all the time, but sometimes, she tries to hide vegetables inside, thinking I won’t notice.” Luna pauses and leans into me, cupping her mouth in a whisper. “Don’t tell Mommy, but I do notice. I pretend to eat it, but spit it out when she’s not looking.”
A laugh bursts from my chest at her honesty. “So, I take it vegetables are no-go for you?”
She shakes her head. “Green stuff doesn’t taste good.”
I move on to the next drawing in her notebook. “And what about this?”
“Oh, that’s a raccoon, but it’s pink. Because pink is my favorite color, and raccoons are my favorite animal.”
I quirk a brow at her, rubbing at the back of my neck. “That’s…different.”
“Papa bought me a pink raccoon stuffy for my birthday, even though I told him I wanted a real one.”
My mouth twists with amusement. “You asked your papa to find you a real pink raccoon?” She nods, looking dead serious. It squeezes another laugh out of me.
This kid is fucking hilarious.
Luna tells me everything from her favorite book (Pig the Pug) to all the things she loves to do (play Barbies and pretend doctor are just some of her favorites). I hang on her every word, entranced by the information she shares and just how smart she is. She says things and jokes around like no other kid I know. She’s incredible. The more I get to know my daughter, the more that warmth in my chest spreads.
We finally get through all her drawings of her likes and dislikes.
“And this here is us.” She points at the last page. It’s a drawing of two stick figures holding hands—a tall person and a little person, their necks longer than their bodies. There are clouds in an array of colors and a sun in the corner, wearing a smile. At the bottom of her drawing is her name scribbled in a mess of letters that has me running the pad of my finger over them.
“You made this for me?” I ask, my voice gruffer than I intend.
She grins, nodding her head. “It’s you and me.”
I continue staring down at the drawing, unable to find the right words for what I’m feeling. I’ve never felt so overcome with emotion.
“I love it.” Those are the only words I manage to get out through the tightness blocking my airway.
Her eyes glimmer with happiness. “You do?”
I nod, biting back the sudden barrage of emotions. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever been given.”
The smile that spreads across her face embeds itself into my soul. She’s managed to stitch her name across my heart permanently, and I’ve never felt more at peace than I have sitting next to this little ball of beautiful, chaotic energy.
A throat clears near the doorway of the living room, drawing my attention away from Luna. Selene stands there with