newborn Skyler, and she was smiling so brightly and staring down at her child with such love in her eyes. She was one hell of a mother.
Speaking of the devil… A tiny voice came from down the hall. “Mama, is he here?”
“Yes, honey.” Danielle’s voice lowered as if she was trying to whisper. “But we’re busy. Mason is here with his friend. They came to meet Oscar, like we talked about.”
“But Mommy—I want to show him something.”
I smiled, my heart warming at the thought of that little girl excited to see me. She was a sweet little thing. I turned around and walked toward the hallway. I poked my head around the corner just as Danielle was coming down with the coffee.
Skyler saw me and grinned at me. “Mason!”
“Hey there, Skyler,” I said with a wave.
She rushed past her mom, nearly knocking her down, and before I knew what hit me, she wrapped herself around my legs, hugging me tightly. Danielle frowned at me.
“I told her this was a business meeting.”
“I just wanted to say hello,” I said softly.
Danielle still didn’t look too pleased with me, but her daughter hugging my legs caused her to sigh, her face softening.
“Can I show you something?” she asked.
“Sure, but let’s make it quick. Your mom’s right. We’re here for business.”
Skyler nodded, her pigtails bouncing wildly. She took my big hand in her tiny one and led me down the hallway.
“Skyler, where are you going?” Danielle asked a little grumpily.
“In the kitchen.” She pulled me over to the refrigerator and pointed to a photo held there with a magnet. “I drew this.”
The colorful scribbles were hard to make out at first - there were three stick figures and a bunch of blobs in varying colors.
“That’s Mommy,” she said, pointing to a stick figure wearing purple. “That’s me in pink, my favorite color, and that’s you.” She pointed at a tall stick figure colored blue.
I had never been speechless in all my life, not like I was in that moment. A lump formed in my throat as I realized that she had drawn me beside her family. She hardly knew me, but somehow, I had made a connection with her. I didn’t know what to say.
Thankfully, Danielle interrupted us. “Come on, honey,” she said softly. “Mason needs to come into the living room.”
“Can I be there too?”
“If you promise to be good.”
“I do!” Skyler made a beeline for the living room.
“I’m sorry if I did something wrong. I really just wanted to say hi.”
Danielle’s face was blank, as if she was intentionally trying to mask her emotions. “It’s fine. I would just prefer if we kept things more professional from now on, that’s all. And that includes with my daughter. I don’t want her getting any ideas about us.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it.”
“It’s okay. We’ll just need to be better from now on.”
She turned on her heels, and I followed her to the living room. Already, we could hear Skyler in the living room talking to Calvin. I’d never asked the man about his feelings on kids, so I hoped she wasn’t bothering him. But as we turned the corner, it was clear he wasn’t bothered at all. He was actually smiling as she listed off all the pets they owned.
“And of course, Oscar, but Mommy says you’re taking him.” Her voice held a hint of sadness. “But Mommy says he’ll be able to help someone. And we can bring another dog into our home.”
Danielle sat down beside her on the sofa, wrapping an arm over her shoulder.
“It doesn’t make you too sad to be giving away Oscar?” Calvin asked softly.
“I’m a little sad, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Danielle interjected. “We rescue dogs and cats all the time and provide temporary homes for them. Skyler knows the drill, that sometimes these animals move to other homes - we’re just an in-between for them until they can find their forever place.”
Calvin looked a little sad as he stared at Skyler. I thought he might even say they could keep the dog, but little Skyler spoke before he could say anything.
“You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?”
“Of course I will.” His voice cracked.
“And maybe I can visit him?” Her eyes grew wide with hope.
“Skyler, we—” Danielle started to say.
Calvin spoke over her. “Of course you can, sweetie. Anytime you want. In fact, I’d love the company. Hardly anyone visits me anymore, besides Mason.”
Skyler’s face brightened with a smile so bright