He carried her over to Josie, and with her balanced on his hip, he spoke softly to his little girl, who was about to meet her mother. “Katie Bug, this is your mommy. Can you say hi?”
Josie took a step toward them and bent down so that her face was only inches from Katie’s. She plastered a smile on her face, her eyes widening comically. “Hi, Katie, I’m your mommy.” She spoke slowly as if talking to someone that was hard of hearing.
“She’s not stupid, Josie. You can talk to her normally,” Kyle snapped.
Josie held her arms out. “Can I have a hug?”
I saw the look on Katie’s face and knew instantly this was going very badly. Josie clearly didn’t know how to act around children. She was uncomfortable and awkward, and Katie was picking up on that.
“Hug?” Josie asked again when Katie didn’t say or do anything.
“No!” Katie yelled, burying her face in Kyle’s neck, clinging to him for dear life.
Josie reared back as if she had been slapped. “What’s wrong with her? Why won’t she come to me?”
Kyle glared at Josie. “Because she doesn’t know you. You’re a stranger. Let her warm up to you before you go getting into her face like that. First thing, take a step back, will ya?”
Josie backed up, looking wounded. She seemed to wear that particular expression a lot. “I just want to hold my baby,” she said so, so softly, wiping a tear from her eye.
I felt bad for her, but it was obvious Kyle didn’t. I could see the tick in his jaw. “And as you can tell, she doesn’t want that. It’s not about you, Josie.”
“Maybe Josie can play with Katie in the sandbox. Something easy, with no pressure,” I offered, wanting to push through this horrible tension.
“Sure.” Josie shrugged.
“Fine,” Kyle said through clenched teeth, then his face softened as he spoke to Katie. “Want to dig in the sand some more?”
The little girl lifted her head and nodded with enthusiasm. Kyle settled her down into the sand and handed her the shovel she had been playing with before. Josie slowly sat beside her. Kyle stayed close by but otherwise allowed Josie to interact with her on her own. I sat down on the bench, feeling suddenly like a third wheel.
It was odd watching the three of them together. Even though Kyle’s anger toward Josie was palpable and her infatuation was just as clear, they were Katie’s parents. I was the stepmom. Not even really the stepmom, given that the entire marriage was a farce.
“Here.” Kyle handed Josie a bucket.
“Do you want to put the sand in the bucket?” Josie asked Katie, thankfully dropping the slow cadence.
Katie dug up a lump of sand and shoveled it into the bucket. When it was full, she looked up at Josie and pointed. “Pour!” Josie turned over the bucket and dumped the sand into a pile. Katie grinned. “Again!” she called out.
We spent the next hour with Katie filling Josie’s bucket with sand and Josie adding it to the pile they were making. Katie didn’t talk much to Josie, but she didn’t get upset again. And Josie didn’t push the little girl. She sat there and talked a bit, but otherwise just held the bucket for her.
The hour passed, and when the time was up, Katie was looking tired. Kyle picked her up. “It’s time for her nap,” he informed Josie, who slowly got to her feet.
She handed him the bucket and shovel. “Thanks, Web. This has been really nice. I appreciate you letting me spend time with her.”
“You’re her mother, Josie. I won’t ever stop you from seeing her, but we have to do this right. For Katie.” Kyle shoved the bucket into the diaper bag and handed it to me as he had done a hundred times before.
“So, I’ll call you, and we can set up another time to visit. Maybe we could do lunch next time. You, me, and Katie,” Josie ventured, and I noticed I most definitely wasn’t included in those future plans. She couldn’t be more obvious if she tried.
“And Whitney, of course,” Kyle added, glancing at me.
“Oh, right. And Whitney. I just thought since I’m Katie’s mom and you’re her dad, it might be nice to have some family time—”
“Whitney is part of this family. She’s Katie’s stepmom. She’ll be there,” Kyle cut her off.
Josie’s cheeks flushed red, though I wasn’t sure if it was with embarrassment or annoyance. “Okay, well, we’ll speak soon.