Southern Sunshine

by Natasha Madison

  Sofia turns back to look at us. “It’s not a killer."

  "I don’t even know where she heard that word," I mumble under my breath as the door opens, and I see Casey standing there with Olivia beside him.

  "Hi," Sofia says. “I know you,” she says to Casey. “You said shit." She points at him, and Olivia gasps out and hits his arm.

  "It was an accident, and I said I was sorry," he tells Olivia and then looks at Sofia. “Can we come in?"

  "Okay," Sofia says, moving away from the door. “Momma didn’t bake cookies." She tells them what I just said. “And Uncle Daddy Reed is my daddy," she informs them, and I close my eyes.

  "And this," Reed says, going down beside her, “is my mom and dad. Your grandma and grandpa."

  Olivia kneels in front of her now. “You are the most beautiful girl in the world,” she says to her, smiling through her tears. “And you have your daddy’s smile." Then she holds her little hand in hers. “Can I get a little hug?"

  "Okay," Sofia says, not understanding anything that is going on. She puts her arms around Olivia, who closes her eyes and cries silently. I put my hand to my own mouth, trying to stop the sobs from coming up. My girl has so much more love than she will ever know. She will never go without it for a minute in her whole life. That, to me, is everything. Reed puts his arm around me, and I turn to cry into his shoulder. “You smell good," Sofia now says. “Momma.” She turns around. “She smells like a princess.”

  “That’s because she is one.” I wipe my cheeks with the palm of my hands.

  “Can I get into this hug giving?” Casey says, getting down and putting his arms around her waist. "I think we need to get you fitted for some riding gear," he says. She nods her head, and I have to wonder if she even knows what he’s saying.

  "Momma, can I get a cookie?" She looks over at me, and I just nod as she hops over to the kitchen, not even interested in what is going on. I am a little thankful for that when I look over and see Olivia stand and come to me. Her eyes fill with tears as she walks over to me. I expect her to be angry for keeping Sofia a secret, and she has every right to be. But I can tell from the way she looks at me that she isn’t angry.

  "I don’t even know where to start." Her voice comes out with a quiver. My insides start to shake, and I feel like my teeth are going to clatter. Reed puts his hand on my lower back. “First, I want to say thank you." Her voice cracks. “For giving us Sofia." She wipes away a tear from the corner of her eye. “There are no words I can say that will tell you what you mean to us. What you both mean to us." I blink back my tears, and she comes forward to give me the biggest hug. "Thank you for giving me my boy back," she whispers in my ear.

  "Shall we sit?" Reed says, and Olivia lets me go.

  "Yes,” she says. “I want to get to know my grandbaby,” she says, turning to Casey. “I get to take her shopping."

  Reed and Casey both groan. “I’m sorry," Reed says to me. “She is going to go overboard."

  "I don’t know what that means." I turn to Reed again, hoping he can fill in the blanks.

  "Oh, you will," Casey says, laughing and then stopping in front of me. “You gave us a gift that we can’t ever repay you for,” he says. I can hear the tremble of his voice and see this big man fight back his tears. "This is for you,” he says, handing me the manila envelope.

  My hand comes out to grab it, and I look at Reed, who just stares at it. His eyebrows pinch together while I turn the envelope over, flipping open the flap, and pull out the papers. "What is this?" I ask as my eyes scan the papers, not sure what I’m reading. My eyes are so full of tears that everything is blurry.

  "That," Casey says, “is the deed to the land and the house."

  "I don’t understand?" I say. “Why is my name on here?"

  "Well, we wanted you to have something to come home to,” he says, and Olivia just smiles. “You’ll see that all debts have been paid."

  I shake my head, the lump in my throat making it hard to breathe. "I …" I start. “I can’t accept this."

  "It’s nonnegotiable," Olivia says, standing beside Casey. "We did this," she says, and she can’t come out with the words.

  "What my wife is trying to say is,” Casey says with a smile on his face, “welcome back home, Hazel.”

  Chapter 27

  Reed

  “Momma,” Sofia calls Hazel from downstairs. “Are you ready?”

  “She’ll be right down,” I tell Sofia as she turns in a circle, wearing the new dress my mother had delivered today. “Look, Uncle Daddy,” she says, and I try not to laugh at the name. “I’m like Anna from Frozen.” I just look at her, not sure who that person is.

  We both look over at the stairs as we see Hazel come down. I watch and see her feet and then her long legs. My mouth gets suddenly dry as I see more leg and finally the beige skirt. My eyes are staring at her legs as she turns, and the skirt flows around her. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She puts her hand to her stomach, and I see that the white shirt she is wearing is tied at the waist.

  “Momma, look,” Sofia says. “I got new shoes.” She goes over to pick up the new pink shoes my mother bought.

  “More shoes?” Hazel asks, and I look at her and shrug. It’s been two days since we told my parents Sofia was mine. Even though they wanted to go out and tell the world, we thought it would be good to tell people slowly, for Sofia’s sake. At this point, I didn’t give a shit who else knew because she knew I was her dad. “She got ten pairs yesterday,” Hazel says, slipping her feet into the flip-flops.

  “We warned you,” I say, getting up from the couch. “My mother has no control when it comes to shopping. Zero. My father built her a house once, and no one went into it because she ordered all this delicate stuff, and we were afraid to ruin anything.”

  “What?” Hazel asks, shocked. “Wait, was that the white house?” I nod my head. “I heard about it.”

  “Yeah, heard about it,” I say. “Never saw it.” I laugh now. “I’m living in it now.”

  “You live in the white house?” Hazel shrieks.

  “Are you the president?” Sofia looks at me. “He lives in the White House.”

  “I’m not the president,” I say, picking her up. “Far from it. Now, let’s go, or else your grandmother is going to blow up my phone again.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Hazel says. “I mean, babysitting.”

  “Hazel,” I say her name. “You have to pray that she wants to come back and live with you after she’s at my parents’ house,” I say. I don’t know how my mother did it, but she called and asked to babysit Sofia for the night. I saw the turmoil in her eyes, and I said no for her, but then she caved and agreed. So tonight, we are going to drop Sofia off and then go have a drink at the bar. It’s totally a date, but I’m not calling it that in front of her. I also won’t admit it to her, but tonight when I drop her off, I’m taking that fucking kiss. I mean, I think I am. Fuck if I know. I’ve never been this nervous in my life.

  “Where are the keys?” I ask Hazel, who holds up her hands. I put my hand out for them, and she looks at me.

  “It’s my car,” she says, putting her hands on her hips.

  “And I’m the man,” I say, looking at Sofia. “The man always drives when you are together.”

  “I thought she wasn’t allowed to date,” Hazel reminds me, laughing as she hands me the keys. Last night, when we talked about Sofia, I said she wasn’t allowed to date, something that Hazel agreed to also.

  As I put Sofia in the truck, she tells me what needs to be done. She is very quick to let me know when I’m messing something up. I get into the truck and look over at Hazel, who is breathing now. “Relax.” I put my hand on hers. “Worst case, my parents call us and we go get her.”

  “I know it’s silly,” she says and looks in the back. “But she’s never been to a sleepover.”

  “Momma,” Sofia says. “I have a princess bed,” she tells me. “Grandma bought me one.”

  “Of course
she did,” Hazel says, shaking her head. I can’t help but laugh, and when we get to my parents’ house, my mother is sitting on the steps waiting. She jumps up and claps her hands.

  “Cowboy!” she yells for my father. “They’re here.” My father comes out of the house. The minute I put the car in park, the back door springs open. “There she is,” my father says. “Princess Sofia.”

  “See, Momma,” she says. “Told you I’m a princess.”

  It takes about fifteen minutes for Hazel to be okay enough to walk away. After my mother shows Sofia her special room, she turns to me. “She’s never coming back to Pops’ house.”

  When we walk out of the house, I want to grab her hand when our fingers graze each other’s. Sofia doesn’t even come and say goodbye to us, and Hazel keeps looking out the window.

  The parking lot is almost empty when we get there, which is typical for Wednesday night, but I spot my sister’s truck and my cousins’. Getting out of the truck, I wait for her as we walk to the bar. “It’s funny," she says, looking at me. “It’s changed"—she looks around—“yet feels the same." She pulls open the door, and you can see the changes right away. “God, I used to hate this place on Saturday nights,” she says, pointing at where the pool tables are. “People would spill so much shit back there."

  "I know," I groan. “Who do you think used to mop it?"

  "Who do you think mopped it when you left?" she counters, and I look at her. "Christopher was always ‘busy.’" She makes air quotes when she says busy.

  I look around and see that everyone is sitting at the table in front of the bar. Asher sits on the stool with Amelia beside him, right next to Chelsea, sitting next to Mayson. His hand is on Chelsea's leg, just in case people don’t see the ring on her finger.

  "Look at what the cat dragged in," my sister says from behind the bar. Besides my parents, she is the only one who knows since she lives in the house, and my mother had to explain why she was renovating a room for a child. "What can I get you, Hazel?" She smiles at her.

  "Um …" She looks at her. “Water."

  "Why?" Amelia says, turning on her stool. Her stomach is sticking out. “Have a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey."

  Chelsea picks up her beer and brings it to her lips. “I had to take one for the team also."

  "I’ll have a glass of white wine,” she says and then looks at me. “I don’t drink."

  "Sip it," I mumble under my breath, grabbing two stools and sitting with them.

  Harlow comes over and puts her wine down on a coaster and then hands me a beer. "I’ll put it on your tab."

  "No tab," Amelia says. “We don’t know when he’s going to leave town."

  I laugh, picking up the beer now. “Not anytime soon," I tell them, taking a pull. “I’m out,” I say, and they look at me in shock. “It was time."

  "You know when you know," Mayson says, holding up his beer to me in a salute.

  "What are you going to do now?" Amelia asks as she rubs her stomach.

  "I haven’t decided yet,” I say to them. Technically, it’s the truth, but I leave out that I don’t know what I’m going to do since Hazel hasn’t told me what her plans are. I keep thinking that she will stay, but I’m not going to be the one to pressure her.

  "Well, it’s good to have you home," Amelia says and then winces. “I swear these contractions."

  "They are the worst," Hazel says. “I had Braxton Hicks with Sofia for seven weeks."

  "What are Braxton Hicks?" I ask, worried she was in pain for seven weeks.

  "It’s when you get a contraction, but it’s not real," she says, but I still don’t understand it. "Your body is getting ready for the real thing, so it’s like a practice run."

  "With Tucker, I had back pains, and I kinda knew they were contractions, but I didn’t think it would go downhill so fast," Chelsea says, then looks at Mayson. “Then my water broke." Mayson’s head shakes, making Chelsea laugh. “It’s fine. He’s healthy."

  "She almost gave birth in the elevator," Mayson pipes in. “I thought I was going to die."

  "You thought you were going to die?" Chelsea says. “Try squeezing a watermelon out of your …" The men groan, and I grimace and hold my junk.

  "I don’t know why this baby isn’t coming out," Amelia says. “I’ve tried everything. Spicy food. Walks, raspberry tea, sex."

  "Amelia," Asher says to her.

  "You don’t think they know we have sex?" She points at her stomach. “Exhibit A." It makes us all laugh.

  "How was your labor?" Amelia looks at Hazel.

  "It was almost sixteen hours,” she says, and the girls gasp. “After hour fourteen, I got a fever." My mouth goes dry suddenly. “I don’t remember much after that, but it took me thirty-nine minutes to push her out."

  "Were you with the father?" Amelia asks, and Chelsea smacks her hand. “Oh my God,” she says, putting her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, that was …" She holds up her hands, and I look over at Hazel, who smiles, trying to pretend it doesn’t bother her, and inside, I die just a touch. "Insensitive."

  "It’s fine," Hazel says. “Things happen."

  "How involved is the father now?" Chelsea asks. “If you don’t want to talk about it …"

  "No," Hazel says, looking down at the wineglass in front of her that she hasn’t taken a sip from.

  "It’s me,” I say, and even my brain doesn’t get what is going on. I look at my cousins, and I can see Harlow standing behind the bar with her eyes about to come out of their sockets. “I’m the father."

  Chapter 28

  Hazel

  I watch the black road, not saying anything as the words linger in my head. "I’m the father." I sat there, shocked he was coming out with it. I knew that we would start telling people since we told Casey and Olivia, but I just didn’t know it would happen so fast.

  "We need to tell your grandparents." I look over at him, and he nods now, his hair pushed back from his fingers.

  "I mean, hopefully, they take it better than my cousins did,” he says, shaking his head, and I feel so bad for him. “I thought Amelia was going to throw a glass at my head." I see him shaking his head. “If looks could kill, I would be dead right now." He looks over. “Chelsea looked at me with daggers in her eyes."

  "I’m so, so sorry,” I say, turning now. “I shouldn’t have even answered any questions." My heart sinks.

  "Why should you be sorry?" he asks, pulling into my driveway. "It’s not like the truth isn’t what it is."

  "I know," I tell him. “But." I swallow. “I never meant to make it sound like …”

  "Like I abandoned you,” he says, turning the truck off and turning to look at me.

  "I know that if you'd known, you would have been there,” I say, and my hand goes up to open the truck door. "Thank you,” I say. “For bringing me out tonight." I look down as I try to stretch the time we're together. I keep waiting for him to stop me from going in. "Have a great night,” I say with a smile, and I get out before I beg him to kiss me.

  I open the door and shut it just as fast without looking back to see if he is watching. All night, my senses were on alert, waiting for his touch. It started when we were walking to the bar, and our fingers grazed each other’s. It continued when his leg rubbed mine. I thought I was going to pull out my hair, even with everything going on and the questions that they had for us and for me. The only thing I could concentrate on was where his leg was touching my bare leg, sending shock waves up my spine. I swear I shivered so many times I thought they were going to think I was freezing cold when, in fact, my body was on fire.

  I drop my purse on the floor, kicking off my flip-flops, and make my way upstairs. “You should have asked him to stay," I tell myself. I’m about to take off my shirt when I hear banging on the door.

  I run back downstairs, my heart beating now with worry as the banging starts again. I open the door and look at Reed, who stands there with his hands holding the doorframe. He looks up at me. “Reed," I say. “Is ev
erything okay?" I ask, wondering if maybe his mother called.

  "Yeah," he says, his voice sounding like he ran a marathon. “I just forgot this." I don’t even have time to think before he takes two steps to me. He puts one hand around my waist at the same time the other buries itself in my hair. “I forgot this,” he whispers before his mouth crashes on mine. My hand slides up his arm and wraps around his neck as my mouth opens, and his tongue slides with mine, drowning out our moans. He kicks the door closed with his foot and picks me up now. He turns us in a circle with my back toward the door. His hand releases my hair to sit on my neck. He pushes me against the wall, our mouths playing catch-up. All those times I closed my eyes and thought about his kisses, I knew it was nothing like it would be in person. He moves his head to the other side, deepening the kiss. My hands are frantic to touch him, going to his shirt and moving it up. He only lets go of my mouth when I pull it over his head. He comes back to my mouth, his hands moving from my hips to my tits. My nipples pebble, waiting to be played with, and he pinches them through my shirt as I arch my back.

  "Fuck," he says, letting go of my mouth and moving his mouth to my neck. My hands go to his belt and pull it out. “I’m sorry,” he says, and my eyes open but then close again when I feel his tongue on my neck. "I wanted to be slow and romantic,” he says between kisses. My eyes are closed as I feel his hands move to my hips. His hands bunch up my skirt, and when I look down, he’s on his knees. "Fuck,” he says again, lifting my skirt and coming face-to-face with my white thong. I feel his fingers run down my covered slit, and my whole body shivers. "I have to have a taste,” he says right before I feel his fingers move my thong to the side. His tongue comes out, and he licks me, and I swear my knees feel like they'll buckle. "Open for me," he says. He lifts one of my legs over his shoulder and groans, going back in for another lick. "Sweetness.” He says the same thing he said all those years ago. I try to keep my eyes open to watch him, but the feeling is just too good. His tongue slips into me, then I feel two fingers open my lips, and the tip of his tongue teases my clit. "I can’t," he says as his tongue and two fingers slip into me. “Fucking go slow.” I moan. One hand comes up by my head while the other one is buried in his hair. “Tell me you want it."