My focus was on Remy and her reaction to my words, wanting to get a read on my little girl. If this was too much for her, I’d pull the plug and we’d be gone.
I jumped when I felt someone behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, Micah was bending down to one knee next to me, and he held out his hand to Remy. “Hey, Remy. I’m Micah. Nice to meet you.” He engulfed her little bitty hand in his and actually shook it as if she was an adult. My heart melted at the sight. I hoped with everything inside of me that this meeting meant as much to him as it did to us.
“I…” Remy said with a flap of her other hand.
“That means hi,” I translated, rising to my feet and seeing Remy was perfectly fine with meeting Micah. Remy speak was hard to understand until you got the hang of it. It wouldn’t be long though before I’d probably want to put cotton balls in my ears because of her talking so much, so I wasn’t complaining. Her time would come.
Micah smiled up at me. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen on a man. Perfectly white, but a small chip off the tooth next to the canine. Made me wonder why he didn’t get it fixed. Then I wanted to slap myself for even thinking that way. It wasn’t my business in the first damn place.
Remy. Remember he’s here for her.
Micah pulled his hand away, but there was a glint in his eye. Pride. Happiness. I wasn’t sure which one or if none of those were it.
“You know you’re the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen.”
Remy smiled then looked to me. “Ooooss.”
Micah’s brow went up as he looked at me to tell him what she meant.
“She wants her trolls out of the car. Let me run and get them.”
“You play with trolls?” Micah asked her as I reached in the car and pulled out the two little figurines. One was blue, the other pink. She loved these damn things, and considering they both only had about four strings of hair left, they’d be bald very soon.
“Esssss.”
I chuckled as Micah lifted his hand and wiped Remy’s spittle off of him. Oh the things he’d learn. But he said nothing to her, like ‘don’t do that’ or ‘stop it.’ He just smiled and put his hand out for the toys. I gave them to him, and he bent down to Remy.
“Do these little guys have names?” he asked Remy who grabbed them from Micah’s grasp. She loved her trolls and was a bit territorial over them. She didn’t let just anyone have them.
“Oooosss.” Remy told him. Then said, “Pay!”
“She calls them both trolls, and she wants to go and play,” I translated again.
Micah grinned and held out his hand to Remy. Surprisingly, she grabbed it, and they made their way over to the playset. “Let’s play.”
Remy had never seen this man before, yet she was willing to take his hand and go play. She already had some trust in him. That blew my mind. Maybe Austyn was right about the daddy daughter connection. Or maybe I was just reading too much into this. It was their first meeting, surely Remy didn’t feel that way yet. She couldn’t. Could she? I really didn’t know the answer to that question.
I stood back a bit and observed them. Watched their interactions. Saw how Remy melted into him with so much ease it was almost terrifying. Just in the sense that she wouldn’t do that with a stranger she met while playing in the park or anything. It was definitely a lesson that needed to be learned and quickly.
Not wanting that to dampen my thoughts, I watched as Micah helped Remy up the ladder for the slide. His hands appeared to skitter almost like he didn’t know where to touch Remy, which I found cute. He really had no experience with children. It was going to be a fun ride watching him learn.
He settled on her little hips, and seeing that she was having a ton of trouble considering her legs were little, he picked her up with ease and set her down at the top of the ladder.
“Have a seat, and I’ll be at the other end to get ya,” he told her as Remy nodded and sat at the top of the slide. Faster than I’d seen a man move, he was at the bottom of the slide, ready to catch her.
“You ready?” he asked. There was a small cover on the top of the slide, so I couldn’t see Remy’s reaction, but when Micah clapped and said, “Come and get me,” I knew it was a go. Two seconds later, my adorable little girl came screaming with glee down the slide, and Micah was there to catch her.
He tossed her up in the air and made some funny laughing noises, causing Remy to burst out in laughter.
“Wanna go again?”
Remy nodded, then said, “Esss.”
“Let’s do it!” Micah replied, taking her back to the ladder. He let her try a few rungs, then he lifted her up and put her on the top of the slide. He ran back to the bottom and caught her every time.
This went on probably ten more times, and not once did Micah bail on her. He let Remy lead him without a word. He had to be getting tired though because I was, and I was sitting on the picnic table, not running after a two-year-old.
I decided to give him a bit of a break. Getting up from the table, I brushed my bottom to get the dirt off and made my way to the playset.
“How about we swing for a bit?” At least with the swing you were in one place and not running all around town. He was a Marine, so I thought he could hack it, but we all needed a break.
“Inggggg!” Remy cried out. Then she did something that made me stop and take notice. She ran over to Micah, grabbed his hand, and led him over to the swing.
When Remy held out her trolls for Micah to hold, tears pricked my eyes. She already gave him her approval and trust. It was what I’d always hoped for my little girl to have one day. And here it was, right in front of my eyes.
Micah put the trolls in his pocket, not really understanding the significance of what had just happened.
Austyn had put in one of those toddler swings, and it was one of Remy’s favorite things to do.
Remy turned to Micah and put her hands up in the air for him to pick her up.
He hesitated for only a second before picking her up and bringing her to his chest, like he’d done it a million times before and this wasn’t the first. Remy made a motion to the swing.
“You wanna swing, huh?” She nodded. “We can do that.” Micah looked at the swing for a moment and knew exactly how to place Remy in it and how to buckle up the safety belts.
I had to give it to the man, he was a fast learner.
Standing behind them, I struck up a conversation with Micah. I’d given them a little bit of time to get to know one another before I joined in. There was no manual or rule book on how these things went. All I could rely on was my gut and hope I didn’t screw this up more than I’d already had.
“So, you havin’ fun?” I asked him.
He turned to me on a smile, pushing Remy back and forth. “Yeah. More than fun. It’s like finally having something that you never knew you wanted, and she’s wrapped up in this adorable package. You’ve done an amazing job with her.”
My heart warmed and expanded. “Thanks. We’ve tried the best we can. Katie and I, I mean.”
“You’re not alone anymore, Ensley. I’m here for you and for her.”
I smiled, loving that. Before I could say more, Remy was screaming, ready to get out of the swing. Her attention span wasn’t the greatest. The fact she lasted so long on the slide was a miracle.