I nod, knowing I don’t have many options. “Yes, we were just about to have bubble time!” I say, hearing Cowboy’s amused chuckle from behind her. Destiny stops jumping on the bed. “Auntie Iris helped me with bubble time last night! I’m all clean for my party!”
“You know what this means, don’t you, baby?” Cowboy’s all smiles as he goes over to Destiny, yanking her up into his arms.
She shakes her head.
“It means you and me, get to go to the toy store today and I’ll buy you whatever you want.”
She presses her lips out really far like she’s up to no good, and knowing her, she is up to no good. “Daddy, I wanna kitty. Mommy said I could get one.”
“I said one day, little girl. Not today.”
Cowboy’s smirk tells me he’s going to give her whatever she wants. “Baby, don’t you think we could? Considering all we have to celebrate now?” He walks over toward me with Destiny in his arms.
“I don’t want to go buy her a kitten.”
“Okay, easy. We won’t go buy her one. We’ll go to a kill shelter.”
“A what?” Destiny draws her brows together, curious as ever, but there’s no way in hell I’m telling her that not all the animals at the shelter get their happily-ever-after.
“The animal shelter, baby. Daddy is gonna go get you the next one who’s going to be evicted.”
She furrows her brows together again. “What’s that mean?”
“It means kicked out. The kitties can only live there for so long, so, people like us have to go help them.” Cowboy responds with a smile, staring directly at me. He knows I won’t do a damn thing to take this away from him. Not when he’s talking about saving a cat’s life.
“Fine, go get her a cat.” I grumble, urging him to go.
“Yay!” Destiny shrieks with excitement.
“C’mon, baby, let me go get you dressed. Mommy needs to get dressed too.”
“What about your bubble time?” Destiny asks, looking at us both.
“I’ll get bubble time with Mommy later.” Cowboy chuckles with a devious smirk, taking Destiny out of the room, he gives me time to get dressed. By the time I’m done getting ready, I see he and Destiny are already sorted as well. I grab my cut from the back of the couch and slide it on, good to go for the rest of the day.
“You’re gonna take her with you, yeah?” I question, seeing Destiny’s wearing a kitten shirt and is all decked out in a tiara and everything.
“Yeah. I’ll pull Iris and Mug with me too if that’s cool?”
I nod, “Sure. Iris would love to go knowing her. Mug will go and make sure you don’t bring everything back here.”
Cowboy chuckles as we head to the front door of the apartment and walk into the hallway. At the same time, we’re walking toward the stairs, Omen comes waltzing out with an amused grin. “I was wonderin’ when you two were gonna get back together.”
“Mhm, I’m sure you were.” I roll my eyes at my good friend, hoping he’ll mind his own business.
“Y’all have a good night?” Omen questions, seeming a bit sincere as we all head down the stairwell.
“Yeah, a great night.” Cowboy tells him.
“Figures. You two what, finally got to sleep around four?” Omen asks, and Cowboy chuckles.
“The walls are thin, man.” Omen tells him with an amused laugh, “Let me sleep tonight, will ya?”
“Not gonna make any promises, man.” Cowboy tells him, and I don’t say a thing.
We get to the main level, right where the bar is and walk into the bar area. Almost everyone communes here. It kinda works as our main living area too, like the other clubs that aren’t in the middle of urban areas.
Much to my surprise, Horse and Stoney are at the bar, sipping on coffee. Faith is serving them with her fake smile plastered on her face. She’s probably so confused, not sure whether to be nice or be leery of them.
“Happy Birthday, kiddo!” Faith comes out from around the bar and gives Destiny the biggest hug, and man, the smile on my little girl’s face makes me forget about everything else going on right now. It just fades into the background.
“Daddy’s taking me to the kill shelter so we can get a kitty before it’s evicted!” Destiny tells everyone loudly, getting a couple of chuckles from some of the guys. Everyone knows she doesn’t have a clue what it means, but that’s the cuteness about it, that she’s doing a good task without even realizing it.
“Mug, you and Iris are gonna go with Cowboy and Destiny to the shelter a few blocks away. I have to get ready for her party tonight. Remember everyone, it starts at three. It doesn’t start at four, or five. Three o’clock sharp. Be there, or I’ll bust up all your asses. Have anything to add, baby girl?” I glance down to Destiny.
“Yeah, bring presents!”
Again, the entire group laughs. I look over to Stoney and Horse, seeing them both wearing smiles from the interaction Destiny just had with the club.
Nikki and Devi said they’d head with me to the party store, so I’ll chase them down in a few minutes so we can get a move on the long list of things we need to do today. But first I want to talk to these two guys. I’m in a great mood, and as long as Stoney isn’t being a royal dick this conversation should go okay.
I’m gonna try damn hard to be the bigger person right now.
“Morning,” I say to them both.
“Mornin’,” Stoney mutters, still seeming a bit off.
“Morning, Boss.”
“You two are more than welcome to come to her party this afternoon. It’ll be on the rooftop. I have some inflatable jumpy things coming and whatnot. There will be lots of toddlers, so fair warning.”
“Thank you. I think we’d both like that very much. She’s a damn sweet kid.” Horse says with a smirk, “Has everyone twisted around her finger, obviously.”
I let out a giggle, “Oh yeah. Sometimes I think she’s the real Prez around here.”
“Tala,” Stoney speaks up, clearing his throat for a moment before continuing. “Look, I’m really sorry for how shit happened last night. I didn’t mean to break that dove. I mean, I did, but, if I’d known it was something you did with Rage before he died, I wouldn’t have—”
I’m not the type who normally interrupts people, but I don’t wanna start crying about the dove again. “Stoney, it’s in the past. Lets just . . . leave the dove situation where it is. Otherwise I’ll get all teary eyed again.”
He nods in agreement, “Fine. I’ll let it be.”
“If you’re okay with talking like this now, can I say a few things?” I question, looking right at Stoney. I don’t really care that Horse is privy to everything. I’m sure Stoney would end up telling Horse everything anyway.
Stoney nods, “Yeah.”
“At the end of the day, I’m the person in the wrong. I could’ve told you about her, and I should’ve done that. There’s no denying it, but I would like to explain why I didn’t, if you’re open to hearing it.”
“I mean, it’s an excuse regardless, but go on.” Stoney grumbles, seeming a bit aggravated.