single dad: the sequel (v.h)

chapter twelve

"Mom?" Vinnie asked as he entered his parents house.

"In here!" Maria yelled from the kitchen.

He rounded the corner, his eyes landing on his babies at the dining table, eating lunch.

"My babies!" Vinnie said excitedly as the kids got down the from their chairs and attacked him in hugs and kisses.

"Daddy we missed you." Bear said.

"Daddy missed you too baby." He answered, kissing both of them on the head "You wanna see your sister?" Vinnie asked, gently sliding the carrier  over with the very tired baby laying inside.

While the kids played with their baby sister's tiny hands and feet and told her stories, Vinnie informed his mom of everything that had happened since he dropped the kids off.

"Honey I'm so sorry, I know how much you loved her." Maria said.

"No one will ever love me like that. Maybe I don't deserve it." Vinnie answered.

"Someone will love you like that Vinnie, you'll find that person eventually." Maria said, kissing his head softly and hugging his shoulders.

Truth was, for the months they hadn't spoken, she'd thought of him everyday. So many times she wanted to pick up the phone and call him but would let herself do it.

He leaned into her touch, feeling comfort he hadn't felt in awhile. He could fall asleep in this moment, in his moms arms. He almost felt like a child again, wishing he could go back to those days when his life wasn't a mess with plenty of baby mama drama to go around.

"Why don't you go down to your old room and get some rest?" Maria suggested.

Vinnie nodded, standing from his chair. The kids followed him as he walked down the stairs with Nelly's carrier on his arm. He set it on the bed, digging around in the closet for Bear's old bassinet from when she was a baby.

He set it up quickly and laid Nelly in it. He put Bear and Kaiser in the bed, covering them up with the blanket.

"Daddy got the house we looked at the other day." Vinnie said as he laid in the bed next to his babies.

"Are we gonna move in?" Bear asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna move in next week. Daddy's gonna go back to the house we used to live in to get all of our things packed." Vinnie said.

He turned to see that Nelly had fallen asleep, all curled up with her blanket clutched in her hand. A smile appeared on Vinnie's face as he looked at her.

"Is Nelly gonna live with us or with her mommy?" Bear asked.

"For now she'll live with us, but eventually she'll live with both of us." Vinnie said.

"Does that mean Aaliyah is gonna live with us?" Bear asked.

"No, not anymore. We broke up. It means that Nelly will live with us in our house for a week, and then with her mommy for a week. We have to share her now." Vinnie explained.

"We've had to share since she was born." Bear said.

"I know honey. Let's just take a nap for now, okay?" Vinnie asked.

He kissed all three of his babies foreheads before he laid his head on the pillow, falling asleep. For the first time in awhile, he felt at peace.