Think Of Me

Chapter Twenty

When the day had finally come for Aaron to pack for D.C., Risa was inconsolable. “Daddy, I don’t want you to leave!” she cried, pulling out the neatly folded clothes Aaron had just placed in his carry-on. She tossed them on the floor.

“Hey, hey, hey!” he said, picking the clothes up. “I’ll be back before you know it!”

Risa rocked back onto her bottom and leaned back against her mother. Jeanna was sitting at the head of the bed, her attention shifting between the scene in Aaron’s room and the episode of Chopped that played on the television. Though she still wasn’t one hundred percent trusting in Aaron’s fidelity, she knew she needed to give him another chance to prove himself.

Risa’s question caught Jeanna’s full attention, making her raise her eyebrows. “Will you really come back? You’re not leaving me and Mommy for good are you?”

Aaron’s eyes softened and he stopped packing the last of his luggage. He sat down on the bed next to Jeanna and allowed his daughter to crawl into his arms. He hugged her tightly and placed a kiss in her flaming red hair. “Of course I’m coming back! Where did you get that idea from?” he questioned, looking alarmingly at Jeanna.

“This lady told me that my daddy didn’t love me or Mommy and that I was never going to see him again,” Risa spoke seriously, her eyebrows furrowed.

Jeanna’s senses were on end. She met Aaron’s eyes, and they shared a knowing look. But how could Jacqui have been anywhere near Risa while she was at daycare?

“Well, she’s wrong, Reese-Cup. I’m gonna call you every night, and as soon as I get back, we can go for ice cream. How does that sound?”

Risa grinned and flung her arms around Aaron’s neck. “Okay! I love you, Daddy!”

For the umpteenth time, Jeanna’s eyes filled with tears as she saw the love Aaron had for their daughter radiate and light up the room. She couldn’t have asked for a better life.

But that was fourteen days ago, and now things were back to the way they were before that fateful night at the Gershwin. Jeanna sat in the floor of the living room and held Risa in her lap as they practiced writing the alphabet.

“Very good, Risa-E!” Jeanna praised the little redhead’s sloppy, backwards N. “Can you write your name now?”

Risa grinned and gripped her purple crayon even tighter. Sticking her tongue out, she wrote the letters of her name as her mother dictated them aloud: Risa Eydine Tveit.

Jeanna couldn’t help but feel a little twinge of jealousy at seeing Risa learn to write Tveit instead of Martin. After all, she had been a Martin for three years of her life. Her thoughts were interrupted at the familiar tones of her iPhone ringing. With one glance at the ID, her finger traced the unlock screen and her lips turned up into a Cheshire smile.

“Hey, you!” she said excitedly.

Jeanna could tell by Aaron’s greeting that he was smiling, too. “How are you guys today?”