Hot Summer Night

8 - Declan

"What did you bring me this time?" Everly excitedly asked Marla as I entered the living room.

Whenever Marla visits, she always brings my daughter a gift—a stuffed animal, a Barbie doll, a board game, a new outfit. It's always something different.

Marla opened her oversized handbag, smiling as she reached into it. "How about you guess what it is this time," she told her, and I can only imagine what she brought her this time. It's probably something over the top since she knows how much trouble she's in with me—sucking up to Everly instead since she knows I'm a sucker for Everly's happiness, assuming I'll let what she hid from me slide because of the gift she brought her.

"A phone!" she shouted. Marla better not have bought her one. She knows how much Everly wants a cell phone and knows I won't allow her to have one at ten years old. Everly isn't responsible enough.

"Nope. Guess again," Marla told her, reliving me. "Your father would kill me had I done so," she added, her eyes on me, a smirk following after she said it.

Everly hummed, her finger touching the corner of her mouth as she thought about what Marla could have brought her. Her hand lowered from her lips, and a massive smile tugged at her lips. "Jewelry?"

Marla laughed, finally removing a wrapped rectangular box from her handbag and handing it to Everly. "Maybe..." she happily emphasized, then excitedly urged her, "Open it!"

Everly took the gift from Marla, hurriedly tore off the wrapping, and opened the box, throwing the wrapping on the couch beside her. She brought the box up to her eyes and excitedly shouted, "Auntie Marla! These are so pretty! Thank you!" She hugged her, then looked at me, facing the open box for me to see. "Dad! Look what Marla gave me this time!"

Just like I thought, Marla brought her something over the top. My eyes shot to hers.

"I figured I'd splurge since her birthday was coming up." Ah, huh. "So I got her a matching four-piece jewelry set—earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelet—with one of her birthstones, Alexandrite. I figured she'd enjoy wearing this birthstone more than the pearl since the Alexandrite is green in the daylight. After seeing how it changes to a purple-red hue in incandescent or artificial light, I figured it would be something a preteen girl would like."

"Marla," I warned. "That's way too much."

She raised her hand and snapped it down like it wasn't a big deal—something she'd done for years. Nothing ever seems like a big deal to her. "Relax, Declan. I had no problem spending what I did on this beautiful girl of yours. It's not like I have any kids to buy fun stuff like this for, and it made me feel good buying it for her."

It's still too much, but I get it.

Marla confessed to me once that she and Caleb had been trying to have a child without success for years. A few years ago, after getting tested to see what the issue was, she got the devastating news that she couldn't have children—that it was both her and Caleb's problem. That's when the gifts to Everly started—even more than she had been bringing to her before.

Instead of giving her shit for sucking up and making my daughter's night, I said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she happily said, knowing she'd won the start of an argument before it got started.

"Marla? Will you help me put these on?" Everly asked, handing Marla the jewelry box.

While Marla secured the necklace around Everly's neck, her eyes locked with mine, and she winked, letting me know she knew she was in trouble with me and was looking forward to our conversation later but wasn't worried about it. Something I'm used to with her.