IRIS
Well, this is certainly a predicament. Monty may have stepped away, but chances are good that Nia noticed him when she was walking up with her teammates. He isn’t a secret that I’m trying to hide. Still, I haven’t had a chance to read up on any books about introducing your boyfriend to your nine-year-old daughter when that boyfriend also happens to be her uncle and her deadbeat dad doesn’t live that far away from us even though we never talk about him. Does anybody know what section they get those books in?
“Hey, girl, what’s going on?” Hopefully, my voice doesn’t sound like I’m hiding something, not that one could hide the large and in charge being that is Monty King.
“My hair tie broke,” she holds the broken piece of elastic in her hand. “Do you have another one?”
“I always have another hair tie, Nia. The question, my daughter, is why don’t you? I’m pretty sure I tell you to keep extras in your bag.”
“I do,” she shrugs. “I guess I just ran out or something.”
“You’re going to bankrupt me on just hair tie, girl. I need to figure out something better to pull your hair back with. Turn around.” I spin my finger and she turns her back to me. I gather up her thick locks and secure them with the new hair tie. It’s already looking like it is holding on for dear life. “There you go.”
“Thanks, Mom.” For a moment I think we might get out of this without any awkward conversations, but then she looks in Monty’s way and smiles. “Who are you?”
“Nia Rey Howell, I know I taught you better than speaking to an adult that way!” I chastise my daughter.
“Sorry, Mom. I just saw the two of you talking and I was curious.”
Monty smiles and lifts his hand up for a small wave. “My name’s Montgomery, but everybody calls me Monty.”
“I’m Nia. Are you my mom’s boyfriend?”
“Oh my god,” I cover my face. “Did you forget all your manners or something? I swear I’m sending you to live with your grandparents.”
Nia grins in Monty’s direction, “She does that when she gets nervous, talks a lot. I’m guessing I was right.”
Monty stifles a laugh and I think about pulling out my phone to Google boarding schools for pre-teens. “Nia…” I warn her.
“Come on, Mom. I’m not a baby or anything. I notice you text on your phone more than usual and you’ve been making other plans. Plus,” she giggles, “I heard you tell Auntie Jade about him the other night when I was getting ready for bed.”
“You what?” I’m racking my brain trying to think about what I may have said to Jade while Nia was getting ready for bed. I’ve shared plenty with her, and I would not want my nine-year-old daughter to hear most of it. Not that she would know what some of the things we talked about meant. Hopefully.
Nia shrugs, “Just that you missed him because you couldn’t see him. None of your friends are boys.”
“Is that true, Iris,” Monty chuckled, “You don’t have any friends who are boys?”
Nia piped up to answer once again. She’s just sharing all the details with Monty like they’re best friends or something. “Mom doesn’t have a lot of friends, so I would know.”
“Nia,” I say through my teeth, just for her to ignore me once again.
“Besides Auntie Jade, she really only sees her friends Gina and Abby. Auntie Jade doesn’t really count though, because she lives with us so she’s more like family than a friend. She’s not really my auntie either. I don’t have any real aunts or uncles because my mom doesn’t have brothers or sisters.”
Monty and I winced at the same time. I still didn’t know how that conversation was going to go. I’m not even sure her meeting him right now is a good thing either. Thankfully, we were saved by her coach’s whistle, calling the girls back to practice.
“Are you going to have dinner with us, Monty?” Nia asked.
“I wasn’t planning on it. I actually just dropped off some food so your mom didn’t need to make dinner.”
“You should come over anyway.”
“Nia! I’m sure Monty has other things to do tonight, we didn’t make plans. You need to get your butt back to practice and let the adults worry about the adult things.”
“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Bye, Monty.”
“Bye, Nia. Kick butt the rest of practice.”
“I always do,” she said with a confident smirk before running off.
“I think I love her.” Monty took a few steps forward and pulled me into a hug. I was too busy covering my face so he couldn’t see the multiple shades of red I was. “I’m sorry if I forced your hand in that introduction a little too soon.”
“It’s not that, Monty. I just wasn’t expecting her to react like THAT!” My arm waves in her direction. “I don’t even know who that child is. Usually, she’s introverted around new people.”
“Maybe she likes me.”
“Like mother, like daughter.”
“Aww, sweetheart, are you saying you like me.”
“What was the first clue?”
“Probably when you let me give you multiple orgasms on our first official date.”
“Monty!” I playfully shoved him, but he kept one arm around my waist and quickly pulled me back in.
“You can’t get away from me that easily, Iris. Tell me when I can see you next.”
“Well, our daughter did invite you for dinner. I know you’re probably exhausted, so if you say no, I’ll understand and I’ll make sure she understands.”
“I’m tired, but after a personal invite, I don’t know how I could possibly turn that down.”
“Jade is going to be there too. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“I’m ready for everything, baby girl, haven’t you realized that yet?”
“We might need more food.”
“Are you trying to convince me not to come over?” He asked with his eyebrow raised.
“I’m nervous. This is a big step.”
Monty nods, “It is. If it’s too much we can put it off for another time. You’re in control, Iris. You tell me what we’re going to do.”
I smile up at him as I wrap my arms around her broad shoulders, “I really want you to come offer for dinner tonight.”
He leans down and kisses my forehead, “Then I’ll be there. How much longer is practice?”
“She’ll go for another half-hour. Do you want to stay?”
“Why don’t I head to the store and make sure there is enough food for everybody and then I can meet you back at your place. You can introduce me to your crazy roommate. I can get to know your daughter a bit more. And then…”
“And then what?”
“I don’t know, baby girl, I guess we’ll just have to see.”
“I can do that.”
“Good,” he winks. “I’ll text you when I’m done at the store so we can gauge time.”
“Sounds perfect. You’re a trooper for going through all of this just to see me.”
Monty shakes his head, “You’re still so mistaken, Iris. I’d go through so much more for you.”
YOU ARE READING
The Wrong Brother
RomanceEighteen-year-old Iris Howell thought she was living her best life until those two pink lines showed up on the pregnancy test. In a flash, all her future dreams went up in smoke. Ten years later, she's now a single mom to a rambunctious little girl...
