"But I thinked Li Li misses you da mostest too," Mar carries on, grabbing Liyana and pulling her further into the screen. She's not excited like I thought, but instead, looks like she's on the verge of tears as she stares at me. I'd be lying if I said it didn't break my heart.
"Daddy me. No," she whimpers, her bottom lip quivering. My face falls seeing her like this, the playful mood disappearing.
"Li Li, why you cryin'? Dat's daddy!" Marley points to me. "Hims is right dere. You can see'd him! Him's in da phone!"
She just continues to cry harder, so Charlie scoops her up and tries to console her, my poor babe. At this point, I'd like to just put her on a Red-eye and get her out here, though I know Charlie won't have that. But what can I say, I miss my partner in crime. Can't you see her now, wrecking shit on an international level?
"Hims is gonna be home in free days, Li Li!" Marley tries to explain, as if she has any idea what that even means. I smile at my little guy. I can tell he's gonna grow up to be a good kid with a decent head on his shoulders, God willing.
Li's not having it though, so I tell Charlie to put her back in front of the phone. "Li Li? Hey princess," I coo, and she blinks at me, shoving a finger in her mouth, still whimpering. "Whatcha doin'? You bein' a good girl?"
"No," she says, defiantly. "Daddy."
"I know, baby, I know. But I'll be there real soon and then I'll make it up to you, yeah? Sound good? We can read your favorite books, color all you want, and I'll even take you to get one of those dolls? The American somethin' or other, with all the clothes and shit." I begin to make some of her favorite funny faces into the phone and she starts to giggle, showing her little baby teeth. I start to make some animal noises too, and that really gets her laughing.
"Daddy!" She squeals. There's that smile I love to see.
"In fact, how about all of us go out somewhere when I get back? We'll not only go to see that Nemo Dory shit, but we'll go somewhere else too, yeah? But we won't take mum because she ruins the fun, right?" Marley giggles and so does Adrian, but Charlie's not amused. I know she'd flip me off if the kids couldn't see. "She's totally, like, a buzz kill."
I shift my gaze to Adrian (partly because I'm withering under Charlie's glare), the only one who hasn't said anything yet. "Daddy. Hello," he speaks up, and I wave back at him.
"Hey there. And what might you be up to? How's camp?" I'll admit it; I was concerned that he'd have a rough time adjusting, considering Genevieve pretty much kept him from being a normal two year old. But knowing Marley's outgoing personality and the amount of care and love he holds in his heart, I know Adrian will be fine.
He shakes his head yes. "Fun. Marley." See? Exactly.
"Good. Mar's showing you a good time?" I scrunch my face up at Marley, who grins. Adrian bounces off somewhere, but returns shortly thereafter with a picture that takes up the entire screen, after he looks to Charlie to help him show me.
It's a bunch of scribbles, but yeah, I can definitely tell his favorite color is red. And there's some black in there too. I'm gonna say it's a family portrait- that kind of looks like Li Li right there. We'll go with it. "I drawed," he tells me. "You have. And Cherries."
"Oh man! You drew that for me? Can I hang it in mine and Cherries' room?" I ask him and his eyes go wide as he nods, a bright smile lighting up his face. "Why thank you, sir. You're the man."
"I gonna be da man too?" Marley asks, his lip jutting out as his face takes over the whole screen.
"Of course."
Chapter 49
Start from the beginning
