Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland

CHAPTER 21

SEBASTIAN

This was definitely something I was going to have to wing. It wasn’t like I had a handbook at the ready on how to tell your child that you’re dating someone. Someone who wasn’t her mother. I knew Birdie had wanted this, but I often wondered if her attitude about that might change once it actually happened. My palms were sweaty as I walked down the hall, headed toward my daughter’s room. Birdie knew Sadie would be joining us for dinner and a movie tonight. She might have suspected something, but I needed to have “the talk” regardless.

Birdie was listening to music, bopping her head and lying flat on her stomach. Her long legs reached much farther than they used to. She was getting so big. It was hard to believe she’d be eleven soon. I couldn’t even think about what having a preteen would be like.

I knocked to get her attention.

She looked up and took out her earbuds. “Hey, Daddy.”

“Hi, pumpkin. You looking forward to the movie?”

“Yeah. And getting to hang out with Sadie, too.”

That makes two of us.

“Good.” I sat down on the edge of the bed. “So . . . that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

A look of concern crossed her face. “She’s still coming, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course, honey.” Rubbing my palms together, I said, “What I need to tell you is that Sadie has become more than just the dog trainer. She and I . . . have gotten to know each other and, well, we really like each other’s company.”

The few seconds that passed felt like torture.

Her mouth curved into the slightest smile. “I’m not surprised.”

My brows lifted. “Really?”

“You act sort of funny when she’s around. Plus, she’s pretty.”

“How come you never told me that you suspected something?”

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

“So it makes you happy that I’m dating Sadie?”

She nodded.

Feeling a sense of relief, I grinned. “You really like her, don’t you?”

“Yes. I really really like her.”

I grabbed one of her stuffed toys and looked down at it as I spoke. “You know it’s important that whoever I spend time with be someone you get along with and who also makes you happy. I would never bring anyone around who didn’t fit in with us.”

“I know, Daddy.”

“I also hope you know that just because Sadie and I are getting close, that doesn’t change how much I loved your mother. Okay?”

Birdie glanced over at a photo of Amanda that hung on the wall, then said, “I know. Mommy’s never coming back. You’d still be with Mommy if she were here. Mommy knows that.”

That was an interesting comment, because I often wondered whether Amanda and I would have lasted had she not gotten sick.

Placing the stuffed animal back down, I said, “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Is Sadie going to live with us?”

Well, that was more direct than I was expecting.

“No. Not anytime soon. Maybe someday if things work out. This is still very new. That also means that there’s a chance it might not work out.”

“You mean you might mess it up?”

I chuckled at her assumption. That’s probably the more likely scenario, yeah.

“That’s not my intention, but adult relationships are complicated, and sometimes even though we don’t intend for them to fail, they don’t work out.”

She had no clue that even her mother and I had struggled.

“Is Sadie still gonna go on dates for her job?”

Yeah. Sore subject.

“Not real ones.”

“Because you’re her boyfriend now?” She smiled.

I took a few seconds to let that word sink in. “Boyfriend.” Jesus, I hadn’t been someone’s boyfriend in ages.

“Yeah. I guess I am.”

“Is she still gonna train Marmaduke?”

Scratching my chin, I said, “I get the impression she likes spending time with you and the Duke, so I bet you can convince her to keep taking him out with you.”

She sighed. “Alright, Daddy.”

I squeezed her knee. “No more questions?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay.” I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll come get you to leave soon.”

As I was walking out the door, she stopped me. “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“I do have one more question.”

“Shoot.”

“Can I get the big box of Milk Duds at the movies?”

I chuckled. “We’ll see.”

Another wave of relief hit me as I left her room. That had gone way better than I’d anticipated. I hoped nothing would happen to jinx it.

Birdie ended up really enjoying the Disney movie we watched. As for me, I really enjoyed holding Sadie’s hand as I sat between them. Not to mention I’d been so busy taking care of everything over the past several years, I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone who was looking out for me. Sadie would do subtle things like move the hair off my face or brush crumbs off my shirt. She definitely had a very protective instinct. And I had to say, I loved being looked after by a beautiful woman.

It was too soon to have Sadie spend the night with Birdie home, but I wanted nothing more than to have her in my bed tonight. I’d have to figure out a way to get alone time with her, whether it be in the middle of the day or by having Magdalene do a few overnights here and there.

When we left the theater and Sadie took Birdie down the hall to the bathroom, it occurred to me that it was the first time in ages that I didn’t have to stand outside the door while my daughter used a public women’s restroom to make sure she was okay. That was definitely one thing I’d taken for granted when Amanda was alive.

After the movie, the three of us went to a restaurant of Birdie’s choosing and, as usual, she chose fondue.

My daughter dipped a piece of bread into the melted cheese as she looked up at Sadie, who was sitting next to her.

“Don’t you like fondue, Sadie?” she asked.

Sadie seemed to be enjoying watching Birdie eat more than enjoying the food herself. “You know . . . you might not believe this, but I have never had fondue before tonight.”

Birdie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Whoa. How come?”

“I know. Seems crazy, right? I never really started going out to eat until I moved to the city, so I had a lot of catching up to do. Still catching up, I guess.”

“Your daddy never took you out to eat?”

“We didn’t have a lot of money growing up. So my dad preferred to cook at home.”

“Your daddy could cook?” Birdie looked at me with an impish grin. “Mine can’t.”

My shoulders shook from laughter. “Thanks for that, sweetheart.”

Sadie chimed in. “Yeah, but your daddy has so many other great qualities. He’s smart and witty and an excellent businessman. So, if he could cook, that would make him, like . . . perfect . . . and no one is perfect.” She winked at me, and it made me want to leap across the table and devour her beautiful lips.

“That’s true,” Birdie agreed. “He’s smart and really nice and tells really good bedtime stories off the top of his head.”

“See . . .” Sadie smiled.

Birdie’s eyes brimmed with curiosity. “So, what kinds of things did your dad cook for you?”

“My dad has a really big garden, so he’d make all kinds of things with vegetables. Tomato sauce for homemade pizza, fried zucchini . . . stuff like that.”

“Zucchini!” Birdie scrunched her nose. “I don’t love vegetables. I only love olives.”

“Birdie wishes her dad would grow cookies in the garden, right, sweetie?” I said.

Sadie pointed her finger to her chin. “Hmm, we’ll have to find some creative ways to get you to eat your vegetables, Birdie.” She raised her brow. “Do you like shakes?”

“I love them. Especially with ice cream.”

“I’ll bet you I can sneak vegetables into a delicious shake, and you won’t even know they’re there.”

Birdie looked skeptical. “Really?”

“Yup. In fact, I make them all the time for myself, and I can’t even taste the spinach.”

Her mouth dropped. “Spinach?”

You’d think Sadie had uttered an obscenity based on my daughter’s reaction.

“Yup. Wanna bet it’s good?”

“Can you come over and make it tonight?”

Sadie looked at me like she wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I think Sadie has to work tomorrow,” I said.

Sadie looked a little disappointed that I’d closed the door on her coming home with us. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to. I just worried I might mess up tonight in front of my daughter. But I really did want her to head back with us, even if for a little while. So I added, “But if she wants to come over and make you a shake for dessert, I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”

I signaled to her with my eyes that I really hoped she came over tonight. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed her to come over so that I could at least kiss her good night.

Sadie smiled at me. “Okay, maybe I can stop by there for a little bit.”

Birdie jumped up and down in her seat. “Yay!”

On the way home, we stopped at a market so that Sadie could buy the ingredients for what she dubbed her “magic shake.”

Once we got to the house, she laid all the ingredients out on the counter.

“Now, I shouldn’t even be giving out my secret recipe, but since I really like you, Birdie, I’m gonna show you exactly how to make my special shake.”

Birdie watched with excitement as I got the blender out for Sadie. Then I rolled up my sleeves and leaned into the counter to just enjoy watching the two of them interact.

Sadie peeled a banana. “So the first magic ingredient is a really ripe banana. Because that makes the shake super sweet without having to add too much sugar.”

Birdie looked up at her. “I love sugar.”

“I know, Miss Cookie, but sugar isn’t that great for you. I promise you that this will taste just as sweet as sugar, okay?”

My daughter shrugged. “Okay.”

Sadie opened up a jar of peanut butter. “This is the next secret ingredient . . . which does have some sugar in it . . . but I’ll let it slide.” She winked.

“I love peanut butter. Especially peanut butter cookies,” Birdie said.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Sadie chuckled.

My daughter eagerly hopped up on her toes. “What’s next?”

“Next is a cup of vanilla almond milk.”

Birdie scrunched her nose. “Milk made from almonds?”

“Yup. And it tastes kind of like vanilla ice cream.”

She looked skeptical. “Hmm.”

“Are you challenging me, Miss Birdie?”

My daughter giggled. It was nice to see her this engaged. Sadie made her so happy. She made me so happy.

“The next ingredient is . . . frozen blueberries.” Sadie ripped open the bag of fruit.

“I love blueberries!” Birdie squealed.

Sadie walked over to the ice maker and placed a cup under it. “Next, I’m adding a few ice cubes to make the shake extra cold. Then, last but not least, comes the most important ingredient.”

“What’s that?”

“Have you forgotten? It’s spinach, silly, remember? Veggies?”

“Oh yeah. I was hoping you’d forget.”

“No such luck.” Sadie added a handful of raw spinach to the blender.

“Are we done?”

“That’s it!” Sadie put the top on. “Are you ready to blend it all up?”

“Can I?” Birdie asked excitedly.

“Yup. You do the honors.”

Birdie pressed her little finger down onto the “Blend” button and watched as all the ingredients turned into a dark-green color, almost a purple with the blueberries.

“You know what I call this drink?” Sadie said.

“What?”

“The green monster.”

“That’s so cool.”

Sadie stopped the blender and grabbed a plastic iced-coffee cup and straw from the cupboard.

“Are you ready to try it?” Sadie asked as she placed the cup on the counter.

My daughter nodded.

Sadie poured the concoction into the cup and fastened the lid before adding the straw. She slid it down the counter to Birdie.

Sadie and I watched with bated breath as Birdie tried it. After a hesitant first sip, she stopped and licked her lips, then took another, longer sip. She looked over at us.

Sadie rested her chin in her hands. “And?”

“It’s really, really good!”

Sadie began to dance around in celebration. We high-fived each other. Birdie started giggling and proceeded to drink down a good portion of the smoothie.

Sadie poured some of the drink into another glass and handed it to me. “Something tells me even your dad can make this.”

I took a sip and licked my lips. “Mm. Really good.” I was sure she could tell from the look in my eyes that I wasn’t exactly thinking of the shake when I’d made that sound. Although I had to say, the drink definitely didn’t taste anything like spinach.

I looked over at the clock. It was late for my daughter to be up. “Birdie, it’s way past your bedtime, and you have school tomorrow. How about you go get washed up, then come back and say good night to Sadie.”

She looked disappointed to see this night coming to an end. I hoped there would be many more like it.

When Birdie finally disappeared down the hall, I wrapped my hand around Sadie’s waist and pulled her in for the kiss that I’d been so incredibly hungry for all night. She moaned into my mouth, and that was confirmation that she’d wanted it as much as I did.

Pulling her into me, I bit her bottom lip and slowly released it. “You are so fucking delicious, you know that?”

“Oh my,” she said, clearly noticing the growing bulge in my pants. “Wow. You’d better get that down before your daughter comes out to say good night.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “This isn’t exactly a scenario I’m used to.”

Figuring it was a good idea to heed her warning, I took a walk down the hall and used the bathroom for a breather.

When I returned, Birdie was standing in the kitchen in her nightgown, her hair wet, looking up at Sadie.

“Can you braid my hair before bed, Sadie?”

Sadie looked over at me, seeming to want permission. I nodded.

“Sure. Let’s do it,” she said.

Sadie disappeared down the hall to Birdie’s room and was gone much longer than I expected. When she came back out, I was waiting for her on the living room couch.

“That was a long braiding session.”

Sadie sat down next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. “She’s so cute. She just wanted to talk.”

“Thank you for being so sweet to her.” I kissed the top of her head. “You want some wine? What can I get you?”

“No. I’m good. I just want to lie here in your arms for a while if that’s okay.”

I adjusted my body so that she was completely enveloped in my arms. “That’s more than okay.”

After a long while, she raised her chin up to me and I took that as a cue to plant a long kiss on her lips. My dick rose to attention. I was horny as hell tonight but knew she wouldn’t agree to spend the night even if I suggested it. This was a complicated situation. I knew she shouldn’t spend the night, but I wasn’t ready to let her go, either. As I thrust my tongue inside her mouth, her familiar taste ignited a need so intense that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to stop. When she moaned this time, I wondered if she was as wet as I was hard. The strongest temptation to slip my finger inside her panties to check consumed me.

“This is painful. I need to be inside you,” I muttered over her mouth. “It feels like it’s been forever.”

I wondered if there was a way we could sneak into the bathroom, anywhere. I just needed her.

Sadie must have sensed that I was spiraling, because she pulled back from our kiss. “I’d better get going.”

I let out a frustrated groan. “You know how much I don’t want you to leave, right?”

“Of course, I know that. But it’s better if I do.” She stood up.

I wrapped my hands around her cheeks. “I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about you.” My eyeballs moved from side to side as the wheels in my head turned.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“I’m trying to scheme a way for you to be in my bed tonight and disappear magically by morning.”

“Except that’s not possible. It’s way too soon to risk anything. So I’m gonna go.”

She was right. It just felt wrong to let her go for some reason. She felt like she belonged here.

I ended up calling her an Uber, and we spent every second until it arrived kissing like two horny teenagers.

After she got in the car and took off, she sent me a text.

Sadie: I forgot to clean up the green monster remnants. I meant to go back into the kitchen and do that.

Sebastian: The real monster is in my pants, and he’s not able to be tamed tonight.

Sadie: LOL

Sebastian: No worries about the shake. I got it. I owe you for getting my daughter to eat vegetables. Seriously, that was some magical shit.

Sadie: I was so happy she liked it.

Sebastian: She likes YOU.

Sadie: That makes me so happy.

Sebastian: I might like you, too. A LOT.

Sadie: I like you, too, Sebastian. I might even be crazy about you.

Sebastian: I have a new story idea for you.

Sadie: Yeah?

Sebastian: Dating the Horny Single Dad.

Sadie: LOL. What does this assignment entail?

Sebastian: Several meetups in the afternoons at various places and lots of sex. You in?

Sadie: Definitely.

Monday morning, I still couldn’t stop thinking about Sadie. So I decided to push what I’d mentioned last night about a daytime meetup.

Sebastian: Good morning. How did you sleep?

Sadie: Pretty good. I had a nice dream. You might’ve been in it.

I caught myself with a gigantic smile on my face as I went to text back.

Sebastian: What time do you go to lunch? Maybe I can swing by and take you out and you can tell me about that dream.

Sadie: That sounds great. Except . . .

My shoulders slumped waiting for what would come after the word “except.” I assumed it would be something like “except . . . I can’t because I have too much work to do.” Or . . . “except I have a meeting.” But the next text perked me up . . . some parts might’ve gotten more perky than others.

Sadie: How about you meet me at my apartment at 2, and I do better than tell you about my dream. We can act it out . . .

Fuck yeah.I couldn’t type back fast enough.

Sebastian: I’ll be out front of your building at 1:45.

Sadie: LOL. I like your eagerness, Mr. Maxwell.

Sebastian: Oh, I’m eager, alright. You should see what’s going on in my pants already . . . with more than five hours to go before I arrive.

Sadie: You could . . . show me what’s going on.

All the blood from my brain had rushed south with better shit to do than support logical decisions. So of course, it sounded like a damn good idea to oblige. Reaching down, I fisted my hard-on through my sweatpants, then snapped a pic and sent it in response to her text. Maybe it was the angle, but my cock looked pretty damn impressive, if I did say so myself.

Sadie wasted no time responding.

Sadie: OMG. Lunch looks delicious! I can’t wait. Let’s make it 1pm, instead of 2!

I laughed.

Sebastian: See you at 1, beautiful. Can’t wait.