“Really?” she asked.
I nodded. I had the urge to pull Jess into my arms and kiss her to show her how much I felt for her, but I held back. I hoped my feelings came through with a single look.
From the little smirk on her lips, I knew it did.
When we reached the airport, Jess, and I took one of Gina’s hands, protecting her on each side. Though Gina put a lot of weight on both of us, so I knew she was over tired.
“Gina, do you want a piggyback ride?” I asked.
She looked up at me with heavy eyes. “Yeah, Daddy.”
I knelt down, and she climbed onto my back. All of her weight rested on me as I stood.
Jess and I were able to move quickly through the airport down to baggage claim without Gina’s dragging footsteps holding us up.
We followed the signs to our baggage area, and the belt hadn’t started to move yet. I sat Gina down on a bench, and she flopped over, lightly snoring.
“Jessica!” someone shouted from across the way.
Jess clenched her jaw and sighed before turning around.
A woman raced over to us. Her shoes slapped across the floor as she barreled toward us.
“Love, is that you?” She skidded to a stop in front of us. “You look much thinner than I remember.”
“Yes, Mom,” Jess said.
Jess’s mom was shorter than Jess, but quite thin. Her cheeks were sunken in, but her eyes were bright. And the same hazel color as Jess’s. Her eyes were the only indicator they were related. Jess must have received most of her father’s genetics.
Chloe Holland hugged her daughter tightly.
For as much as Jess consistently warned me about her mother’s behavior, I found it hard to believe that this was the woman she spoke about. The tears in her eyes showed affection for her only child.
Chloe’s eyes met mine. “G’day, Noah. Where’s your ankle biter?”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Gina’s over there, Mom,” Jess said and pointed toward the bench where Gina was fast asleep. I dreaded waking her up. “She’s a little jet lagged.”
“We’ll get that sorted straight away,” Chloe said. Then she raised her arms up and embraced me. “It’s so nice to meet you. How was the flight?”
While Jess caught up with her mom, I headed over to Gina to sit with her until the baggage carousel started up next to us. The loud sound woke Gina from her cat nap.
“Gina, honey,” I said, not wanting to startle her even more than she already was. “Let’s get the bags—”
“Where’s Jess?” she asked, her eyes darting around the room.
“She’s
catching up with her mom,” I said and pointed to Jess and Chloe across the way.
Gina’s eyes lit up, and a smile stretched across her face. “I want to meet her!” She flung herself off the bench and ran over to Jess, grabbing onto her leg. Jess leaned over and picked Gina up.
I smiled at the two of them while Jess introduced Chloe to my daughter.
Chloe grinned from ear to ear. There was another glimpse of Jess in her mother. Their lips curved the same way when they smiled.
I headed over to pick out our baggage while the girls had their alone time. I planned on making some outings with Gina on our own so that Jess and Chloe could have time to themselves since it had been a while for them. Though, it made me a little remiss to think of not seeing Jess for any extended period.