"You don't have friends. Well, you have Auntie Lori, so is she coming over?"
"No, baby, it's not Lori. His name is River."
"You're having a boy over?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Tammy's mommy had a boy over, and at first it was just her boyfriend, but now Tammy has a daddy. Is he going to be my daddy?"
"Baby, things don't work like that." I didn't know what to say. I didn't like lying to her, but I couldn't tell her the truth, at least not yet. There were things in life that were too complicated for an almost-four-year-old to fully comprehend.
"That’s the door!" Violet shot up and ran, her little hand on the doorknob, waiting for me to give her permission before opening it.
"Go ahead, baby."
Violet flung the door open, "Hello, I'm Violet. You can call me Vi; most of my friends do, but not mommy. She calls me Violet. She says something about it being my name, and if she wanted to call me Vi, she would have just done it, but I like both, so you can pick whichever one you want to call me." She beamed up at River, taking his hand and dragging him into the house and over to her toys scattered on the floor. "You like Ariel? She's my favorite. I asked Mommy for one where she can walk and Eric. She says I can have one for my birthday. It's coming up soon, my birthday. You should come. It will be so much fun. We’ll have cake and balloons and everything."
"Violet, honey, why don't you let River breathe a little," I said, walking up to her and playing with her hair.
"Your doll looks very pretty. Would you mind if I play with you?" River asked as he got on the floor and smiled at her.
"Yes. Come on, let me show you everything, but you have to promise to be gentle and no throwing them. Mommy says throwing can hurt people, and we don't want to hurt people, right?"
"Right," River said with a sweet smile on his face.
"I'm just going to get dinner ready."
"Can we have pizza?" Violet asked, her small face looking up at me, a cheesy smile plastered on her face showing off her teeth.
"Not tonight, baby. Maybe next week."
"I can order a pizza," River chimed in, irritating me. I didn't want him to come in here out of nowhere and just provide everything for Violet like it was nothing while I struggled to make ends meet on a good day.
"Can we, Mommy? Can we, please?"
"Sweetie, River is our guest. It would be rude of us to make him buy us dinner."
"I insist. Since I came barging in here and you weren't expecting me, it's the least I could do."
"Please, Mommy?"
"Please let me do this, Zoey. I really want to. Besides, it's been a hard day, and I think you could use a break from cooking."
"Okay."
Chapter 5
RIVER
"This pizza is so good," Violet said as she finished her last piece. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her belly. "I'm so stuffed."
"Did you thank River?" Zoey asked.
Violet turned her small face to me, her eyes piercing blue just like my mother's, "Thank you," she squealed before putting her attention back on her mother. "Can I go and play for a bit before bed?"
"No, sweetie, it's getting pretty late. How about a story?"
"Okay, but can River read me the story?"
I was taken aback by Violet's question, but I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to spend more time with her. Zoey had done an incredible job with her. Violet was happy, clever, and sweet. I looked up at Zoey, and I saw her eyes misting over. "I'd love that, if it's okay with your mom?"
"Yes, it's perfectly fine by me," Zoey said, her voice trembling as if she were beating back the tears. I felt like complete scum for her life being difficult, for not always being here with them, my family. I should have been here all along, not chasing my brother and watching him get killed.
"Oh yay," Violet said before turning to me. "Just let me get my PJs on and brush my teeth. Mommy used to come with me to do that, but I've been doing it by myself now for three weeks. Mommy says it's because I'm a big girl now."
"You are sweetie, my perfect big girl," Zoey said, her hand brushing down Violet's head before she kissed the top of it.
"Okay," Violet said before dashing down the small hallway and out of sight.
"She's amazing," I said, staring after her.
"Yes, she is. Listen, River, she's my world. I need you to not mess with her, okay? It's one thing to play around with my heart, but you can't with hers."
"I'm not going to be playin' with anyone's heart."