“Dada!”
“I believe she would like to have the white kitten as her present for this auspicious occasion,” Keveney teased wryly, reaching to retrieve the unstuffed kitten from the filled barrel. She and Howie had taken the day for ‘Jillie Bean’ time. It had been their first outing dedicated to ‘Jillie Bean’ time, so Howie was allowed to pick the first destination and Keveney would follow with the second at the next city. So, he decided to take the girls to the Build-A-Bear Workshop that actually allowed their customers to make their own furry stuffed animals within the store’s various stations. Howie had found the store to be quite entertaining from his personal point of view, deciding that his seven month old would delight in the store and hopefully Keveney, too.
“Are you making fun of my choice for Jillie Bean time?” Howie mused, allowing Jillian to hold the white kitten tight as she babbled excitedly to the stuffed animal, obviously planning their many activities of friendship once they were home.
“Never! I think this is really sweet. I never would have thought about renting out an entire store just for the three of us as a mini-party—”
“Why don’t you just repeat the first…oh…seven words you just said?”
Keveney stopped to glance at her friend with a furrowing of her honey blonde brows, obviously trying to remember which the first seven words were. “Never, I think this is really sweet?”
“Great, because Jillie Bean wants you to make one, too,” Howie decided, gently nudging Keveney toward the various barrels containing different choices of unstuffed animals. Keveney’s beautiful face contorted into a displeased scowl, but Howie held a finger to her lips to shush her contempt. He already knew what she was going to say just by the darkening of her gorgeous violet eyes. “Jillie told me she wanted us to make you one. Huh, Jillie Bean?”
“Mama!” Jillian agreed, already chewing on the ear of her kitten.
“Did she just…” Keveney was immediately at a loss of words when she glanced toward Howie. Jillian’s first word had obviously been ‘Dada,’ but no one expected her to learn ‘Mama,’ too. There was really no technical mother in Jillian’s life for her to associate with. Or so Keveney had originally thought. It was just such a shocking statement for the child to declare, causing Keveney’s heart to melt with a bittersweet awe. She gently reached to take Jillian into her arms, pressing a kiss to the child’s wrinkled nose. “Sweetheart, I’m not—”
“I don’t think we should correct her,” Howie quickly contradicted, smiling at Jillian’s declaration as Jillian reflected the grin.
“Howie…”
“You’re her mother in every meaning of the word. You’re the one that gets up with her at night. You make her breakfast. You dress her. You give her baths. You take care of her in every way when I’m not around. But, more importantly, you give her the love of a mother. So, I think you deserve that title, Kevie.”
“I’m not so sure...”
“I’m definite and so is Jillie Bean,” Howie laughed, reaching to affectionately kiss her cheek. “Tell her, Jillie Bean!”
“Mama,” Jillian chirped with a proud gurgle, kissing Keveney’s cheek. “Bababa.”
“She wants you to pick out your stuffed animal now,” Howie answered with a sly grin.
“You should have been a damn ventriloquist,” Keveney muttered, glancing into the various barrels of unstuffed bodies. Though, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face when she retrieved a soft purple teddy bear from the last barrel. She offered it toward Howie and they walked toward the employee readied at the stuffing station. Standing close together, they watched as the employee began to fill the stuffing into the animal, speaking to them about how adorable Jillian was when she clapped while the kitten transformed.
“Do you want any sound bytes to go in either animal?” the employee questioned. “You can make your own statements if you like.”
“I got, Jillie Bean’s kitty!” Keveney announced with excitement, bouncing over to the voice station with Jillian on her hip. Howie just watched with amusement as Keveney pressed to record her sound byte with a soft purr, “Love my Jillie Bean!”
“How original,” Howie laughed.
“She enjoyed it, huh?” Keveney defended, purring against Jillian’s cheek to elicit a giggle.
Only, the next part wasn’t so expected.
“Stand aside, I’ll show you how it’s done,” Howie contradicted, gently pushing Keveney away from the giant contraption. He thought for a moment about what he wanted her purple teddy bear to say, causing him to chew on his bottom lip. But, before Keveney could tease, Howie started to sing for his sound byte, “You taught me what love is supposed to be / It's all the little things that make you beautiful to me…”
Keveney smiled with approval as Howie returned to offer the sound byte to be placed inside her teddy bear. Chewing affectionately on her bottom lip, she carefully glanced up to Howie with awe. She had expected something typical to be placed inside her sound byte like a simple Give me a hug. But to have Howie sing such a special lyric from his personal song caused her heart to melt with adoration. “Do you really mean that, Howie?”
“What do you think?”
“Well—”
“Alright, Mom and Dad, we need you to kiss the hearts full of love for the animals.”
“Mom and Dad?” Keveney was quick to repeat in surprise, jerking away from Howie’s body.
“Yes, isn’t Dad and Daughter making this for Mom?”
“Mama! Dada!” Jillian agreed, clapping a hand against her newly made kitten.
Howie’s dark eyes widened in sheer horror at the employee’s statement. He waited for Keveney to start laughing hysterically at the proposal. He then wondered if the employee had actually been reading his thoughts. A film of cool sweat started to form against his forehead as he shoved his hands deep into his jeans pockets. “Uh… You have the wrong… I mean… It’s not that I… She’s my daughter… Well, she’s her daughter, too… Technically… But… Well… Er… We’re not—”
“Don’t you dare kid her, Sweetheart!” Keveney chided, reaching to take the pink heart from the employee. Sweetly, she pressed the heart to her lips for a quick kiss, holding it against hers while pressed their lips together. The first kiss with the heart was brief before Keveney allowed it to fall to her hands. She then reached again for their bare lips to connect with a sweet determination.
“Kevie—”
“Just following my instincts…” Keveney answered with a smile, handing the heart to the employee.
“Okay, before you totally chop my dick off to make me a woman, let’s figure out what kind of kiss you’re squealing about—”
“Do you have to be so graphic?” Howie scowled, glaring at his younger friend with disgust. He had sought AJ after returning from his family time with Keveney and Jillian, because he was aching for some kind of objective opinion. After Keveney had blatantly kissed him in the store, his mind had turned to complete mush. That is, until AJ described the way that Howie was emasculating him by asking a simple question about a simple kiss.
“Only in the presence of mixed company,” AJ assured with a feisty grin, offering Jillian a toy as she splashed in the large bathtub. AJ had given her some of his spaghetti for dinner while sought some profound privacy, which always had a way of covering every inch of the curious infant’s body instead of making it into her mouth. So, AJ had been designated to bathe the child, too, which he was actually doing without much complaint.
“That is completely ass-backwards, you know that?”
“Now who’s being so graphic?”
“Damnit J—”
“Okay, don’t get your panties in such a wad. We’ll talk about your obsession.”
“It’s not an obsession! She really did kiss me!”
“Where?”
“In the store—”
“Howie!” AJ grimaced, patting the water after Jillian splashed him. “You can be such a dumbass, you know that?”
“Oh…” Howie laughed nervously “On the lips…”
“What kind of kiss was it?” AJ continued to lead, motioning toward the towel sitting on the sink.
“Brief…”
“That’s all you can say about it?” AJ laughed, taking the towel from Howie’s hands. He leaned down into the large tub to wrap the towel around Jillian’s squirming body. Then, blowing a loud raspberry, AJ lifted Jillian out of the tub as if she were a shuttle being launched into space. Of course, Jillian had no objections, squealing loudly with delight.
“Well, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy it! I just, I was speechless about what happened! I mean, we’re making these teddy bears and we have to kiss these plush hearts to give the teddy bears’ love… Kevie puts the heart between our lips for the first kiss, but then lets the heart drop so our lips connect. It was so warm and filling, but it wasn’t passionate. Then, when I go to ask her about what happened, she said she was just ‘testing her instincts.’ What’s that about exactly?”
“Looks like she’s telling you to take a leap,” AJ answered simply, bringing Jillian close to his body as he rubbed away the water droplets from her wiry blonde curls while she babbled.
“Take the leap?”
“You’ve been in love with this girl since she helped me in the baby store—”
“I am not—”
“Stop bullshitting, Howie. It’s insulting my romantic intelligences,” AJ interrupted with a playful scowl. “The truth is that you love her. You’ve always loved her. And she loves you. Would you just admit it to yourself? She’s not like Roxie. She’s a wholesome girl with a lot of potential. A girl that’s ready to settle with a family – your family. She loves Jillian to pieces and she loves you unconditionally. She’s what you’ve always been looking for. So, take the leap.”
“AJ—”
“Take the leap,” AJ repeated, ending the conversation so he could finish dressing Jillian. But, as he carried Jillian into the living room, he felt a wet warmth soak against his t-shirt. Grimacing at the though of what it could possibly be, he carefully peeled the child away from his body to discover her little surprise which produced a hilarious giggle from her. AJ cringed with disgust as he smelled the distinct odor of urine. Slowly, he handed Jillian toward Howie with a scowl, keeping her as far away from his body as he possibly could. “…That little snot-nosed brat was just waiting to piss all over me like some little un-paper-trained scamp…”
“Admit it! You really do love Howie! You’re head over heels, flying on clouds, leaping for lizards, falling into a never ending spin cycle of passionate, romantic, delightful—”
“I never said I wasn’t, Evie,” Keveney laughed, retrieving her key car from her back pocket. Stevie had been anxious to locate an ice cream parlor for a wicked hot fudge sundae, but Brian had decided to play some video games with Nick. So, of course, Keveney was dragged off in search of the specific location without any room to complain about her older sister’s choices. And, after indulging in Stevie’s passions, Keveney had confessed about her recent encounter with Howie. Only, she hadn’t exactly planned for Stevie’s outrageous reactions to the kiss. “I just never would have even thought to mention it in such a… well… I mean, leaping for lizards? Where the Hell in your ass did you pull that from?”
“I just can’t believe you kissed him!”
“Did we just flip back into our teenage years? It’s not like when I cornered Corey in the boys’ bathroom—”
“But this is Howie Dorough that we’re talking about. Not some zit-faced dork just wanting to steal your panties from the gym lockers to supposedly prove he went to third base with the cutest girl—”
“Shut up!” Keveney suddenly hissed, ducking into the kitchen component of the suite when she noticed Howie playing with Jillian in the living room.
“I know you don’t get star struck, but there’s no need to get so pushy—”
“Stevanie Holly, shut up! Sometimes I think you’re the idiotic blonde of the family instead of me! Damn!” Keveney repeated, yanking Stevie down behind the counters. She heard Stevie bounce against the counter, which caused her to hold her breath. Carefully peeking over, she motioned toward Howie and Jillian. “Look!”
“We’re spying?” Stevie mused with an ironic question arching her dark brows. “Last time I tried to ‘check up’ on your social life I was the victim of bright pink hair for at least two weeks...”
“Decided to see if you still kept your registration of super-snooping up to date.”
“You’re not funny in the least bit, Keveney—”
“Just listen!” Keveney growled, peering off to the side of the counter. Sure enough, Stevie quieted so they could both observe the father and daughter. Howie was sitting on the living room floor with Jillian. It was obvious that the boys had dispersed for the time being, wanting to participate in some unsafe activities. So, Howie was left to enjoy his daughter’s company, but Keveney knew that Howie liked that best anyway. So, the two continued to play with a variety of brightly colored blocks filled with little toys that made sounds inside. Jillian was enjoying herself immensely, cupping the blocks with her entire hands to stack and then laughing hysterically when Howie destroyed them for her to start over again.
“Having fun, Jillie Bean?” Howie questioned, holding out a bright purple block containing flowers submersed in water. He smiled when Jillian took it from his hands, shaking her entire body to stir the flowers inside. Leaning, he kissed her forehead with a chuckle. “I love playing with you too, Sweetheart. But—”
“Mama,” Jillian gurgled, seeming to know exactly what her father wanted as she added the purple block to her small tower.
“Yeah… I really wish she was your Mama, because that would mean that she belonged to me, too,” Howie admitted openly, knowing his daughter exactly wasn’t at the age of blabbing his darkest secrets. If anything, Jillian was the best person to speak to when it concerned his love for Keveney. “I’ve got to be honest with you, Jillie Bean. I think God made the perfect woman when Kevie came into this world. And, I finally believed in love at first sight when Kevie took you into her arms while J was having a heart attack. She loved you right from the start. And me, I’m hoping she could love me… I just don’t know how to tell her. I get so nervous inside. She’s just so perfect for us, y’know?”
“Kevie!” Stevie squealed in delight.
“Shut up,” Keveney groaned, trying to remain neutral for appearance sake. Only, she was practically melting inside at Howie’s romantic words.
“So, do you agree with me, Jillie Bean?”
“Dada!” Jillian answered, chewing on the orange block.
“Does that mean you’ll ask her out for Daddy?”
Jillian glanced up from her blocks, tilting her head to the side. Suddenly, she offered a fierce shake.
“No?” Howie countered in shock.
“No, Dada…”
“But we love Kevie, don’t we?”
Jillian nodded.
“Then… Daddy should ask her out?”
Jillian nodded again.
“When?”
“Now!” Keveney suddenly announced, popping up from the counter to hurry into the living room. Stevie had attempted to hold her back, but Keveney had quickly learned to be outspoken when it came to living with such a large family. She knew what she wanted. A bright smile grew against her peaches and cream complexion as the color drained from Howie’s caramel face. She didn’t want to traumatize him. But, it was the question she had been waiting for and she couldn’t let it be lost inside the quandaries of Jillian’s playtime. “You can ask me right now.”
“You’ll go out with me?” Howie questioned incredulously, though his words were monotone in a state of sheer shock.
“Yes,” Keveney breathed with delight.
“With me?” Howie asked, making sure he understood her agreement.
“Howie,” Keveney laughed, kneeling to meet his awkward gaze of disbelief. “Trust me – the answer will always be yes when it comes to you.”
