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Nik spends an hour trying
to teach me to play Poker. It all sounds a bit like this “this card
is the
blah
, you
use it to
blah
and
blah
.
Then you
blah
the
blah-dee blah
and that’s Poker!”
Let me tell you, it’s not so simple.
I give up with a pout and coax the girls to play Uno with me at the
dining table.
After three games of me winning, Nat takes the deck and throws it
in the air. Cards fly in every direction. Nat is somewhat of a sore
loser. Lola, Mimi, and I burst into laughter at her dramatics; Nat
pouts like a little kid.
We move back to the Poker table with the guys who are loud and
boisterous. They tease each other, laugh loudly, and whoop when
they win a hand. They are so much fun to be around.
Trick has eaten six of my special cupcakes and is currently
devouring a seventh. He leans over to me a smacks my cheek with a
sloppy chocolaty kiss. He asks, “What are in those cakes, girl?!
They are heaven.”
I wipe my cheek and laugh, “Ewww Trick! Well, the red velvet
cupcakes have a chocolate sauce in the middle and the chocolate mud
cupcakes have a peanut butter cup in the middle.”
His eyes roll in bliss; he leans over close and puts his lips to my
cheek, “Run away with me.”
I laugh at his theatrical scene. Nik takes my hand in his, pulls me
over to him and says, “Sorry Trick, she already promised me.”
Trick glowers at him, “You
always
have to get the girl. Save some for us,
buddy.”
Nik smirks, “Never.” He pulls me sideways on to his lap and without
thinking I put my arms around his neck and settle in, placing my
forehead at the side of his chin. I love hugging this man. He’s my
teddy bear.
I can feel everyone stare at us but I could care less. I’m so
comfortable and don’t want to move.
The girl’s watch the other guys play this round and cheer them on.
Nik plays his hands and then strokes my back. We’re all having an
awesome time.
“Daddy?” This is slightly distorted and coming from the baby
monitor. Max goes to stand but I put a hand on his arm and state,
“Let me get it.”
He looks amazed at my offer. “Uh, okay, if you’re sure. She’s
normally thirsty so take a glass of water. It’s the last room down
the hall.”
I smile at him, go to the kitchen for a glass of water and make my
way to Ceecee’s room.
She smiles a little smile when she sees me enter her room. I keep
the light off but leave the door open slightly for some
illumination and sit next to her on the bed. Low and behold, she’s
thirsty.
Sitting up, she drinks half the glass and places it on the
nightstand. I lower my head to hers and place my lips on her
forehead. I ask, “Better, honey?”
She hugs me and whispers, “Yeah, thanks Tina. Goodnight.”
I tuck her in and make my way back to the others. Max looks at me
with a raised brow; I smile at him in a way that says he was
right.
I walk over to him, kiss his head and utter, “You’re so
lucky.”
He reaches back and squeezes my shoulder. “Oh, I know.” He
chuckles, “She tells me every day.”
“Is there a day you bring Ceecee to The White Rabbit?” I ask.
He tells me, “Every Saturday, babe, she gets bored as hell there. I
let her bring her games, though.” And a plan starts forming.
I prod lightly, “What time are you there from?”
He looks up at me, eyes narrowed. “From nine. Why?”
I try to be as blasé as I can. “Just asking some questions, dear.”
And I sit back down.
The guys are so into their game they don’t notice when I motion for
the girls to follow me. They all stand making excuses to stretch
their legs or get a drink.
We all walk over to the hallway and discreetly as we
can.
Time to explore this
castle.
The long hallway has four
doors down each side and one at the end which is Ceecee’s bedroom.
That’s
nine
additional rooms! This is a small mansion.
The first two doors on either side are bedrooms. We don’t explore
these because that would be rude. Though, I really want to.
We open the second door on the left hand side of the hallway and
gasp when we enter it. It’s a small studio!
There is a baby grand piano in the middle of the room. That’s it.
Nothing else.
I start bounding up and down and send a pleading look to Nat. She
rolls her eyes but nods.
Yay!
We try to find the light
switch but can’t so Mimi walks over to the curtains and pulls them
open. We’re immediately bathed in moonlight.
Nat sits at the piano, links her fingers together and stretches
them. She says, “I’m a little rusty.” She looks to us and asks,
“What am I playing?”
Lola immediately replies, ’Amazing grace’.
Nat smiles at her, “Great choice, hon.”
And then we sing.
***

The girls disappeared a
little while ago. I get up and shush the guys. There is faint piano
music in the background.
We all glance around confused. I walk over to the hallway and hear
the girls singing to the piano.
I wave the guys over and we make our way to the doorway. We stand
just outside looking in. They are finishing up Amazing grace. No
one has played that piano since my dad died. It was his and I’m
happy to hear it being played. It brings back some really good
memories of my father.
Nat remarks, “That was awesome. I haven’t played in a while so
sorry if it was a little off.”
Then we hear Mimi. “Can you do ‘Poker Face’?”
A confused Tina speaks, “Wait, I thought it was ‘Poke Her Face’. I
thought it was a sexual innuendo.”
Total goofball.
Lola chuckles,
“Like when you thought in ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’ the words
were ‘Pardon Me The Starlight, Starlight’?”
Mimi is in hysterics, “Or when you thought ‘Hooked On A Feeling’
was ‘Hooked On The Ceiling’?”
Tina is holding her gut from silently laughing so hard. She
giggles, “Yeah, I hate when I’m singing a song and the artist gets
the words wrong.”
All the girls laugh at her. I’m glad she can laugh at
herself.
A still chuckling Nat asks, “Any requests?”
The girls remain silent probably thinking of a choice. Then Tina
speaks up.“Impossible.”
I can see a frown form on Nat’s face. She slowly shakes her head
no.
Tina touches her arm and softens her voice, “Please?”
Nat doesn’t look any happier but nods. “Which version? Shontelle or
James Arthur?”
Tina replies, “James Arthur.”
Nat nods and works the piano. The soft melody plays and Tina starts
to sing.
I remember years ago,
Someone told me I should take
Caution when it comes to love, I did…
Tina has a nice singing voice. She
carries the song well.
And now when all is done there is
nothing to say,
You have gone and so effortlessly,
You have won, You can go ahead, Tell them,
Tell them all I know now,
Shout it from the rooftops, Write in on the skyline,
All we had is gone now, Tell them I was happy
And my heart is broken, All my scars are open,
Tell them what I hoped would be
impossible…
She sounds like she’s in pain. I want to go over and hold her but I
want to hear her tell her story. She isn’t just singing the words.
This is gospel. She feels the words.
Falling out of love is hard, Falling
for betrayal is worse,
Broken trust and broken hearts, I know…
My chest tightens with anger.
Damn it, Tina’s been hurt. Badly.
And now when all is done there is
nothing to say,
And if you’re done with embarrassing me,
On your own you can go ahead, Tell them,
Tell them all I know now, Shout it from the rooftops,
Write it on the skyline, All we had is gone now,
Tell them I was happy, And my heart is broken,
All my scars are open, Tell them what I hoped would be
impossible...
Mimi discreetly wipes a tear away
from her cheek. Lola has her hands covering her mouth and her
shoulders shake with silent sobs. They’re feeling everything Tina
is feeling. The thought of someone hurting Tina this badly makes my
gut coil with rage.
I would do anything to make her better.
I remember years ago, Someone told
me I should take
Caution when it comes to love, I did…
Tina’s voice is steady as she sings.
Her eyes are closed. Natalie’s lips quiver as she plays the
piano.
Impossible…
The song finishes and Tina lowers her head. Her shoulders shake and
I know she’s crying. In a broken voice she says, “I hate him
so
fucking
much.”
I want to kill the motherfucker that hurt her. I’ve never heard
Tina swear like that. She’s been hurt bad and I don’t know what to
do with this information. I guess I’ll just have to be patient and
wait for her to tell me when she wants to. I motion to the guys to
back away from the door. We walk back to the table and continue our
Poker game.
Max plays with his cards, eyes lowered to the table. He mutters, “I
don’t like it.”
Me either,
brother.

Chapter
Ten
Fairy Godmother

Poker night was a blast!
Not that I played any Poker. Or did much of anything else, but the
company was phenomenal and we got to know each other even better.
Real friendships are staring to form.
Even Ghost tugged my hair when we said goodbye. Which I guess is
his equivalent of a hug.
After I sang for the girls and we had our cry fest, you’d think I
would be in no mood to go back out to the guys and joke around. But
when I broke down the girls all came over to comfort me, and I
realized how lucky I am to have them. My life could be so much
worse than what it is and I need to be grateful.
We pulled ourselves together and fixed our makeup the best we could
then went back out to the guys. As soon as we walked into the room
they all turned to look at us and I could tell they knew something
was up.
Max broke the silence by asking, “How about a movie?”
This broke us out of our sorry spell. The girls and I love watching
movies together! We all joke and tease the actors. It’s a sure good
time. We all agreed quickly.
Nik went to a cabinet and pulled out two DVDs, he held up ‘Step
Brothers’ and ‘Old School’.
They must
be Will Ferrell fans.
We all wanted
to watch Step Brothers. We arranged ourselves on the three huge
three-seater sofas. Nik, Max, and myself on one sofa, Mimi, Lola,
and Trick on another and Ghost and Nat on the third.
I sat in between my favorite brothers. Mimi sat on one end of their
sofa, Lola in the middle, Trick laying with his head in Lola’s lap
his legs dangling over the armrest. Ghost sitting on the end of
their sofa with Nat sitting at the opposite end throwing scowls his
way.
C’mon guys! Can’t we all just
get along?!
The movie started and we
all relaxed. Some way through the movie Nik, Max, and I had become
all tangled up together looking a bit like a human caterpillar. Nik
put a pillow on his thighs, I put my head on his lap and lay
sideways in a fetal position, Max with his head resting on my
thigh. We were all laughing our heads off and there were a few
times I thought I’d actually pee.
Halfway through the movie I look around to see Lola take Tricks
hand and play with it. That surprised me. Nat had fallen asleep.
She’s funny that way, she could fall asleep at a rock concert and
there is no waking her without physically picking her up and
placing her on her feet. She was in an awkward position and I could
see Ghost glowering at her sleeping form. After a few more seconds
staring at her, he pulled her towards him, lay his body full on the
couch, put a pillow on his chest and lay her head on it with her
laying on top of him. Of course, he sighed like it was the biggest
chore he’d ever done but within minutes, he’d fallen asleep, too.
This surprised me even more. They actually looked really sweet
together.
I can’t wait to tease her about it!
Nik was absent-mindedly stroking my hair and Max was snoring and
drooling on my thigh.
And I was smiling like an idiot.
Ever since I met these guys, my life is more fulfilled. I love my
girls with everything I am but I couldn’t help but feel something
was missing. I feel I’ve found that missing puzzle piece. And we
all look so stupid right now that I can’t stop the giggle that
forms in my throat.
Nik stops stroking my hair, lightly pinches my cheek and asks,
“What are you laughing about, sweetheart?” He sounds amused.
I tilt my head up to look at him. I give him a small smile and say,
“Look around. We’re a bunch of misfits that fit perfectly
together.” He frowns and then turns to look at everyone. A big grin
settles on his face and I know he gets me.
I turn to watch the movie and he begins to stroke my hair
again.
***

It’s now Saturday. After
we said goodbye on Thursday’s Poker night, Max advised the girls we
were invited to next week’s Poker night, too. I guess they liked
having us around.
We didn’t see each other on Friday because we were all busy. And
today I’m doing something I haven’t done in two years.
I’m taking the day off.
I’ve left Nat in charge of the store. When I told her I wasn’t
working she looked at me like I must be seriously ill but after I
told her what I was going to do today she thought it was an awesome
idea.
Today, I’m very underdressed and nervous about seeing Nik in this
state. I walk out of Safira and make my way over to The White
Rabbit.
I arrive on the second floor and walk down to the ‘chill out’ room.
There, by her lonesome, is Ceecee. She hasn’t seen me yet and I
smile at the back of her head. I don’t know how today will turn
out, I could be making a huge mistake but I won’t know unless I
take the chance.
I creep over to her and cover her eyes, her body stiffens. I say,
“Guess who, honey bear?”
She giggles and cheers, “Tina!”
I chuckle and walk around her, “You’d be right my dear! Get your
things, we’re leaving.”
Ceecee looks so confused that I giggle and tease, “Well, c’mon
slowpoke, we’re going to be late!”
She whispers, “Where are we going?”
I kneel in front of her wheelchair and stroke her pretty auburn
hair. I tell her, “We’ve got a big day of deluxe princess
treatments to get through.” I use my best bored tone and straighten
my spine. “I know it’ll be difficult to get through but, hey, when
you’re a princess you
have
to do all the things princesses do, right?”
Her face holds a look of shock but she whispers, “Right.”
Then she beams and fast as lightning is out the door yelling,
“Daddy!”
I follow her out. Max is out of the conference room in a flash,
“What is it, baby?” He sounds alarmed and kneels in front of her
with his hands on her shoulders. When he sees her smiling face he
relaxes slightly. “What the heck, Ceecee? You scared the hell outta
me.”
Ceecee beams, “Tina’s taking me for a deluxe princess treatment!
Can I go? Please, daddy, please, please,
pleeease
!” She holds her hands
together in front of her chest just under her chin like she’s
praying.
Max finally notices me and asks, “Hey T, what’s this all about?” He
smiles at me.
I use a matter of fact tone, “Well, as princesses, we need to do
what princesses do. We need facials, manicures, pedicures, we need
to get our hair done and finish with a massage. We’ll be gone most
of the day.”
I hear someone clear their throat and Nik is standing in the
doorway of the conference room. His eyes are on me and dancing.
“Tina, you look beautiful.” I look down at myself. My sweatpants
are not beautiful; they are tatty, huge and comfortable. I look up
at him and state, “You need your eyes checked, Niki.”
He laughs and says, “So, where are you taking my Cricket for said
princess treatment?”
I give Max a card of the salon down the street and say, “I called
and booked us in this morning. We’ll be a few hours. I hope Ceecee
isn’t busy.” I give Max a meaningful look. I know she was going to
be bored all day and really want him to let her come with me.
His eyes crinkle, he know what I’m doing. He responds, “No, Ceecee
isn’t busy. If she wants to go with you she can…”
Ceecee puts her little hands in the air and shouts, “YIPPEE!”
“…As long as you take my credit card and pay for the both of you
with it.”
My face falls and I glower at him. He smiles big at me. He knows I
hate this.
He pulls out his wallet, takes out a black shiny credit card and
says, “The limit is enough to buy a new car.”
I snatch it out of his hand. I grit my teeth together and answer
with a hard, “Fine.”
There is no way in hell I’ll use that card.
Max turns to his beautiful daughter and whispers loudly enough for
us all to hear, “You tell me if Tina doesn’t use that. Okay,
honey?”
Uh, Max! You
suck!
Ceecee looks up at Max like
he’s the best dad in the whole world. And to tell you the truth,
I’m starting to believe he is. She answers him softly, “Okay,
daddy.”
I look to Nik then Max and point out, “We’ve got to go. We’re going
to be late.”
Ceecee and I wave to them both and head to the
elevator.
That went better than
expected.
***