Time Won't Let Me Go

Brian's POV

It'd been a few days since I'd seen Kadey.

And to say that I'm anxious doesn't even cover it.

I smiled as I watched Aria run across the sand.

"Daddy look!" She squealed.

I grinned widely and waved.

"Go baby, go!" I yelled.

She giggled and ran next to a little boy that was playing on the structure.

The steps were a little high for Aria, and I was about to get up to help her.

But the little boy grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

I sat back down and tried not to frown.

Boys.

Disgusting creatures.

Even the little ones.

Can't trust them.

Never.

Especially not around my little girl.

I heard a chuckle and I turned to see Kadey walking up to sit next to me.

I felt my heart start to race as she took a seat.

"I can see the protective look all over your face. She's two years old Brian. Boys don't even exist to her yet." She said with a smile.

"I don't even like the thought of boys going near her. Even as friends. I know how they think and function." Brian said.

Her sweet laugh filled the air around me.

I turned time fa e her fully and her smile hit me like a freight train.

"Man, you are fucking beautiful." I told her

She grinned widely and leaned forward, her lips inches from mine.

I closed the space between us and kissed her soundly before pulling away.

"I've missed you these last few days."
I told her honestly.

She smiled shyly and reached down to grab my hand.

"I've missed you too. Sorry I've been so busy these last few days." She said.

"What have you been up to?" I asked her, just wanting to hear her voice after missing out on it for a few days.

"One of my clients, Karissa, she's been having a rough few days. Been helping her through it." She said.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"I'm not allowed to discuss her case. Doctor/Patient confidentiality. But she's doing better than she was a few days ago." She told me.

She leaned her head against my shoulder and we both watched Aria play on the structure.

We filled each other in on our days apart and again it surprised me by how much I'd missed her.

It was a few minutes later that Aria turned our way and started running and yelling.

I grinned widely and opened by arms to catch her.

But she wasn't even looking at me.

She ram right towards Kadey.

"Kay Kay!" Aria squealed and threw her arms around her neck.

Kadey looked a little surprised but Zhengzhou grinned widely and hugged Aria back tightly.

"Hi sweetie pie. How are you?" Kadey asked.

Aria grinned widely and pulled away from her.

She started telling Kadey all about her day.

From the pancakes that we made together this morning, to her new princess sparkly shoes.

Kadey's face was open and interested.

And the smile never left.

Seeing her with Aria makes me happy.

A lot happier than I thought it would.

Because Kadey is basically a stranger to my daughter, and Aria gets along better with her than her own mother.

I tried not to let the bitterness and anger get to me.

Aria's already seen enough of that.

Never again.

"Hey baby. How about we take Ms. Kadey out for lunch?" I asked, my eyes going from Aria to Kadey.

Aria squealed loudly and started jumping up and down.

"Yay daddy!" She yelled.

I turned back to Kadey and looked at her hopefully.

She grinned and nodded.

"Lunch sounds great." She replied.

Kadey's POV

I sat across the table from Brian and Aria, not able to keep the smile from my face for very long.

Aria's just too cute.

And the complete adoration on Brian's face was priceless.

He's absolutely in love with his daughter.

And it actually reminds me of the relationship I had with my dad.

We were all making small talk while our food was being prepared.

Aria started clapping when she saw our waitress coming with our food.

She got her chicken fingers and orange juice and me and Brian got our double cheeseburgers with bacon.

My mouth started to salivate.

I reached for the ketchup and turned to Aria.

"Want some ketchup Aria?" I asked her.

She grinned widely and nodded.

"Yes please." She said.

Brian grinned widely and blew me a kiss.

I poured Aria some ketchup and then some for me.

Brian made a pouty face and I grinned and gave him some too.

"So, the other night? Was it your client that you had to go deal with? I woke up and you were gone." Brian said.

I looked down at my plate and ate a fry.

"Yeah. Karissa needed someone to talk to. Didn't mean for it to take all night " I told him.

"It's fine. Just surprised me." Brian said.

I stayed quiet while I worked on my fries.

I wanted to tell him about the note.

About Karissa's violent ex-boyfriend, Michael, being back in town.

I should be able to talk to my boyfriend about these things.

But he's already going through so much.

I don't want to add more stress.

I looked from Aria to Brian, and smiled.

"It's fine. She's working through some stuff. Doesn't usually bring me out of bed, but once in a while, it does. Sorry I didn't leave a note or call you. " I told him.

"It's fine babe. I was just curious." He said, raking a bite of his burger.

I felt my phone vibrate and I looked at it to read the message.

"Haven't gotten a hit on him in this state. Doesn't look like he's here. I'll keep my eyes open for anything suspicious." - Joe

I took in a deep breath and tried to decide if I should at least tell Joe about the note.

He would go absolutely ballistic.

Guaranteed.

I tried to keep my face as blank as possible.

I didn't want Brian to think something was wrong.

"Okay. Keep me posted." I typed and hit send.

I looked up and Brian was stating intensely at me.

"Everything okay?" He asked me.

Again, I was tempted to let him know what was going on.

Then my eyes shifted over to Aria who was happily chewing away on her chicken nuggets.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." I told him and smiled.