Page 51 of Undeniable You

Crap. This had been a question she’d been asking a lot lately.

“Oh, baby. I would love to have a dog. But dogs require a lot of responsibility.”

“I’m ’sponsible!”

Jo grinned at me above Juniper’s head as if she was enjoying me trying to wiggle out of this question.

“I know you are. You’re so responsible. But dogs require a lot.”

“You know you can visit the dogs at the animal shelter?” Jo said. “You can visit them and read them books and maybe even help take one on a walk.” There was an idea. As long as Juniper didn’t fall in love with one of those dogs and then I’d have to tell her we couldn’t bring it home.

“And our friend, Stace, has a really nice dog named Buck and he loves meeting new friends. I bet she’d let you play with him.”

Of course. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

“I wanna see the doggie!” Juniper was electrified by this idea, so Jo brought up Stace’s social media page and showed Juniper some pictures and videos of Buck.

“You know how you have Auntie Sophie? Maybe you could be Buck’s doggie auntie?” Jo said.

I raised my eyebrows and she shrugged at me. This woman was trying to save me, and she was doing anything she could. Amazing. She was amazing.

“Yeah! Doggie auntie!” We may have just invented the concept of the “dog aunt” but I was going to let my daughter believe it was an established thing. We’d get her a T-shirt madeand everything. I didn’t know Stace all that well, but something told me that she’d be on board for the dog aunt concept.

Jo finished Juniper’s hair, then I said it was time to make dinner.

“What can I do to help?” Jo asked, getting immediately to her feet.

“You can sit right down,” I said, pointing at her. “You have made me food too many times and now I’m cooking for you. Deal with it.”

Her eyes went wide. “Yes ma’am.” She stayed on the couch and I tried not to react too much to the way she called me “ma’am.” Normally, in any other circumstance, that word would make me cringe. But Jo saying it? That was something entirely different.

Juniper decided to keep Jo company while I tossed some rice in the rice cooker, threw the chicken in a pan and poured some of the marinade over the veggies before laying them in the air fryer.

Cooking without having Juniper right next to me was something I hadn’t done in a long time. It was almost soothing, turning the chicken and not having to make sure her little fingers didn’t too close to the stove.

Soft singing greeted my ears as I listened to Jo and Juniper singing together. I glanced over and watched the two of them and it made me want to cry again. Emotions hit me so much harder after I’d become a mom. I could go from zero to waterworks in seconds.

Sniffing, I brushed at my eyes before going back to the chicken so I didn’t burn it.

Since the three of us couldn’t sit at the table (I still hadn’t gotten a third chair), we ate on the couch together. It was a little messier, but having Juniper sitting between me and Jo was better. It just was.

Even when Juniper dumped rice on the floor and in between the couch cushions.

Once we finished, Jo refused to let me do anything with the dishes and insisted on cleaning up and loading the dishwasher. Once that was done, we put on one of Juni’s favorite shows and snuggled with her.

Pretty soon it was time for bed, and Jo seamlessly assisted with the routine. It was so nice to have someone there to hand me something, or to back me up when Juni asked for one more story. And having another person to kiss my daughter and tell her goodnight and that Mozzarella would watch over her while she slept and tiptoed with me through the door was better than I could have imagined.

“Well,” Jo said as we looked at each other outside of Juniper’s room. “What now?”

I smiled and put my hand on her chest, pushing her toward my room. She laughed and then pressed her hand over her mouth so she wasn’t too loud.

“God, I’ve been desperate to kiss you for hours,” I said, gripping her shirt with trembling fingers.

“Same,” she said, and our lips met in a cataclysmic rush. How was kissing her always this intense? Every one completely took my breath away.

“I want you so much,” she gasped. “How long do we have to wait for her to fall asleep before we can do what we want?”

I put my finger up and listened. “Give her maybe five more minutes and she’ll be out. But she’s kind of a light sleeper so you’ll have to be quiet. Do you think you can do that for me?”