Page 86 of Flawless
My heart plummets, and I want to disappear in the comfort of this yellow and white down comforter. But I can’t, so I force my face into an impassive mask of stoicism.
“I’m so glad that I got to know you. Because I don’t see the person that they have portrayed in the media. I see a smart,loving, kind, and strong person. You make Papai happy, and that’s all that matters to me. But you also make me happy.”
This time, I’m the one to initiate the hug and rest my chin on the top of her head. Tears fall like rain from my eyes, and I sob, “You make me happy, too, Zee Zee. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Dani,” she proclaims, squeezing me tighter.
A clearing of the throat from the doorway causes both of us to look up and pay attention. Zenon is standing there with a scowl on his face, but with a look of worry in his eyes.
“Are you two, okay? What’s going on in here?”
Zee Zee and I wipe our eyes and smile. This amazing little girl speaks up before I can.
“Oh, just girl stuff, Papai.”
It’s been a week and a half since Zee Zee discovered her father and me having sex. She’s so amazing as she didn’t make anything awkward at all. After I’d told Zenon about it, he did grow weird, unable to look at his daughter directly and struggling to be anywhere close to my presence when she was around.
It wasn’t until she finally said, “Papai, I’m no baby. I know that you and Dani love each other and that part of that love comes in physical expression. It’s okay that you two have sex. You don’t have to go all weird on me, you know.”
That had turned both our faces red and launched us into having a sex discussion with her. She received it all pretty well and knew most of what we had to tell her. When Zenon asked how she knew all that she did, she shared that her mother, Zenon’s sisters, Graciana and Uxia, and Larisa’s sister, Oksana, had all had discussions with her.
It took some of the discomfort out of it and helped him to release his anxiety. I reassured him that it was a great thing that his daughter had such a well-rounded village to support her.
“Well, do you have everything?” Zenon asks now, jutting his chin towards Zee Zee’s luggage.
“I do. Are you sure that you don’t want to ride into town with us?” she asks me softly.
“Sweetheart, I promise that I’ll call you on FaceTime, and you can call me whenever you’d like,” I tell her.
She wraps her arms tightly around me again, and I kiss the top of her head.
Zenon and I decided that I should stay behind while he returned her to her mother. We didn’t want to risk another fiasco with the paparazzi or Zee Zee’s safety.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” she sobs in my arms.
“I’ll miss you, too,” I say, struggling to hold back my tears. “But we’ll see each other again for Labor Day. Remember I told you that’s the unofficial end of summer here in the US, and we’re having a big party at my cousins’ family cottage?”
“I know. It just seems so far off,” she pouts.
“One month, love. One month,” I reassure her, pulling back and kissing both sides of her face.
“I love you, Dani,” she pouts.
“Honey, not half as much as I love you,” I say, smiling at her as my heart almost bursts with emotion.
I meet Zenon’s gaze over her head, and he turns and looks away. I know that this is getting to him, as well.
“All right, it’s time to go,” he says, grabbing Zee Zee’s suitcase.
I walk with them to the car and watch sadly as they pull away. Zee Zee is in the backseat with her face plastered to the back of the window.
Turning around, I head down to the water and sit in the sun, reminiscing over the summer that I’ve had.
***
“There you are,” Zenon says an hour and a half later.
“Hey,” I say with a half-smile, looking at him over my shoulder.