Chapter 9
The evening had gone without incident; the girls had gotten tired earlier than normal, which Montana had expected. They had had a long day, first with Shaun, and then with her while Paul had done his match and spent time with friends and fans afterwards.
It was funny; he had struck Montana as a fun loving person, but hardly appeared as a glib party guy most others on the roster were.
He never really stood out late, preferring to be with his daughters. He didn’t partake in the smoking, drinking and never-ending cache of drugs that could be available. She couldn’t think of a better father for Mackenzie and Kira. They were indeed lucky little girls to have him.
Kira had woken up crying a few hours later from a bad dream. Usually when this would happen, she would crawl into bed with Paul and cuddle before going back to sleep, but he wasn’t here now, and besides, unbeknown to him, Montana had been working with Kira not to do such a thing anymore; she was getting too big to crawl into bed with her daddy.
Montana held the child and rocked Kira back to sleep before gently placing her back into bed beside Mac, who hadn’t woken up the entire time, before she went back to reading the new book she had bought a few days before but never really got around to reading much.
Paul had finally arrived back at the room around midnight, and they had discussed how things had gone. Montana had filled him in on Kira waking up, but she was able to get the youngster back to bed not long after.
“She had another one?” he asked.
“Yes, but she didn’t tell me what it was about. Maybe she doesn’t even know.”
“I think I may have an idea. As you may know by now, Kira doesn’t remember her mami; she was still a baby when Reggie died.”
“Of course,” Montana nodded. “But what does that have to do with her dreams?”
“Well, it’s kind of a guess on my part, but I wonder sometimes if she thinks she and Mac are going to lose me too. Neither of them never really said it out loud, but the thought has crossed my mind, especially after Kira wakes up from those dreams and then comes and jumps in bed with me. I’ll wake up the next day with her all but hanging on to me for dear life.”
“I really needed to talk to you about that. You know, by allowing Kira to sleep on her own from a young age, even after she’s had one of her bad dream, you’ll teach her something that is essential for growth, and that she’s an individual and she can do something without a parent.”
“Okay, what do I do when she fusses after waking up from those dreams?” Paul wondered.
“Just what I did tonight. Show Kira love with hugs, kisses and warmth. Hold her close and allow her to cuddle up in your arms as you put her back to sleep, and once she does go back to sleep, put her back in her bed.”
“You sure you never had kids? You certainly know a lot about them.”
“I have lots of practice with my nephew. Logan is Mackenzie’s age.”
“Aha, I see. One would think being a dad for six years, I would have some kind of clue, but hell, sometimes I’m still lost.”
“Well, I’m sure raising girls can be hard on a dad by himself.”
“Maybe. But they’re good kids most of the time, so it isn’t too much of a headache yet. Now when they’re teenagers, I may run into some serious trouble.”
“That’s a good seven to ten years yet,” Montana pointed out. “But anyway, what did you want to discuss with me?”
“Huh?”
“Is your memory that short?” she laughed. “Before you left for your match tonight, you said you wanted to talk to me about something when you got back.”
“Oh yeah,” Paul replied, suddenly remembering. “The whole thing with Kira got me off track, sorry. Anyway, there is something I want to ask. I know you don’t date guys in the company, but uh, well….I kind of had in mind just a coffee thing and—”
“Yes,” Montana cut him off.
“What?”
“Did I stutter? I said yes. Just name the day and time. I figure since you were kind enough to let my stay with the girls, one coffee outing with their father wasn’t going to kill me.”
“But I thought you—”
“Normally, I don’t,” she replied, “but for you, I’m willing to make an exception.”
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