Chapter 53 - It's Not Just Him

Chapter 53: it's not just him

Kara watched her reflection in the mirror. It was the third dress she was trying on. The red color dress had the biggest bow she had ever seen attached at the waist. She hated it. She hated dresses. She sometimes even wonders why it was even invented.

Kara tends to favor jeans, pants and shirts. It was simple and comfortable. It would be so easy to take the dress off and shove it in the wardrobe but she didn't. She tried to like it.

She really tried because her father almost died and her Umma wasn't really on vacation. She was six but she knew they had a fight. A fight that most certainly had something to do with her.

Kara decided to divert her attention to her hair. It was a messy and she needed her father's help. But it would be so easy to just put a cap on it. But dresses don't go with face caps but jeans do.

She turned when she heard a tap on her bed room door and it opened. 

Jason adjusted his shirt. He was smartly dressed in a  white t-shirt and  Jeans. He was also holding a denim jacket.

"Hey Bean. Are you good to go?" Jason asked her before he noticed what she was wearing "I thought we hate dresses?"

Kara picked up a comb from her dresser "Not this one, it was a gift from Umma. We like it" 

Kara smiled softly at him and he took the comb from her.

As Jason combed her hair, he wondered how easier it would be to agree to what she wanted for years and take her to a barber shop. The hair was getting more difficult to manage everyday but the tiny voice inside his head reminded him that Naya would track him down and hurt him very badly for cutting Kara's hair and then his mother would have an opinion about it and Mckenna would explode.

Jason smiled.

"I think that we've got this covered. Let's go baby girl. We don't want to keep your mother waiting"

"Okay, Dad"

***

"What do you think? Does this dress scream desperate or does is say I love my family and I want to come back home soon?" Mckenna asked Elena.

The peach colored gown she wore was tight and elegantly outlined her beautiful features. She looked beautiful. Elena smiled.

"That is too much pressure on one gown but you look beautiful. Now, can we talk?" 

"Really, now? Can we do it later?"

"No. Please sit down, Mckenna"

Mckenna obliged her and sat down but she continued looking at her watch every 30 seconds.

"So, why did you leave your home Mckenna?" 

"Wait what? I don't have time for this" Mckenna frowned.

"Have you figured out the answer to that question yet? It's been a month" Elena wasn't letting up.

Mckenna exhaled; she was going to be late.

"Ellie, this is not the right time but yes, I left because Jason kept undermining me to his daughter"

"Okay. If that is what you think" Elena wasn't convinced.

"Thank you. Now, can i go?" Mckenna stood up and headed towards the door when Elena spoke.

"He won't choose"

Mckenna turned and looked at her. "I don't understand what you are saying"

"If you keep making him choose between you and his kid, you are going to lose every time Mckenna. Both of you will lose because he loves you and I am not a fan of Jason but God, he loves you. But if you keep asking him to choose between his child and you...." Elena's voice trailed off.

"Are you trying to hurt me on purpose, Elena?"

"God no! I love you Mckenna but you need to grow the hell up. He is a good man and he is not Jackson. He is not your father; he won't leave you because he has another addition to his family. And you are a parent now. Be firmer with Kara instead of running to Jason every time to take your side."

Mckenna was speechless. Elena has never spoken to her that way before. Elena always took her side. And now that she wasn't, it meant that something was definitely wrong.

"I have to go. I don't want to late"

Mckenna opened the door and walked out. As she drove she kept thinking about what Elena said. Was she really unconsciously trying to make Jason choose between her and Kara? It was ridiculous and untrue but was it though?

She drove inside ShopRite mall and parked her car. She texted Jason to find out where they were and he told her. They were waiting for her at the cinema ticket stall. 

Soon, she could make out Jason in the small crowd waiting to be admitted into the cinema.

Jason's was enchanted. He didn't know it was possible to lust after his own wife. But damn, she was the most beautiful woman in every room she found herself.

"Hey baby" Mckenna saw the way he was looking at her and she was flattered.

"You are beautiful" he told her.

"You like my dress?"

"Yeah. And the human being inside it even more. I would kiss you right now but this is Nigeria and strangely, PDA makes Nigerians uncomfortable. Plus, I have a feeling that the old lady right there will pull us apart" Jason laughed also when he saw that Mckenna was laughing too.

"I am still going to hug my husband" Mckenna went closer and hugged him. She even placed a kiss on his cheek.

Jason saw the look in her eyes. She missed him as much as he missed her. Hell, they haven't made love to each other in a month and a few days.

The way he looked at her screamed that he wanted her and fast.

Mckenna looked around but there was no sign of Kara. "Where is Kara?"

Mckenna expected the little girl to be beside her father but she wasn't in sight. Did Jason not bring her with him?

"Where is Kara? She was supposed to be here, remember?" Mckenna asked him.

"I am sure she is around here somewhere. She needed a drink and I gave her money to buy one over there...oh, there she is" Jason waved at the girl as she approached them holding a can of soda.

"She is wearing a dress." Mckenna sounded surprised. "Kara hates dresses"

"I know, right. But apparently, this particular dress is special since you bought it for her....her words not mine" Jason explained as the girl approached them.

"Hey, Kara!" Mckenna smiled at her.

"Good evening, Umma. I like your dress. Do you like mine?" Kara asked her.

"I like it. You look beautiful, sweetheart" 

"Thank you"

Mckenna saw the soda she was holding and watched as she tries to open it.

"Kara, who is the soda for?"

She looked at the girl and waited patiently for her to answer.

"Mine. I want soda" The girl looked at her like she didn't do anything wrong. It was just soda.

"You are six years old. Soda is not good for you, don't you think?" Mckenna asked her but she kept mute and stared at her without blinking.

Jason was becoming uncomfortable. He didn't want the two most important people in his life to clash in public and he promised Mckenna he would support her parenting decision.

Jason cleared his throat. It was time to treat Kara as a little girl. Mckenna was right, the Soda was bad for her.

"Kara, what your mother is trying to-"

Mckenna interrupted him as soon as she remembered what Elena said to her. She can't make Jason support her opinions about raising their daughter. She had to be firmer and be a parent without making her husband choose.

"No, please stay out of this Jason. Kara return the soda and get an orange juice instead"

The girl held her gaze for a while before she murmured "Why?"

Mckenna smiled. It was something she would ask too. Jason was right, Kara was a little bit like her.

"Why? Because I am the parent and you are the child. Because I am taller than you...I am older than you and God help me but I am definitely stronger than you...not that I need strength to take away your phone privilege and tv time" the smile on Mckenna's face didn't waver.

"I like orange juice anyway" Kara said at last. She turned and walked back to the stall to buy a juice box.

Jason looked at Mckenna with a shocked expression. He was impressed.

"Wow, lady...you are badass!" 

"I am, aren't I?" Mckenna asked and let out a breath.

"Yes, you are. I was terrified for a second and I am an adult" Jason touched her face. He was relieved he wasn't dragged in between the whole thing.

"I should check on Kara. I will be right back"

Mckenna left Jason to check on their daughter. She was almost close to where she was standing when she overheard what she was saying to the cashier.

"You don't want the soda anymore, why?" The mall attendant asked her.

"No. My mother is making me return it. I want orange juice instead"

Mckenna hid behind the big flyer when Kara turned to where she was standing. Then she caught her reflection on the glass door.. She was smiling.