"Hey Nova." Eleanor looks over at me covered in chocolate. I take a wet wipe and wipe her face down.

"What's up sweetheart." She looks down at her shoes and kicks her feet. "Everything okay?" She takes a few minutes to think about something.

"Do you think my mommy loves me?" Axel looks over at me with a sad look. I think about how I'm going to answer this question. I don't want to mess this up.

"Eleanor sweetie, I need you to look at me." Eleanor slowly looks at me and tears fill her eyes. "Sometimes people don't know how to share their love."

I need to explain this better. She's only nine and I've never been asked this before but I know how she's feeling. "Love is something special and sometimes it's hard to show it."

"Everyone shows it in different ways." I state. "Your mom loves you. I know this because my mom loved me but it was a different kind of love."

Axel leans in and helps me out. "Your mom loves you Eleanor. A lot of other people love you too. Like Uncle Madz, Grandma, me and the rest of the guys. We all show our love differently."

"I love you by giving you hugs and having fun with you. Teaching you how to bake and spending special time with you." I say. I hope I'm doing this right.

"I guess you're right. I have a lot of people who love me. I'm always happy when you guys are around." I set my ice cream down and give her a huge hug.

"We all love you. You are so special to all of us." Eleanor hugs me back and I can feel her ice cream drip down my back. I pull away and laugh. "Your ice cream is so cold."

Eleanor giggles. "Whoopsie. I'm sorry Nova." Axel helps me wipe it off since I can't reach it. Once I'm all cleaned up I sit back down and we finish our ice cream.

We chatted about school and how one of her friends got her ears pierced. She tells me she wants hers done but she is scared and grandma said she has to wait till she's ten.

Once we're all finished we walk back towards my apartment and I hold her hand as we cross the street. Axel unlocks the door and we head inside.

"Axel, would you like to play 'mouse trap' with us? I'm a really good teacher?" He smiles.

"Of course. I'll meet you guys upstairs." Hand in hand we head to my living room. We set up a spot on the floor with blankets and pillows.

Eleanor grabs her backpack and pulls out the game. It's an old box that looks beat up but I can tell it's a game she loves. "Can we make some popcorn Nova?"

"Of course we can. What's a game without popcorn?" Eleanor runs into the kitchen and grabs the stool. She knows where most of the items are in my home and I let her do her thing.

Axel walks in and it looks like he was on a phone call. "Madz says he will be here in about an hour. He ran into traffic." I nod. "Wow look at all this. Now this looks like a real party."

"Real parties have cakes and balloons, Axel. You're so silly." Eleanor states in a 'duh' tone. She brings me over the bag of popcorn and I open it up and pour it into the bowl.

As she is explaining the rules to Axel I turn on a move to play in the background and we get started on the game. Of course Eleanor wins every round. She's a pro at this.

We hear footsteps and the living room door opens. It's Madz with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey guys." Eleanor runs over and jumps into his arms. "Hey pipsqueak."

"I already told you I'm NOT a pipsqueak." She rolls her eyes and walks back over to me. "Can you play one game with us Uncle Madz?"

"Yeah I can play a round but then we need to make dinner and take you back home you have school tomorrow." Eleanor huffs and sits down on her pillow.

Axel gets up to leave and we all say goodbye. "Thanks for hanging around today Axe. I'll see you in the morning. Be ready for some hard work." I joke.

"You got it Nova. See you in the morning." Axel leaves and we finish up our game. This time Madz wins and Eleanor is laughing at him.

"I lost this time but I'm glad you won Uncle Madz." We clean up our mess and Madz starts to make dinner. I have Eleanor help cut up the vegetables and I place them in the steamer.

We all enjoy our dinner of steamed veggies and hamburgers. "I'm getting sleepy." Madz checks his phone. I check my watch and notice the time is 6:30.

"Let's get this girl home." Madz says as he picks up Eleanor and I open the door for him. Before leaving I quickly put her game in her bag. Madz is waiting for me at the door.

"Ready to go darlin'?" I touch his face and smile.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go. Looks like she is too." Eleanor is already knocked out. We walk towards Mad truck and he buckles her in making sure her booster seat is right.

As we drive down the road Madz grabs my hand and his finger strokes my wrist. "I missed you today. How did everything go?" I wonder if the guys told him his sister stopped by.

"It was great. We had a busy day but it was fun. Your sister came by and Alice and her left in a rush." Speaking about her mom I remember what Eleanor asked me.

"What's wrong?" Madz glances over at me and then focuses back on the road.

"Eleanor asked me if her mom loved her today." His finger stops moving. "I told her that people show their love in different ways but I did say that her mom loved her. Axel helped."

"Thank you. She should have never had to ask the question." He's right, a nine year old little girl shouldn't have to think about that. I know what it's like to wonder if you're loved.

My dad always knew how to show it but my mom never did. That gets me thinking I never cried over losing her. She may not have been a good mom but she was my mom.

Tears slowly fall down my cheeks and I try to find them. We pull into Georgia's and Madz places his car in park. "I'll be right back." I hope he didn't notice I was crying.

I watch him walk down the pathway with Eleanor's little pink bag over her shoulders and I smile. One day he will be a wonderful father. He is so loving and takes care of people who are special to him.

I watch the door close behind him and after a few minutes he starts to head back to the truck. Instead of going to his door he opens mine.

"Now tell me why you were crying sweetheart." I looked at Madz and I should have known he would have seen me crying. He notices everything.

"I was just thinking about my mom. I knew what she did was wrong but I still loved her." At that the tears burst free. Everything comes rushing out of me.

I sob into Madz shoulder and he gently rests his hand on my back. He lets me cry until I'm ready to talk again. I can feel my face getting puffy and I have snot all over his shirt.

I know he won't mind but I still feel gross. "I think I'm okay now." Madz opens up his glove compartment and grabs some napkins. Softly he wipes away the tears and looks into my eyes.

"I'm so sorry that this all happened to you. I wish I could go back in time and fix everything." I try to speak but he shushes me. "You deserve to be loved all the way and I plan on showing you that."

I lean in and kiss him. It started out softly but I let him take control. He kisses me so much I start to feel faint. He places his forehead on mine.

"Are you ready to go home sweetheart?" I give Madz a hug and nod my head. He lets go and with one last kiss he shuts my door. I see him through the wind shield taking a deep breath.

Once Madz is in the truck he grabs my hand and pulls it into his. He brings it to his face and kisses it. "Let's head home." I lean into my window and look at all the lights passing by with a smile on my face.