The bouncy blonde came down the steps dragging an old worn out doll by her hair. With each soft thud, there was a visible wince from the father. He sighed and went to the steps, where his daughter was currently scooting down each step methodically. "Val, I'm pretty sure you know how to walk down the steps correctly," The father scolded softly, kneeling down to her level. Valerie was incredibly smart for being four years old. "Can you stand up right? Please, sweetie, I'm talking to someone really important right now, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Valerie noticed the tiny hint of sadness in her father's voice and stared at him with bright brown eyes, just like her mother's. "Daddy, why are you sad? Don't be sad. It's wasted time."
While he wished he could say that was true, his heart wouldn't let him believe it. "Valerie, come with me…we need to have a discussion."
He hoisted the tiny child into his arms and carried her into the living room, placing her strategically on the couch that was covered in blankets and pillows from the night before. She kicked her feet and sucked her thumb happily, watching her dad talk to the tall man in a black suit. "Daddy, who is that?"
He got deathly quiet before looking to his daughter, ignoring her question. "I don't understand why she would do this…"
"Mr. Diamond, I'm sure you've noticed that Mrs. Diamond hasn't been happy lately."
"Well, honestly, I have noticed – but Katie doesn't really tell me things anymore. I assumed she was just upset with the way I was taking care of Valerie. She never mentioned wanting a divorce!" He threw his hands in the air and started pacing around, tapping his lip. For the first time in years, his hair wasn't pristine and perfect – if anything it was messy and sticky from children's hands. He stopped and choked down a sigh. "Doesn't Katie realize that I love her? I would do damn near anything for her."
The lawyer nodded, "So sign the papers, Mr. Diamond. It's what she really would appreciate it."
James relinquished a sigh and held out his hand to sign the paperwork. "Where will Valerie go?" He inquired before putting his name on the paper.
"Valerie would stay with you unless stated otherwise,"
He gripped the pen so hard his hands turned white. She was disowning the child he'd raised for the last four years? Did she not love her family as much as she led him to believe? He looked to Valerie with sympathetic soft brown eyes, and touched her hair gently. "If this is what she wants…I won't argue with her."
James threw the paper at the table with a frustrated sigh. The lawyer told him that he didn't need to make a decision until he talked to Katie, but since she sent a lawyer on her behalf, he assumed she didn't want to talk to him about it. The only thing holding him together was the tiny blonde sitting beside him, but deep in his heart, he felt a breakdown coming on. Valerie needed her mother.
The news had already hit the tabloids by that afternoon. He got texts and phone calls from the gang like mad, but he didn't reply to any of them.
Are you and Katie fighting again? Is it serious this time? –Carlos
You broke my baby sister's heart? Are you deranged? –Kendall
I guess I should have seen this coming, you are a player. –Logan
It was incredibly unsupportive of them to even imply he was the one who did it. James just didn't have the strength to answer them back right now. He sat, staring at the paperwork, willing it to change, willing it to go away. He'd quit his job for Katie, to help raise Valerie. Why would she leave him?
Valerie made a soft whimper and he turned to the child. "What's wrong, baby?"
"My tummy aches," She whispered softly, "I'm hungry."
"Pick one, kiddo. Does your tummy ache or are you hungry?" He stood to pick her up, wrapping his arms around her possessively. "If you're anything like daddy, you're probably hungry, because I know I am." He set her down at the table and softly kissed her hair. "Daddy will make grilled cheese, how does that sound?"
The little girl began to dance happily. She pushed her blonde hair back and set her doll gently beside her at the table. "Can Suzie have one, too?"
"If Suzie is hungry, I'm sure she can have one." He knew he'd likely wind up eating it anyway, but he didn't want to deter his child's happiness when he was having a bad day as it was. It was only a matter of time before she realized that mommy wasn't coming home. He opened the fridge to see there was no cheese and shook his head. "Oh my…today just keeps going downhill, doesn't it?"
"What's wrong, daddy?"
"Nothing, sweetie; want to go to the store with daddy so we can get some stuff?" Valerie wouldn't protest, she loved shopping with her daddy.
"I need shoes, daddy. Mommy doesn't let me go out without shoes." Valerie protested, holding out her foot to show him. "I need shoes, daddy."
"I heard you the first time, Valerie, you didn't need to repeat yourself." He knelt down with her tiny shoes and strapped them to her feet. When she was satisfied that her shoes were on, the child began to kick her feet again, catching him square in the jaw. Wincing, he stood and sighed. "Val…what did I tell you about doing that when I'm putting your shoes on?"
"Daddy, Suzie needs shoes, too!"
He sighed and held up the doll, shaking his head. "Suzie has shoes."
"Oh! I forgot. To the grocery store?"
"Yes," He sighed. "To the grocery store."
James sat Valerie into the seat on the cart and leaned against the side of it. He ignored the odd looks from patrons and nonchalantly pushed his daughter through the store. "What should we make this week? Grilled cheese…spaghetti…"
"No sketties." Valerie announced. "I don't like sketties."
"Well what would you rather ha—"
"James? James Diamond? Oh my God, it is you." The platinum blonde stepped into view and stared at the father/daughter duo. James tried so hard to avoid being seen by someone he knew; he knew it would be a never ending battle with family. "What happened to Katie?"
"I don't want to talk about it," He answered rather sadly. "Please don't make me tell you."
The blonde woman sighed and looked at Valerie. "Does she know?"
"I haven't told her yet, Jo. I can't." He gently pushed Valerie's hair from her eyes and stared down at the unknowing child's face. Her eyes were so bright and full of dreams. She idolized mommy and had a passing interest in daddy. It was going to kill him knowing that she'd miss her mother far more than he would. "I got served with papers today."
"Wait a minute, she left you?" Jo inquired. "This changes everything. Kendall thought it was the other way around. He thought you got tired of her and moved on. God, none of us considered it would be her. She always was pretty flighty."
Jo followed them through the store, deciding it would be best to walk and talk at the same time. "It's everywhere. I can't escape it." He murmured throwing a box of macaroni into the cart. "It's in the newspapers, it's in the tabloids, it's on the news…I can't shelter her…she's going to find out." He noticed Valerie was asleep because she was snoring softly. He knew when she was out, she went down hard.
"Why haven't you told her?" Jo asked, wringing her hands as she walked.
"How do you tell a toddler that her mother disowned her? How can I possibly tell my child that her mother is never coming back? Those tears are heartbreaking enough when she has nightmares, I can't handle them when it's for a real reason." He stared down at Valerie as he walked, eyeing Jo as she put random items into the cart. "Are we shopping for us or for you?"
"James, you've got a daughter to worry about now, and she's not going to survive solely on macaroni. Let me help take care of you guys. It's the least I can do, it is my sister-in-law." She brushed her hair back and sent a quick text to Kendall to stop by James' house later. "Besides, Valerie loves me almost as much as she loves mommy. We'll be there when you tell her."
"I mean, it's not like Katie died, and the divorce isn't final…she could change her mind, right? Jo, I don't understand any of it. She was happy. She was saying she wanted to plan Valerie's birthday…she even told me she wanted to renew her vows and have another baby. What happened?"
"People don't just fall out of love, but Katie always seemed to force it from the start. I don't mean anything against you, but she never really seemed happy. Even after she gave birth to Valerie, she seemed to be caught in a depression she couldn't shake. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I suspect Valerie is partly to blame." Jo paused and thought about it. "It doesn't help that you quit your job to take care of Val. That means you were there all the time, and maybe Katie felt smothered by both of you. Be thankful she's not that mother who drowns her child to get away from it."
James couldn't help but think that Jo had a point there. He was incredibly glad that Katie didn't try to kill Valerie. Regardless of what his wife seemed to think, he was fully devoted to his family. Katie was his life, and Valerie was the only woman other than his wife that got his affection. It killed him to hear those words come from anyone, especially a lawyer. "She didn't even come on her own, Jo. She sent a lawyer."
"This says to me that somewhere deep inside Katie still cares about you." Jo murmured, placing items on the conveyer belt for the cashier. She turned to see the tabloids, wondering why James was so quiet all of a sudden. She picked up the one he was staring at and paged through it. Clearly he hadn't left the house in several days if he didn't see this before. Right in the middle of the page was a picture of his wife with another man. Underneath it in bold letters were the words Diamond Divorce on the Horizon?
–Katie negotiates with a lawyer
–Seen with a man that's not her husband
–Katie discusses putting Valerie for adoption!
Jo skimmed the article about how Katie had hired a lawyer and started discussing options three weeks ago after being spotted with a man at a night club. She scoffed and threw the magazine at the shelf. "People are so nosy."
"Did you know about this?" James asked with a voice he was trying desperately to keep steady. "Did you know she was cheating on me?"
"No, but it's not always as it seems. It's a tabloid, James, not all of them are true." Jo pointed to the last line on the cover. "I especially believe that to be a lie. She was in love with Valerie, she wouldn't put her own flesh and blood for adoption."
"Yeah, and I believed that she wouldn't serve me with divorce papers, but I guess all of us are wrong sometimes." He'd been married to Katie for five years; he thought he knew her in that time. Even after her struggle with depression and anorexia, he thought he'd overcome the worst of it. He thought his being by her side would be enough to convince her he was in it for the long haul, but Gregory Matthers – the boy she dated before marrying him – had changed her view on men so drastically, she rarely trusted him. "We were supposed to go to the school tomorrow and enroll Valerie…" he whispered.
"James, don't be beating yourself up over it. This was her decision." Jo responded, picking up bags and placing them in the cart. At least he wouldn't starve. She didn't know for sure if he would survive the oncoming storm, but he wouldn't starve, and Val would be taken care of. "Katie…she changed."
Kendall Knight sat with his wife, his best friend, and his niece, staring blankly at each other. The night had suddenly got awkward when Kendall showed up out of the blue. Even though Jo had told him to come, he felt an unwelcomed still in the air – for good reason, he was sure. He turned to James first, offering a sympathetic nod.
James choked on the words the first time he tried to say it. Then he finally took a deep breath and stared at Valerie. "Val, sweetie…" She was cuddling that stupid doll that Katie gave her. He was so tired of seeing it, but he could never bring himself to take it away from her. It was a hard plastic doll that always made quite the ruckus when she dropped it down the steps, modeled to look like her. He wanted to rip it from the child's hands and burn it. "Valerie, come here and sit with daddy."
Valerie climbed into his lap and held the doll by its hair, the tiny child staring up at her father with sad eyes. She knew something was coming, she just didn't know what. "Daddy, are you still sad?"
"Valerie, sweetie…" He tried to keep his voice and tone even, but his words broke halfway through the sentence. He felt Jo's hand softly resting on his back for comfort. She had a point earlier; it's not like Katie is dead, she might change her mind. "Valerie, mommy isn't coming home tonight."
"Is she with a friend?" Valerie inquired in her typical broken English. "She's playing with a friend, isn't she?"
"Valerie, it's not like that, honey. Mommy isn't coming home…ever. She's gone. She left this morning. She didn't tell daddy where she was going, she told daddy to take care of you, and she wasn't coming back. I'm sorry, Valerie. I know you loved mommy a whole bunch."
Valerie began to cry silently, her tiny body trembling with tears. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her close. She began to wail, her voice breaking each time, hiccupping with tears. "Mommy hates me!"
"No, baby, it isn't you." He whispered, rubbing her back. "It isn't you at all. Mommy is mad at daddy. She didn't need to make you suffer with him, but mommy isn't thinking right now." He brushed a hand through her blonde hair and tried not to cry himself. "Valerie, I'll take care of you, and aunt Jo will help. She said she'll come by every night and tuck you in."
Jo nodded. "I promise, kiddo. You won't be alone. I know you'll miss mommy a whole lot, but she might come back. Mommy's can't leave their babies for a long time – it's a proven fact."
James glared at Jo for a moment before wiping away Valerie's tears. "You'll be okay, we'll get through this together. I promise I'm not going to go anywhere." Valerie calmed slightly and looked at her doll. "Do you want to go to your room and get ready for bed? It's getting pretty late…"
Valerie nodded sadly and dragged her doll up the steps.
James leaned forward and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't believe I was the first man to ever break her heart. Valerie is never going to forgive me for this…I know how she feels. When my parents divorced, I thought it was me. I asked every single night if it was me…mom assured me it wasn't me, but I knew deep down it was." He looked away, shaking his head, wrapping his arms around his body. "Valerie needs Katie. I need Katie. My life is pretty much nothing without her."
Kendall shoved James playfully and shook his head. "My sister is a bitch, she shouldn't have left you like this." The papers still sat on the table where he'd left them that morning, Jo and Kendall had read over them several times, unable to adjust to it themselves. Why would Katie do such a thing? "Katie did stop by and ask me a week ago if I'd take care of Valerie for her…since Jo can't have kids…"
"She told me she wanted to renew our vows, Kendall. It just doesn't add up to me. Something was wrong when she left. Katie wouldn't just up and do something like this without telling me first." James whispered sadly. "I…could just be reading into it…I don't know."
Jo sighed. "I'll go help Valerie get ready for bed. You guys can trash Katie all night."
Kendall gave her a kiss quickly before she stood to leave. He turned back to James as she left the room. They lived in a tiny house, it was what Katie wanted, a close family. For some reason, it seemed so much bigger without her around. The money they had – which was more than enough from Katie's agency and James' records – was stored in an account that wasn't shared between them. He should have known right then that something was horribly wrong with their relationship.
"Well, she's gone…what do I do now?" James inquired.
"Live life the best way you know how. I hate to say it, but you need to focus on being a dad now. Forget Katie. She's gone. She's the past. You need to be here for Valerie now." Kendall answered sadly. "Your daughter needs you now more than ever. Don't let her down."
So I had this idea…ran with it. Sorry I've been gone for so damn long. Had a lot of stuff barrage me at once. I'm working on updating slowly. I mean it, literally, slowly. I likely won't go back to some of the older works (If I don't delete them all together)…bear with me as I get back into my groove. Until then, here's a Jatie to quell your insatiable appetite.
