Author's Note: Here's a new story that I've been working on for ages. It's length , something new for me. Enjoy and tell me what you think! And of course it's DANIMINA, I freaking love them. All mistakes are my own.
Oh, and a special thanks to Grace for encouraging me to write again, lol. This is for you girl!
Milestones
Daniel walked into the bar with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He sat down and asked for the strongest drink available.
"You look as bad as I feel," said the perfect stranger.
Daniel shook his head and sighed, grabbing the drink before him. "Women. . ."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Wilhelmina Slater was a bitch, a world class bitch on a good day, but a bitch nonetheless. Put her through 9 months of pregnancy, 20 hours of labor, and an hour of pushing and that bitchiness goes up about twenty notches. She'd kicked him out of the room for touching her, cursed him out for leaving, screamed at him for not thinking about bringing her ice chips when Marc walked in with a pitcher full, and got mad when he encouraged her to push. She was a walking, or in this case, lounging, contradiction.
But it was all worth it when their little girl was finally placed on Willie's heaving chest. Everything around him faded away as he stared down, in awe of the loud, squirming little person before him. He kissed his wife's sweaty forehead and passed his fingers over the baby's thick mane.
"Hey," he whispered to the pink bundle.
It was a day later, and he could finally make out some of her features; dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Her personality was still in question though, in the time that he had her, she'd only cried a few times.
"This," Daniel continued, "is the very first moment I've gotten alone with you. You know? At first, your mommy refused to put you down and when she finally gave you to me, my mom snatched you away, then a mass of people came in to meet you and by the time it was my turn you were back in mommy's arms fast asleep. Then I had to go home and make sure everything was ready for you, which it is, by the way. Anyway, I really didn't want to leave but mymom made me and had your mommy back her up. But I'm back now and I finally have you to myself."
". . . I think I'll call you bug," he began.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"You are the stinkiest baby in the world, Nya Simone`," Daniel said as he tickled the baby on her tummy.
Nya kicked her legs and flailed her little arms with a huge gummy grin on her face.
'Warning, warning! It's the wife, it's the wife! . . .'
"And that's your mommy. Don't move," he said before kissing her on the forehead and running to grab his phone. "Hel—"
["Where the hell are you?"]
"I'm—"
["You were supposed to meet me in the lobby ten minutes ago."]
"Nya's diaper—"
["Open the door!"]
Daniel sighed and peered over at his gurgling daughter. "I hope you don't have your mother's attitude."
He walked quickly to the door and opened it revealing a very pissed Wilhelmina holding a gang of bags. She walked into the apartment and set the bags on the sofa.
". . . Don't give me that look."
"I could strangle you, Daniel. I called you an hour ago to let you know that I was on my way home and that I needed your help."
"I was busy—"
"Doing what?"
"Watching our daughter!"
"She's just 6 months old; the only thing she does is eat, sleep, and poop, sometimes at the same time!"
"I'm not about to argue with you about something so petty, Wilhelmina."
"You left me out in the cold December air, up to my knees in snow—"
"Stop being so dramatic. You had Marc, and I told you not to go out in the first place. But, once again, you had to do what you wanted to do."
"You're damn right. I'm a grown woman and you're not my father. You do not tell me anything," she retorted moving toward the kitchen.
Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed. "See what I me—"
Eyes wide and panic on his face, Daniel stared at the vacated spot on the floor that previously held his kid.
"Daniel! Daniel, get over here!"
Daniel ran into the kitchen to where Willie was standing.
"She's crawling," she answered as Nya crawled toward her shocked parents.
"She crawled!" Daniel exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "She crawled!"
He scooped the baby girl into his arms and kissed her all over her chubby face. "Nya, you crawled!"
Wilhelmina stood behind her proud husband as he held their bundle of joy up over his head, a huge, proud grin of her own plastered on her face. It always surprised her how Nya could make them forget their problems.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
". . . Happy birthday dear, Nya, happy birthday to you!"
Nya Simone Meade sat between her mom and dad looking around at the people surrounding her with the most puzzled look on her face. She turned her head to the right and reached out for her father eliciting laughter from the crowd. Instead of picking her up, he kissed her on the cheek and pointed to the mini cake.
"That's for you, Ny."
She looked down at the cake then to her mother.
"I think she's scared," Alexis laughed.
"With good reason; look who her mother is," Claire chuckled. "You should eat it first, then maybe she will too."
Willie shook her head and glided her finger over the delectable looking icing. "Mmmm!"
Nya peeled her eyes away from Wilhelmina and back down to the cake. Not sure what to do, she poked the top of it with her index finger as Daniel snapped pictures with his phone. For reassurance she looked back to her mother who smiled expectantly, waiting for the child to dive in. She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked on the icing.
"Here," Daniel said handing Willie his phone, "I'll show her how it's done. . . Nya, look at daddy. Look, look at daddy."
Daniel shoved his finger into the cake, scooped up a large piece of the moist chocolate and put it in his mouth.
"Now you try," he coaxed her putting a little spoon in her hand. "Have at it."
At this, Nya laughed and repeatedly stabbed the spoon into the chocolate cake, every now and then putting it in her mouth.
"Would you call that a good 1st birthday for our little angel/heathen?" Daniel asked once the festivities were over.
Willie chuckled as Nya stood at the coffee table dancing with her new dancing Elmo, courtesy of Aunt Betty.
"I would say."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"Nya, be careful, sweetie," Wilhelmina softly chastised her daughter as she climbed onto the bed.
"I wan bre-fast, mommy," Nya whined snuggling up to her.
"I can't fix you breakfast right now. Daddy's in the kitchen—"
"I wan you," she cried tears forming in her eyes.
"Nya—"
Nya's bottom lip quivered as she watched her mother feed the new baby. She separated herself from Willie and scooted off the bed, making her way out of the room.
"Where's Nya?" Willie asked about an hour and a half later as she walked into the kitchen.
Daniel looked up from his laptop, clueless. "I thought she was with you."
"She left the room over an hour ago. I thought she was in here eating breakfast."
"I haven't seen her all morning."
"Well where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Daniel!"
"What!"
"What the hell were you doing?"
"I was cleaning up, like you asked," he answered standing up.
"You were supposed to keep an eye on your kid."
"I didn't know she was up!"
"Oh my God," Willie panicked massaging her temple, "we lost our daughter."
"Once again, you're being over dramatic, stop panicking, calm down, she's probably in her room playing or something. I'll go check."
A minute later he returned daughter-less.
"Where is she? Was she in her room?"
". . ."
"Nya!"
Daniel and Wilhelmina searched high and low for thirty minutes straight and found no trace of their child.
"Okay, Willie, you need to calm down. There's no way she could've gotten far, she's probably just hiding somewhere."
Willie slowly shook her head. "She's afraid of the dark; if she was hiding it'd be somewhere obvious. We've looked everywhere, in every crack, nook and cranny, Daniel, she's not here!"
"She's here, she would never leave this house alone, she's only three. . . . Have you checked the hall closet?"
"She wouldn't be—"
Daniel ignored his wife's statement and walked quickly to the closet. When he opened it, he let out a breath of relief. Lying on the closet floor enveloped in her favorite fuzzy blanket and clutching her teddy was Nya with tears running down her face. Willie gleefully picked her up and buried her face in her neck eliciting an annoyed whine from the upset child.
"Never do that again!"
"No!" Nya exclaimed trying to wriggle herself out of Wilhelmina's embrace. "Down," she cried.
Shocked, Willie obliged.
"What was that?"
Willie shrugged and followed the distraught child into her room.
"Nya."
Silence.
"Nya, what's wrong?"
More silence as Nya climbed onto her bed.
"Are you going to talk to me?"
She shook her head.
"Why not?"
Silence.
"Nya," Daniel began, "are you mad?"
She nodded.
"At me?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Are you mad at mommy?"
She nodded.
Genuinely surprised, Wilhelmina locked eyes with Daniel.
"Why are you—"
Before she could continue, she was cut off by Adrienne's loud cry.
"I'll get her."
"Thank you," Wilhelmina said looking at the look on Nya's face. ". . . I think you're mad because I haven't been playing with you lately, huh?"
". . ."
"Well, how about we leave Adrienne with daddy and go have some fun, just me and you?" Willie suggested pulling the child into her lap.
Nya looked up hopefully, eyes wide and uncertain.
"Do you want to spend the day with me?"
". . . Yes," she whispered with a quiet lisp.
"Okay," Willie smiled standing with Nya still in her arms, "let's do it."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"Willie—"
"Stop, okay? I'm not getting emotional."
"I can see it in your eyes."
"Daniel!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. But—"
"Stop."
"Fine. . . But it's okay to cry," he reasoned.
"Why are you still talking?"
"Because it is normal to be sad about these situations. Our daughter is in preschool now. She's growing up."
"I realize that. . . But. . . I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I'm not crying."
Daniel smiled. "It's okay, really, I won't tell anyone."
"I know you won't, because if you do I'll kill you."
"Daddy, can we go now? I wanna go!"
Nya pulled on her father's hand.
"Wait a sec, bug," he laughed, "you have to say bye to your mom. You sure you don't want to come in?"
Wilhelmina shook her head. "I'll stay out here with Adrienne. . . Okay, Nya, be careful. Wash your hands before you touch anything, if you need to go to the restroom put toilet paper on the seat, and don't let little boys hit on you, okay? And if you feel uncomfortable or just want to talk—"
"Willie—"
She sighed and wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Have fun."
"'Kay," Nya cheerfully agreed.
"Okay," Willie nodded, arms still around her.
"Willie, let go. . . She's gonna be late."
"Okay, okay. Go."
"Bye!"
Ten minutes later, Daniel emerged from the building looking as down as Wilhelmina felt.
"What took you so long?" she asked, Adrienne reaching for her father.
". . . It was wise for you to stay outside. I couldn't leave her . . . I just. . . I couldn't take my eyes off her."
"Did you cry?" she teased nudging his shoulder.
"Hahaha. Let's get out of here."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"Hey, thanks for coming," Daniel said kissing Claire and Alexis on their cheeks.
"We wouldn't miss this for the world," Claire smiled. "Where's Wilhelmina?"
"She had a date with her father. They're on their way as we speak."
"And Adrienne?"
As soon as the words left Alexis' mouth, Daniel and Wilhelmina's two year old came barreling down the aisle and jumped on her father's lap.
"Look!" she exclaimed pointing to the colorful butterfly on her cheek.
"Wow, Ree, it's beautiful," Claire put in. "What is it?"
"A Budder-fwy! Like Nya!"
The three of them laughed at the younger girl's enthusiasm for her sister.
"Hey, sorry we're late," said Tyler, "did we miss anything? Did it start yet?"
"No, you're good. It's starting in half an hour."
Amanda smacked her husband. "I told you it started at 6:30, not 6."
"What's the big deal, we're on time."
"I could've changed my outfit."
"Mandy, you look fine."
"I look fat in this dress."
"You're pregnant."
"What are you insinuating, Tyler?"
"I—"
"Don't answer that, bro," Daniel interrupted.
"…Alright . . . No, I'll let her know . . . Okay, bye. Hello all."
"Hey," Daniel smiled giving his wife a quick peck on the lips. "Where's your father?"
"He had to get back home. How does Nya look? Alexis, did you do her hair and get her dressed?"
"Yes, I did, exactly like you told me to. She looks great."
"Good."
A few minutes later, the show began and a bunch of little girls danced on the stage in their butterfly costumes. Daniel's eyes were trained on his little flier, whose smile was wide as day as she performed the routine she had been practicing for weeks on end. He put his arm around Willie's shoulder and she too watched their daughter with pride.
"Da-dee!" exclaimed Nya as she jumped into her father's arms. "Did you see me daddy? Did you like it? Was I good?"
Daniel nodded enthusiastically. "You were amazing, Ny. In fact," he whispered cupping her ear, "you were the best and most beautiful butterfly I'd ever seen."
"Really?"
"You bet, bug. Come on, everybody's waiting for you."
And with that, he led his daughter to the family.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"What the hell is this?"
"What the hell is what?"
"This!"
Dangling from Daniel's index finger was a polka-dotted sports bra.
"Maybe you are as simple as I thought you were. It's a bra, Daniel."
"You can't fit this."
"Because it's not mine."
". . . You're the only one with . . . breasts in this house."
Wilhelmina rolled her eyes. "Nya is twelve years old—"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No!"
"Do you expect her to walk around with them uncontained?"
"She's too young."
"Again, she's twelve. I was younger than her when I started developing."
"Developing?"
"You live in a house full of girls, Daniel, what did you expect? For them to miraculously grow new body parts and turn into guys?" she laughed.
"Not funny, Wilhelmina."
"Actually it is. I warned you about this years ago when you so kindly suggested that we have a kid. This is what comes along with raising girls—they change. They grow breasts, and ass, and curves, they have periods—which I suggest you start preparing for—and they have raging hormones. Get used to it."
"But it's a bra."
"Mom, have you seen my— Daddy!" Nya exclaimed turning 3 different shades of red. "Why do you have my bra!" she yelled snatching it from him.
"Wait!"
With a look of horror, Nya stopped in her tracks and looked at her father.
"Why didn't I know about this?"
"For this reason," Wilhelmina answered. "I knew you would freak the hell out, so I chose not to inform you yet."
"This is my house! I am the father and husband, I should know everything that goes on in here—especially with my own kids."
"You are being ridiculous. Nya go get dressed."
Still upset, Nya turned on her heel and headed for her room. Wilhelmina sighed and moved toward her speechless husband.
"Daniel, listen to me."
He opened his mouth to reply.
"I said listen," she cut him off. "We have two girls. When girls get older they tend to develop. You know this. Like I said before, they . . . acquire things that we could never imagine them having. It happens, it's life, now accept it. I promise, it's for your own good . . . and everybody else's."
Willie gave him a peck on the lips and walked out.
"So . . . a bra, huh?" Daniel asked leaning on Nya's door frame as she threw her book sack on her bed.
She ignored him.
". . . I know you're still mad at me."
She plopped down on her bed next to her book sack.
"But you have to understand that . . . to me, it was just yesterday that I was holding you in my arms telling you that I was your daddy. Then I blink my eyes and . . . your mom's sizing you for a bra. Do you know how surreal that is to me?"
Nya looked up at him, blue eyes piercing his own.
"You're my little girl, my first born, Ny, so it's gonna be hard for me to accept the fact that you're growing up."
"It's just a bra."
"To you it's just a bra, to me it's one step closer to you looking like your mother."
"But I do look like mom."
"Not in the way that I'm talking about. Look, I promise that I'll try to get with this bra thing if you'll try to inform me of things like this. You can't just blindside me. Give me time to adjust. Deal?"
She looked down at his preferred hand and shook it. "Deal."
Daniel pulled her up into his embrace kissing her curly mane. "I love you."
"I love you too."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"So . . . can I go?"
"Can you go where?" Willie asked lying down on her bed next to Daniel
"To the party."
"What party?" Daniel threw in.
Nya scoffed. "The party I've been talking about for the past week. Please?"
"When is it?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Don't you have to cheer?"
"It's after the game."
"Sure, if you think you can make it back by 11:30."
"11:30!"
"Your tone," Willie warned her.
"This is the first game of my junior year which also happens to be the night of the back to school party and my curfew is still 11:30? Are you kidding me?"
Daniel and Willie looked at eachother then back to Nya.
"We're not kidding."
"Come on. Why can't you be like normal celebrity parents? Why does my curfew have to be at 11:30? 11:30 is when the party actually starts."
"You can go to the party," Daniel replied, "as long as you're back for 11:30."
"If you have an issue with that," Willie started," then you can do one of two things. You can either move out of this house and get a home of your own or suck it up and do what we tell you. It's up to you."
Unsatisfied with the result of her attempt to extend her seemingly redundant curfew, Nya decided to take matters in her own hands; she simply snuck out. At the time, it seemed like the most logical route to take, but she would soon regret her decision.
Nya slowly opened the door of her home and closed it quietly. She tiptoed through the house to her room and when she opened the door, she got the surprise of her life.
"I'm seriously debating whether I should kill you or not," Wilhelmina said as Nya flicked on the light.
"Mom!"
"Have you lost your damn mind? What the hell were you thinking?"
"I—"
"Shut up!"
"Willie—"
"I'm talking, Daniel! "
"You're yelling, Willie."
"I don't care!"
"You need to calm down."
"I will do no such thing! I'm pissed! Tell me, Nya, was that party worth you risking getting yourself ripped to pieces?"
"No."
"Then why do it?"
Daniel grabbed Willie by her upper arms and pulled her behind him.
"Daddy—"
"What were you thinking?" he asked calmly.
"I really wanted to go—"
"It's past 2:00 in the morning in New York, Nya, do you have any idea what could've happened to you?"
"I was with—"
"I don't care who you were with. You're all still underage and irresponsible and have no business being out that late."
"It was just a party."
Daniel looked at his little girl and shook his head. ". . . You have no idea."
"Daddy."
"Nya, we can't trust you anymore."
"You're damn right!" Willie put in.
"You can—"
"How," Willie began, "when you just proved to us that we clearly can't."
Tears in her eyes, Nya looked down.
". . . From now on, after practice, you come straight to MODE—"
"Mom!"
"Would you like an escort?"
". . . No."
"Then you come straight to MODE until we feel that we can trust you again."
"And no leaving school for lunch. Don't even try it," Daniel added.
"Because we'll know if you do."
"Okay," she said quietly.
"We'll talk more about this tomorrow morning. Good night." Pissed, Willie walked out of the room.
". . . Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"I'm really sorry."
Daniel nodded. "I know you are." He pulled her toward him and laid a kiss on her forehead. "Have a little peace tonight, because tomorrow, your mom's gonna make your life a living hell."
"I know."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"No, no, put that over there, in the corner, Tyler."
"You just told me—"
"I changed my mind," Nya replied. "Daddy, please don't drop that."
"I'm not going to drop it."
"Did you get my phone, mom?"
"Where is your phone?"
"In my car."
"I'm not going back down there."
"Well tell Adrienne to get it. Oh my God, DJ, put that down!"
"It's just—"
"Put it down," she growled shooting him the patented Slater stare she had acquired from her mother.
"Who's room is this, Nya?" Claire asked coming out of said spare room.
"Remember, my best friend's moving in with me."
"When does she get here?"
"Tomorrow."
"And you're both going job hunting right?" Daniel asked sitting down next to his wife.
"Job hunting?" Nya shot back feigning innocence.
"Don't play dumb," he replied. "We had an agreement. We let you live off campus, you help pay that ridiculous phone bill."
"And you know how you enjoy eating," Alexis laughed walking in with Nya's phone in hand.
"I know. I actually got in contact with your lawyer friend, grandma, ummm, a Mr. Johnston. His daughter-in-law is looking for a part-time sales associate. I've got it in the bag."
"You're so sure."
"Well yea, I told her my name and she practically begged me to come work for her. It pays to be a Slater-Meade."
Everyone laughed.
"Okay, so that's everything right?" Nya asked a few hours later. "Nothing's left in your cars? No bags, nothing?"
"You've got everything," Willie answered.
"Okay. Well that's it then."
"That's it," Daniel said.
Silence. Sniff, sniff.
"We promised, guys, no tears!" Nya cried dabbing at her eyes.
"You're the one who's crying," Willie laughed, eyes red.
"Okay, everybody, let's give the parents a second to say goodbye," Alexis said hugging her niece. "You do good and show them what a Meade is made of. Make us prouder."
Nya smiled and hugged the rest of her family members. They all walked out leaving Daniel and Wilhelmina to their little girl.
"It's a four hour drive, guys. I'll try to be home at least once a month. I promise. . . Mom."
". . . I just . . . I don't want to leave you here," Willie retorted wrapping her arms around her tall daughter. "You sure you wanna go to MIT?"
"I'm positive."
". . . I'm so proud of you," she said cupping her face in her hands. "Don't let those young guys whisper sweet nothings in your ear, " she laughed and looked at Daniel, "it never ends well."
Mother and daughter shared a laughed and Willie kissed her on her forehead.
"I saw that, Wilhelmina."
She rolled her eyes and stepped back to let Daniel have his turn.
"I still think you should go to FIT."
"Well, if you replace the F with an M—"
"Haha," he answered sarcastically. "Don't you have a passion for fashion? We have a lot of pull in New York, we can easily get you in."
"Daddy, my life was fashion school, Wilhelmina Slater is my mother, Daniel Meade is my father, my grandfather was the late and great Bradford Meade, and the list goes on. This is where I'm supposed to be and I know I'm gonna be okay. I'm sure."
". . . Well what can I say to that?"
"Nothing."
He groaned, "Come 'ere."
Daniel embraced his daughter for what seemed like forever.
"I love you so much."
"I love you too. . . Now go."
And they left.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"I thought I'd find you here," Wilhelmina said sliding into the chair next to his.
"You know me so well," he replied taking another gulp of his drink.
"Come on."
Willie grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the bar, leaving a distraught stranger by himself.
"Is this what you're gonna do every time we drop a kid off to college?"
"She's my baby."
"She's my baby too."
"Then you should be drinking too."
"Daniel, our baby is not a baby anymore. She's 18 years old and it's time for her to . . . be out on her own. It scares the shit out of me when I think about letting her out in the world, but we raised a smart, beautiful young lady who has good values and a sound head on her shoulders. That's how I know she's gonna be alright."
". . . You're right."
"And we do have another daughter to raise, and I do think she's probably feeling a bit neglected."
Daniel laughed. "Poor Adrienne. You're right again."
"So can we go home now?"
". . . I still kinda wanna drink a little bit."
"Daniel—"
"Willie, we just sent one kid off, we have one more to go. I do believe that is cause for celebration."
Wilhelmina thought about it for a second. "ONE drink."
And with that, Daniel pulled his wife back into the bar where they celebrated.
THE END
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, BUT IF I DID, THE ABOVE WOULD'VE EVENTUALLY TAKEN PLACE!