Title: Daddy's Girl
Author: AngelicTorture
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Zoe and Cookie.
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Sequel to Loving Zoe, read that one first.
Summery: How do everyone's lives change when Zoe finds out who her father is?
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6 months had past since Zoe's surgery, her health problems were better, she still needed to take medication but she'd only been in hospital once since the surgery. Lita was still trying to do as much as she could for Zoe on her own but she was letting John spend time with Zoe, at least when he wasn't working. She'd refused to tell Zoe that he was her father but it was getting harder and harder to keep it from her. Every time Lita looked at her daughter she felt guilty for lying to her, even if it was for her own sake.
Lita was standing in the kitchen of her house in Sanford watching her daughter play outside with her small white Maltese terrier who the little girl had named Cookie. The redhead grinned as she watched Zoe laugh and run around after the dog, only an hour ago the little redhead had been crying her eyes out on her mothers shoulder.
"Zoe its time to come in, dinner's almost ready" she called out of the window.
"Ok mommy" Zoe called back.
Lita had become quite the accomplished cook since Zoe was born but she hadn't really had much of a choice, it was either learn to cook or feed her daughter McDonalds and KFC. Zoe came bouncing into the kitchen with Cookie following at her heels.
"Go and wash your hands and face sweetie"
"Yes mommy"
Lita smiled as she watched her daughter run upstairs.
She'd just put Zoe's dinner on the table when the phone rang.
"Hello?" the redhead answered.
"Li its me…I know I was supposed to call earlier, I'm sorry" John Cena said on the other end of the line.
"Sorry isn't good enough John…you cant keep making promises to Zoe and then going back on them like this"
"I got caught up in work, I couldn't help it. Come on Li, you know what its like"
"Yes John I do but I also know what its like when my 5 year old daughter is crying her eyes out cause you promised her you'd call" Lita hissed.
"Well I called now didn't I? Put Zoe on"
"She's upstairs washing up for dinner"
"Fine I'll wait"
"No you wont John…I'll call you once she's finished her dinner, if she wants to talk to you"
Lita pressed the end call button just as Zoe bounced back into the room.
"Who was that mommy?" Zoe asked as she sat down to eat her dinner.
"Uncle Randy" Lita lied.
"And you're getting far to nosey little miss" she smiled at her daughter and sat down to eat her own dinner.
Lita kept her promise to John; once Zoe had finished eating she called him.
"Zoe Uncle Johnny wants to talk to you" she held the phone out to her.
"I don't want to talk to him mommy…I don't like Uncle Johnny anymore, he lied to me"
Lita sighed and held the phone to her ear.
"John I'll call you back"
"I heard what she said Li…tell her I'm sorry" his voice cracked.
"I warned you this would happen John…I'll try and talk to her…even though you don't deserve it"
"Thanks Li"
Lita put the phone down and looked at her daughter.
"Baby we need to talk about Uncle Johnny. He's really sorry he didn't call when he was supposed to. He was really upset that you didn't want to talk to him"
"I don't care, Uncle Johnny's a big fat liar and I hate him"
"I don't want to hear you talk like that about anyone young lady" Lita said sternly.
"Sorry mommy…"
"Uncle Johnny loves you more than you know baby"
Zoe looked down at her feet for a second, like she was thinking about something.
"Mommy…is Uncle Johnny my daddy?"
Lita had to catch her breath when she heard her daughter's question.
"What did you say baby?"
"Is Uncle Johnny my daddy?"
"Where did you get that idea from?" Lita asked softly.
"I heard you talking to him last week and you said he had to be a proper daddy to me"
Lita ran her fingers through her hair as she thought of a way to explain it to her.
"Baby…you're right, John is your daddy…I'm sorry I didn't tell you this a long time ago and one day when you're older I hope you'll understand why"
"Do I have to call him daddy?" Zoe asked innocently.
"No baby, not if you don't wont to"
"Mommy will you read me a story before I go to bed?"
"Of course I will sweetie"
Lita was shocked at how much the little girl seemed to take this revelation in her stride. Once she'd settled Zoe into bed with Cookie curled up by the little girl's feet Lita went downstairs to call John.
"She knows about you John, Zoe heard us talking last week and asked me if you're her daddy"
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her the truth so you better get your ass up here fast and explain things to your daughter cause right now you aren't exactly her favorite person"
"I'll get the first flight out in the morning…Li; I love that little girl like I never thought I could love anyone"
"I know you do John…you just have to make sure Zoe knows that too"
Lita hung up the phone and looked at the wall where all Zoe's pictures were hanging. The redhead smiled at the photographs, Zoe was smiling in every one.
"You turned my life upside down little girl….and I love you so much for it"
John called the next morning before he caught his flight but Zoe still refused to talk to him. Lita watched as the little redhead tried to get Cookie to roll over but didn't have much success.
"Mommy Cookie won't roll over" Zoe whined.
"Sweetie Cookie's still a puppy, it's gonna take her time to learn stuff like that just like when you have to learn something new"
"Oh ok…mommy why didn't you and my daddy get married?"
"That's a very grown up question sweetie…I guess because you should only marry someone you're in love with and me and your daddy weren't in love"
"Why did you have me then?"
Lita sighed.
"Its complicated baby…all you need to know is that your daddy and me both love you very much"
"I love you too mommy"
Zoe wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face in Lita's hair. Lita sat there with her daughter snuggled into her and wanted to cry, not out of sadness but because she'd never felt so happy and content in her life. She just hoped John wasn't going to ruin that.
John turned up in the middle of the afternoon. There was a very awkward silence as Zoe sat staring at him, almost like she was sizing him up, deciding what she thought about him.
"Where's Cookie?" John asked to break the silence.
"She's sleeping" Zoe answered. They both sat in silence again; Lita had gone into the kitchen so they could talk.
"Are you my daddy?" Zoe finally asked.
"Yes, I'm your dad…"
"Is that why you came to see me in the hospital when I was sick?"
"That's right…how do you feel about me being your daddy? Its ok if you don't feel happy about it and its ok if you don't like me very much right now…"
Zoe kicked her heels on the chair she was sitting on as she thought about John's question.
"I don't know…I think I like you…so I guess its ok that you're my daddy"
John smiled.
"Good cause like it or not munchkin, you're stuck with me" he picked the little redhead up and tickled her.
Later on John settled Zoe into bed.
"Goodnight munchkin…I love you"
"I love you too…daddy"
John stopped in the door way.
"You don't have to call me daddy if you don't want to"
"I know…"
John almost flew downstairs.
"Li, she called me daddy when I said goodnight to her" John grinned. The redhead smiled weakly.
"You know this means there's no going back now don't you? You're gonna have to be her father, no matter what"
"Li what do I have to do to prove to you that I love that little girl and I want to be in her life till the day I die…I wanna put my name on her birth certificate. Li, I want her to be Zoe Cena"
"I don't know John…I'll think about it"
Lita sighed as she started picking up Zoe's toys, maybe John putting his name on Zoe's birth certificate wouldn't be so bad, it was just going to take time for her to get used to having to share parenting decisions. John slept on the couch that night, he had a couple of days off and he wanted to be there when Zoe woke up.
Lita walked downstairs in the morning to the sound of John snoring, she had to stop herself from laughing at him.
"You haven't changed John…" she whispered to herself. Zoe bounced downstairs not far behind her mother and giggled when she saw John sprawled face down on the couch. Zoe was eating her breakfast when she turned to her mother.
"Mommy how come my last name's different from daddy's?"
"Because you've got my name sweetie, why?"
"All my friends have the same name as their daddies but I don't"
Lita sighed; she knew this would come up eventually.
"Do you want your daddy's name?"
"Maybe…" Zoe shifted in her chair.
"Baby it's ok if you want your daddy's last name, it won't make me love you any less" Lita said softly.
"Really?"
"Yes really…and I know it'll make your daddy happy"
Zoe smiled brightly.
"What are you 2 talking about?" John asked as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Names…" Lita smiled and kissed the top of Zoe's head.
"Whose name?"
"Yours…and Zoe's"
Lita saw the puzzled look on John's face and laughed.
"Zoe asked me if she could have your name"
John smiled and looked at his daughter.
"I'm not really sure if John would suit you munchkin"
"Daddy you're silly…I don't wanna be called John" Zoe giggled.
"What do you wanna be called then?" John asked.
"Zoe Jade Cena"
John looked at Lita who was sitting back in her chair with a small smile on her face.
"I think that can be arranged don't you Li?"
"I don't see why not" the redhead smiled.
After breakfast Zoe ordered John to take Cookie for a walk with her.
"Your wish is my command munchkin" John said as he put Cookie's lead on. Zoe took John's hand and they walked out the door with Cookie trotting along at their heels.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah princess"
"When you go back to work can I come too?"
John smiled down at his little girl.
"I'm sorry honey but you've got school…and your mommy would miss you too much"
Zoe's little face fell.
"But I promise you can come visit me during the summer…and you'll have to come down to my house so you can pick the colours for your room"
"But I don't need another room…"
"Where are you gonna sleep when you come to visit me then?" John asked with a smile.
"Oh…" the little girl smiled brightly.
"What's your favorite colour?"
"Pink daddy"
John smiled.
"The same as your mommy"
"Daddy when I come to visit you can Cookie come too?"
"Of course she can honey and so can your mommy if she wants to"
"Daddy was mommy a good wrestler?"
"You bet she was baby…your mommy was one of the best divas ever"
"I wanna do that…be a wrestler like mommy"
John laughed.
"I'm not sure mommy will be so happy about that" he smiled.
Father and daughter walked for a little while longer before heading back home. Zoe ran upstairs to get some toys for her and John to play with.
"Good walk?" Lita asked with a smile.
"I can't believe I missed out on so much of her life Lita…I'm sorry for being such a jerk"
"It wasn't all your fault, I should have told you about her in the first place"
"We have a pretty cool kid ya know that"
"I know…she's gonna miss you when you go back to work"
"We were just talking about that…I'd like her to come visit me during the summer when she doesn't have school, if it's ok with you?"
"Ok, it'll be good for her to spend some time with you and if I'm honest I could do with a break, you know, some time to myself…"
"How about I take her for 2 weeks next month?" John asked.
"Sounds good to me"
"Did you know she wants to be a wrestler when she grows up?"
"Really?" Lita laughed.
"Yeah, she asked me if you were a good wrestler then said she wants to be a wrestler like you when she's older"
"Oh boy…I'm gonna have to get that idea out of her head pretty quickly"
Zoe came back downstairs with a large pile of toys in her arms.
"Daddy" she shouted.
"Coming baby"
Lita smiled as she watched her daughter giggle when John pretended to fight with a teddy bear.
"Mommy come and play too"
"Ok" Lita laughed and picked her little girl up and spun her around as she giggled.
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i hope you were all happy with this sequel :) let me know if you think i should make a 3rd one or just leave it like this.