"Lovetta Mae, I'm not telling you again!"
Lovetta groaned as her grandmother's voice came from downstairs. The now ten-year-old swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up before stretching. She quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, where her grandparents were sitting at the kitchen counter. Gwen was drinking coffee while David was eating breakfast.
"Good morning, Vet!" David greeted her, smiling. "Happy birthday!"
"Morning. And thanks." She hopped up on a stool. "Where's Mom?"
"She had to go in early today," Gwen replied. "Sorry."
"I get it." Lovetta kicked her legs and sighed. "What's for breakfast?"
"Bacon and eggs!" David smiled as he handed a plate to his granddaughter. "Eat up! You've got a big day today!"
"You say that every morning."
She ate her breakfast anyway, unable to contain her own grin. She slid off the stool as soon as she was finished and ran upstairs to grab her backpack, rushing by her aunt as she went.
"Hold on, Vet," Lizzie laughed, grabbing her niece's arm. "Where's the fire?"
"I've gotta go to school!"
"So do I, but I'm driving you, remember? Take your time."
Lovetta nodded and went into the bathroom. There she looked in the mirror for the first time all morning.
Her dark green hair was messier than usual. Since it was curly hair, it was difficult to tame with a hairbrush. Still, she managed to do it every morning, and today was no exception. Lovetta pulled her hair back in a ponytail and picked up her toothbrush. She glanced at the clock and realized that she only had half an hour before school started. She spit out her toothpaste and ran to her room to grab her backpack.
"Aunt Lizzie, it's time to go!" she called, dashing down the stairs.
"Okay, Lil Bit!" Lizzie emerged from the kitchen, a travel mug of coffee in her hands. "Let's go."
They got in the car, waving goodbye to David and Gwen as they drove away. Lizzie sipped her coffee while Lovetta stared out the window.
"How are you feeling?" Lizzie asked.
"I'm fine. Why?"
"You turned ten today! That means you've been alive for a decade now! It's a big deal!"
"You're seventeen. Your next birthday is much more important than my tenth."
"Yeah, but it's your birthday. That's what's important right now." She smiled. "Besides, your mom got permission from her boss to hold a small birthday party at the diner tonight. Any friends you wanna invite?"
"Not really."
"Still having a rough time?"
"Yep. The other kids say I'm weird because I like being outside so much."
"Your mom's the exact same way!" Lizzie looked annoyed. "That's a stupid reason not to like a person."
"It's fine with me." Lizzie could tell something was bothering her.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're getting all depressed. Something's wrong. What is it?"
"It's… it's just… there's something I've wanted for my birthday for a long time, but I feel like it's never going to happen."
"What is it?"
"I want to meet my dad."
Lizzie slammed on the brakes. It was both in response to Lovetta's wish and the fact that they had come up on a stop sign. She stared at her niece.
"You want to meet him? Seriously?"
"I don't know anything about him! Every time I bring him up, everybody gets all tight-lipped and won't tell me anything!" Lizzie took a deep breath.
"I'll tell you some stuff about him that I remember, okay? I was only six when he ran out on your mom, so I don't know much."
"Okay."
"There's three things I remember. First, his name is Max. Second, he was a great older brother. Third, he loved your mom more than anything else. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything else. I… I don't even remember what he looks like."
"That's okay. I know something about him." Lovetta gave her a small smile as they pulled up to the school. "See you later!"
"Have a good day, Lil Bit!"
Lovetta entered the building and headed to class. She made sure to avoid eye contact with her fellow classmates so that they wouldn't start picking on her again. She'd lied to Lizzie about the reason for the teasing. It wasn't because she loved the outdoors; she was in fourth grade. It was common. It was because their parents had told them to stay away from Lovetta and her 'whore of a mother'. The kids had teased her because she didn't know who her dad was and her mother was single.
Why'd you leave us, Dad…?
Nikki pinched the bridge of her nose as Tabii walked into the diner, late.
"You know, it's considered bad form to be late on your first day," she told the blonde.
"I got stuck in traffic."
"Of course you did."
"Why are you so pissy today?"
"It's Lovey's tenth birthday, and I couldn't even be there to say good morning today. I had to be in to train you instead."
"Oh. Sorry. I know you love your little hell-spawn."
"She's not hell-spawn. She's my daughter."
"Whatever. You're the one who's a single mom working in a diner."
"Hey! I love my kid!" Tabii backed off.
"Let's get started with your training. You give customers their menus and wait a couple minutes before you take their drink orders. Once you bring them the drinks, you take their food orders and bring them back to the kitchen. When the food is ready, you bring it to the table and pick up the check when they're finished eating."
"Got it."
"They might order dessert, so be prepared for that. You got this?"
"I got this!" Tabii clapped her hands before walking over to a party that had just sat down. Nikki breathed a sigh of relief.
She really wanted to be home with her daughter right now, but she had to work and her daughter had to go to school. Besides, she'd see Lovetta at the party that night. After all, her baby only turned ten once. David and Gwen were ensuring that the party would go off without a hitch.
If only Max was there to see his daughter.
For almost eleven years, ever since she'd found that note in her locker after school junior year, she'd wondered why. Why he'd left. Why he hadn't spoken to her before leaving. Why he'd chosen to leave a fucking note instead of talking to her face-to-face.
She didn't know what she'd do if he actually showed up.
Lovetta smiled as she got into the car after school. Lizzie was picking her up to take her to the diner. She felt excited to see her mom as they pulled into the parking lot and didn't even wait for Lizzie to turn the car off. As soon as it was in park, she got out and ran inside.
"Mom!" she cheered, hugging the waitress.
"Hey, Lovey! How was school?"
"School was boring. When does my party start?"
"In half an hour. We have to finish up with the customers that are here before we can start."
"C'mon, Lil Bit," Lizzie said, taking her niece's hand and leading her to a booth. "We'll chill here while we wait."
Lovetta sat down next to Lizzie, smiling as she bounced on the seat. They watched as Nikki talked to both customers and Tabii, redirecting the trainee when necessary. If you didn't know better, you'd say she was the manager instead of the weird old guy who only popped in twice a month, if that.
"Okay, we're almost done," Nikki told Tabii. "Let's give you one more customer before the party starts. Go ahead and pick."
"Him." Tabii pointed at a man who had just walked in. He had sun-shade skin and curly black hair with a set of mint-green eyes. Lovetta looked at her mother and was confused by the expression of anger and shock on Nikki's face.
"No, no. I've got him." She went over with a tight-lipped look on her face. "Hello, sir."
He looked up at her apologetically. Lovetta tilted her head to get a better look.
"Hey," he greeted her.
"Welcome to Campbell's Diner. What can I get you today?" She had a massive fake smile.
"Um… I didn't come here to order anything."
"Please, order something."
"Okay. Pie, I guess…?" She nodded stiffly and walked over to the counter, where she took a piece of coconut-cream pie.
"Here's your pie!"
To Lovetta's shock, Nikki smashed the pie into the guy's face. Everyone gasped.
"Wait, she's allowed to do that?! I want to do that!" Tabii yelped.
"No, she's not!" hissed Lizzie. Lovetta expected the man to start yelling and cussing, but he sighed and nodded.
"I deserve that," he told Nikki.
"Damn right you do. Get out, now, before I do something I might regret." He held up his hands in surrender.
"You got it. It was great to see you." His eyes landed on Lovetta and Lizzie, both of whom were very confused. "And you too, Lizard."
"Get. Out!" He grabbed a handful of napkins as Nikki pushed him towards the door. It opened as David and Gwen entered the diner.
"Nikki, what's going on?" Gwen asked as David stared at the man.
"Max?" he whispered in a voice that Lovetta could hear. Her heart pounded.
His name is Max.
"Yeah, I'm back," Max sighed, wiping the last of the pie off his face. "Figured I'd see Nikki first thing—"
"Mom, who is he?"
Max looked down in surprise to see the little girl with dark green hair he'd seen sitting with Lizzie. Nikki put her hands on the little girl's shoulders as she knelt down so they were eye-to-eye.
"Lovey, I need you to go to the car with Grandma and Grandpa, okay?"
"Okay." The girl nodded and David led her outside. Everyone else in the diner took the cue to get the hell out.
Nikki didn't get mad often, but when she did, it was best to both stay out of the way and not be the cause of her anger. Max knew that from experience. And today, he was the reason for her being pissed off. He gave her a look and she narrowed her eyes.
"What?!"
"You obviously want to scream at me. Let's get it over with so we can talk this through like adults."
"Okay! Let's start with the fact that—oh, I don't know—you left me?! And you didn't even say anything! I got a shitty note in my locker telling me that you were leaving and not coming back! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?! I loved you! I gave you so much, and you just threw it all away like it meant nothing to you! And now you're back, almost eleven fucking years later, saying you want to 'talk through this like adults'. You're a goddamn asshole, Max, and you don't get the right to talk through this!" She finished, panting, tears streaming down her face as almost eleven years of keeping it all in. Max took a napkin from one of the tables and handed it to her.
"Would it help if I said I'm sorry?"
"An apology isn't going to fix what you did." She wiped her face and sniffed. "You know that."
"I thought it would be a good first step." He reached for her hand, then pulled back with a sheepish look. "Why don't we sit down?"
"Yeah. Good idea." They sat down in the booth nearby. There was awkward silence for a moment before Max tapped his fingers on the table nervously.
"So… how have you been?"
"I've been keeping busy. My… my mom kicked me out after you left, and David and Gwen took me in. I think they were in shock after everything that happened. I've been working here for about seven years now."
"Pay must be shitty."
"It's Campbell. What'd you expect?" They both laughed before quickly becoming quiet again. It was then Max remembered the little girl.
"What about the girl? The one who called you Mom? I mean, I know she's your daughter, but…"
"Lovetta. She… she just turned ten." Max blinked and quickly did the math in his head before his eyes widened.
"You mean… fuck. Shit. Holy shit, Nikki. I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"I found out after you left. You couldn't have known. But… would you have stayed, had you known?"
"No, and it's not because I didn't care about you. It's because I care about you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll explain when we're not somewhere so… public. It's a very sensitive subject."
"What, did you get some other girl pregnant?"
"Nope. You're the only girl I've ever slept with." Nikki sighed, then checked her watch.
"Well, it was good to see you, I guess, but it's time to celebrate a decade of my daughter's existence. That means everyone who wasn't invited to the party has to leave." She stood up and he grabbed her wrist.
"Please, let me meet our daughter. I missed ten fucking years and I don't want to miss any more."
"Fine. You can stay for now, but you have to leave afterwards."
"I can deal with that."
He watched as the guests came back into the diner, including David, Gwen, Lizzie, and Lovetta. Max could see how she took after both him and Nikki, which broke his heart a little. She was his daughter. He had a kid. And he'd taken after his birth father by not being there for her.
"Hey, Lovey," Nikki called. The ten-year-old skipped over to them, looking up at Max in interest.
"Are you gonna tell me who this guy is?" she asked.
"Yeah. Lovetta, this is Max. Your dad." Lovetta's magenta eyes widened as her jaw dropped.
"H-he's my dad? For real?"
"For real." Lovetta's face broke into a grin as she hugged Max, much to the surprise of both her parents.
"I can't believe it! My wish came true!"
"Your wish?" Max inquired.
"I've only wished for one thing for the past five birthdays—to be able to meet my dad. This is the best birthday ever." Nikki bit her lip and Tabii put her hand on her chest.
"That is adorable!" the blonde squealed.
"You're gonna stay, right?" Lovetta asked, looking up at Max.
"I missed your first ten years. I'm not planning on missing any more." Lovetta grinned. "I wish I'd known it was your birthday. I'd have gotten you a present."
"You showed up. That's the only present I need."
"Guess I bought this for nothing," a voice said from the doorway. They looked to see Neil, holding a wrapped box. "If all you needed was Max, I would've tracked him down a long time ago."
"It's the only present I need from him. You still have to give me one."
"Dammit." Neil set the gift on the table and glanced at Max as Nikki took their daughter over to talk to Lizzie and her grandparents. "So, you're finally back after you ruined her life?"
"Neil, there's more to it than that. I couldn't come back."
"Let me guess—you were ashamed."
"I didn't even know Lovetta existed until about half an hour ago! How could I be ashamed of what I didn't know about?!"
"It doesn't matter! So much shit happened after you left."
"I know!" Max got in Neil's face. "If I'd had a choice, I wouldn't have gone. But as it was, it was either leave or watch Nikki get killed."
"What?!"
"I'm not a fucking sadistic monster. I'd rather kill myself than watch her die."
Max headed over to his daughter, leaving Neil shocked and open-mouthed.
An experimental story that's shockingly common in other fandoms. This is the first one for Makki that I know of. Where has Max been? Why did he leave? How has Nikki dealt with being a single mom and being disowned by her biological mother?
You'll find out some of these answers next chapter.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
