Chapter One: It's A Girl!

"Push! Push, honey!"

"I'm pushing you pathetic waste of a person! SHUT UP!"

Jack smirked at her comment, Someone is pretty pissed he thought. "I'm not pissed! I'm having a God damn baby you idiot!"
Jack widen his eyes, How the hell did she do that? The doctor cut into the noise of screaming and cursing, "It's out!... And it's a girl!"

Jack sighed, Thank GOD it's a girl. He watched as Cindy held her baby, "She's so cute! Unlike you, Jack. You could have helped the doctor!"

Jack grinned, "The sight of seeing a baby being born kinda weirds me out."

"But the sight of a baby being made does something else to you." Cindy said back, her smile larger than ever.
Jack made his way by Cindy's side, "She's gonna be a head turner when she's older." Cindy handed the baby to Jack, who carefully held her.

"God, it's a girl..." he whispered.

His best friend, Gary, walked by his side. He smiled, "What's so bad about her being a girl?"

"Nothing, it's just that... when she starts dating, I'm not going to have a clue what to do..."
Gary patted Jack, "Don't worry man," he tickled the baby's tiny had, "when the time comes, you'll know. Every father does."

Jack repeated, "Every father does."

Ten Months Later

Jack lifted his head, a noise woke him in the night. He quickly turned on the lap to his right. In the dim light he saw Cindy holding a bag. "Cindy, what in God's name are you doing?" he asked, his eyes twitching from the sudden light.
"I'm leaving, Jack."

"Why the !#& are you leaving?"

"I'm going to Vice City. I'm going to live with my parents."

"Why the hell are you going to Florida? We're fine in the city!"

"No, Jack. You're fine in the city. I'm leaving."

"What about Katie?"

"You're her father, take care of her."

Cindy stormed out the door. Jack lay his head back on the pillow. He couldn't comprehand what was going on. Why was Cindy leaving? How could she leave her daughter like this?

Jack jumped out of bed. He slowly walked towards Katie's room. The hallways were pitch black, and he hit his foot on a toy truck.
Rubbing his leg as he walked into the dimly lit pink room of his daughter, he made his way to her crib.

She was sound asleep. Jack gently lifted her from her crib, then rocked her gently back and forth. Her bright green eyes stared at Jack now, a smile on her face. "Mommy's not here right now Katie... But I'll try my best to do both jobs. I'll try."
Jack stared at her face, which stared back. He then whispered, "I love you." as low as he could.

"Dadda."

Jack's eyes widen, 'Dadda' played over and over in his skull. Her word stung him. Her word stung him so badly, like a dagger through the heart, and yet she had no clue what she was saying. He couldn't understand why it hurt so much, then he thought Maybe this is one of the challenges of being a father... He then thought And I hope there are no more...
Jack continued to rock back and forth, singing a quiet song his mother sang him.

Five years later

Jack quietly drove from Broker, the radio so low he could barely hear it. Around his neck was a golden locket. It blew in the wind as he drove. A cold night, freezing his skin off, but he continued to drive. The more clothes he wore, the colder he was. It seemed like this never fixed the cold. It seemed like, when it was warm outside, it's still cold. Everything was cold. When he had the heat on at home, he was cold. When he rubbed up against the heater at work, he was cold.
Then, when he thought about it, the only time he wasn't cold is when he was with his daughter.

He checked his watch, 12:32 am. She was asleep at Gary's by now. He sighed, he never got a chance to spend time with his daughter. Whenever he was off work, she was at school. Whenever she was out of school, he had to pay the bills. Never in his lifetime did he feel so dull. His mind wondered onto small things that would never happen. He sometimes prayed that he would be fired, just so that he could spend time with his daughter. But he knew that would be a bad move.

Gunfire. He hated Broker. The worst part of the city, in his opinion. He sped up a little, trying to hurry to Bohan. He turned up the radio slightly, and switched to Liberty Rock. His favorite station. He continued along the black road, dim street lights and his headlights were all that lit the streets. He looked up into his left mirror. He car had pulled up behind him.
He came to a red light, and waited. Drumming his fingers on the dashboard, he looked out into the empty streets. The sounds of distant dog barks and glass breaking could be heard. His gray eyes scanned the area, noticing a pit bull walking on the sidewalk.

Greenlight.

He gently stepped on the gas. The car drove down the street, the dog barking had not stopped. He grabbed the can of sprunk from the cup holder and gulped down the last few drops.

Sometime later he was back in Bohan. He grabbed his WhiZ from his coat pocket and speed dialed '4'.

The phone read "Calling... Gary".

"Hello?"

"Hey Gary, it's me, Jack. Listen, I can't make it to your house so could you let Katie sleep over for the night?"

"Yeah sure man. See ya tomorrow. Oh wait, Katie wants to say good night."

Jack smiled, he loved hearing her voice.

"Good night daddy!"

His smile stretched from ear to ear, "G'night sweetie. Good night."

He hung up his phone and slipped it back in his coat pocket. In a half hour he pulled up by his apartment building and parked across the street. Locking the doors, he slowly walked towards his apartment building. His neck had a kink, but he ignored it. As he did with all his body pains.

Grabbing and unhooking his keyring from his belt hoop, he looked through the keys untill he came up to a three holed key. Holding the key steady, he slipped it in the door, then pushed it open. He walked upstairs to the second floor, then pulled up his keyring. His door key sparkled with a pink glitter his daughter glued on accidently. He loved it.
The smallest thing she did made him happy. He unlocked his door and pushed inside, tossing his keys onto a black chair. Shutting his door tight and locking it, he kept his coat on. He closed all the windows.
Yet he still felt cold. He took off his jeans and put on sweat pants. He zipped up his coat, put his baseball cap on, and lay in bed with the thick blankets and sheets. He still felt cold. He felt like something was missing, and he knew it. He knew what was missing.

His daughter.

He checked his watch, 1:45 am. He sighed, then placed his phone on the table by his bed, then shut his eyes.
After hours, he finally fell asleep, only to dream about his daughter.

He has repeated this process for three years