Will loved his daughter. Though he never expected himself to be one that would ever want kids, Danni was his princess. From the time that she was old enough to walk, to the first boy she brought home, Will found himself holding his breath the entire way.
The moment that Alicia told him she was pregnant, Will had this feeling of dread in his gut. Originally it was at the idea of being a father, but that feeling started to change. He could remember holding Alicia for hours, her body spooned against him and his hands around her resting on her stomach. For hours he would just feel their baby move.
He had a proposal rehearsed in his mind over and over again, but he never got to say the words. Danni was the product of love, not a one night stand. It was just love that no one was willing to admit or act upon. Will couldn't find the words to admit his feelings, much less ask her to marry him. It was his cowardliness that made him lose her, but he still had a piece of her in Danni.
As his daughter held one of her formals up to the mirror to examine it against another, she continued her conversation. "These charity things are so annoying. I get introduced as the darling daughter and then I get hit on by a bunch of twenty year old rich boys who think that they can get into my pants."
"You're going," he reminded her.
Danni rolled her eyes and tried her Hail-Mary. "Peter almost never made Grace and Zach go to charity balls. They're meant for adults."
Will shook his head. "Nice try, but if you want to be treated as an adult, you will go to these balls and play nice."
Those big brown eyes widened as she dropped her lip to a pout. "Diane always introduces me to those stupid boys and I always end up having to dance with one of them."
"Then you don't have to dance with anyone all night. Well, I get one dance," Will said with a smile as Danni draped the formals over the back of the arm chair and joined her father on his stylish couch.
"I always save one dance for you," Danni said smiling to herself despite everything. "How about we compromise? I go with you, give you one dance, and then I go home. We're all happy."
Will seemed to think about that. "You might as well eat while you're there and then you can leave. Deal?"
Danni shook his hand and then leaned against him. She loved her dad more than she could ever even get herself to like her stepdad. That's why she was very ready for the dinner at her mom's tonight that had been rescheduled a handful of times. Tonight was the night. Tonight was the night that she got to have dinner in one of her homes with both of her parents. Something she was stupidly excited about.
Leaning back, she looked at what her father was wearing. "You're not wearing that, are you?"
Will looked at what he was wearing. It was just one of his suits. "What's wrong with this?"
"We're going to dinner at home. Not a client meeting. I'll go find you something."
Before he could argue, Danni was off in the direction of his bedroom. Will sighed and picked up the two formals to return to her closet. When he returned, she was holding a pair of jeans and a shirt that was definitely bought by his daughter. It was stylish and sporty and she offered him a jacket with it, also bought by her.
He stared at her. "I'm not wearing that. This is dinner."
"Right. Dinner. Not a date, not a club. This is dinner with my mom and siblings. This is just the more stylish version of what you wear when we eat dinner together. Trust me."
As they arrived at the apartment door, Danni found herself awkwardly trying to decide whether or not to knock. Normally, when she just walked in when Will took her home and he just stood at the door to exchange pleasantries, but that was years ago before she could drive. Will had never been in more than the foyer of their home and this was weird territory for her.
Will noticed his daughter was staring at the door with a very nerve wracked look on her face, but it was relieved when Grace opened the door and gave sister a confused look. "Why are you just standing out here?"
Danni made a goofy face to lighten the idea of her internal dilemma before stepping into the apartment and grabbing her dad's hand. "Where's Mom?" she asked, oddly clinging to her dad's hand.
"In here!" Alicia called from the kitchen. As they rounded the corner, Alicia tried to calm her nerves. She was making Danni's favorites simply because the dinner was more for her more than anything else. Will had his arm around Danni's shoulders and she was leaning into him in that way daughter's did to their fathers they adored.
Danni dramatically motioned toward Alicia standing in jeans and her cardigan. "See? Mom's not dressed up."
Alicia laughed. "Gee thanks. What's that suppose to mean?"
"It means that I had to dress him because he wanted to wear a suit."
The faintest blush appeared on Will's cheeks and Alicia felt her heart flutter. Of course the only person who could ever make Will Gardner blush would be his seventeen year old daughter. There was something very unique about their relationship. In a way, it made her a little jealous. Danni was a girl who had many layers, but Will never really had to fight with them.
"I guess family dinners aren't my cup of tea," Will replied scratching his head and watching as Alicia pulled the lasagna from the oven. "I see you've upgraded from burnt pizza."
She picked up a bottle of wine and raised her eyebrows. "I've also upgraded from cheap beer."
Danni would normally ask for a glass if it was just her and her dad, but she knew her mom wouldn't approve. Sometimes Alicia would allow Danni to drink out of her glass, but she never got a glass of her own. Besides, she liked some of the little things that was just kept between her and her dad.
Zach walked out of his room and shot a glare at Danni. She caught it immediately and rolled her eyes as she moved away from her father and over the homemade croutons Alicia had made. "Hello, Zach. It's lovely to see you, Zach."
But Zach didn't feel like playing the sibling banter card. Instead he went straight for the kill. "If Dad didn't want him over for dinner, he shouldn't be over here just because Dad's not here."
Will went frigid as Alicia let out a breath. But before she could say anything, Danni spoke in a surprisingly calm manner. "Zach, you've had your mom and your dad together at most of the dinners in your life. I've eaten with both my parents at school events and piano recitals. Finger foods and cookies don't count. So yeah, while your dad is in prison, I'm going to reap the benefit of getting the one thing he would never let me have. Dinner with my parents. If you really want to complain, I don't care if you attend."
The other four people in the house were more shocked in silence and they honestly didn't know if it was her words or the way she said them. Just matter-of-factly and dry.
Will cleared his throat, finding his words before everyone else. "Danni, this is Zach's home-"
"But it's mine too. However, for the moment it is not Peter's," Danni said turning to her father with a fairly bored expression. "Right now, I am using the fact that my mother's husband is currently lower on the totem pole than I am. Which is where he should be after sleeping with a prostitute."
Alicia inwardly groaned. Somehow, her seventeen year old daughter sounded a little too much like a lawyer. Still, she needed to put a stop to the argument before this dinner turned into the family feud. "Okay. Enough! Zach, I don't think that Danni is out of bounds asking for this. However I would very much appreciate everyone behaving civilly. Anymore arguments will result in revoked privileges. Is that hard to understand?"
Four mumbled "no's" were heard clearly and Alicia met Will's boyish smirk. He enjoyed toying with her and she enjoyed it more than she wanted to admit and definitely more than she would ever want her kids to know. They enjoyed each other's company, and it was dangerous now that they experienced each other's company during most of the work day. It was undeniable to either of them that their chemistry was growing.
As they sat down for dinner, Alicia couldn't help but notice Danni seemed to be glowing. It really did hurt her to know that something Danni wanted so bad was so easily obtainable, something that made her this happy. It was Alicia's own fault for listening to Peter. She always said her kids came first and apparently she skipped a step somewhere with that.
"Want some more, Dad?" Danni asked, taking another piece of lasagna for herself.
Will shook his head as he reached for his glass of wine. "I'm okay, kiddo."
Grace looked between them. "It's kind of weird to see Danni call someone Dad."
"Grace," Alicia warned.
"I'm just saying! I mean, I've met you," Grace continued, directing her words to Will. She was polite, but like most thirteen year old she lacked tact, "but it's not like you're real. It's like Danni had sleepovers three nights a week, not another home."
Both parents looked at Danni who seemed to be finding her food extra interesting, but there was not a whole lot to be said on the topic. Lawyers knew when not to talk and though that side of their brain didn't always kick in when talking to their kids, it did kick in when talking about their kids. That was much too sensitive of a subject for a first dinner.
"Well," Danni said as she let out a breath, "what can I say? I lead a double life." She waggled her eyebrows, extending the joke as she tried to get over her own emotions.
As dinner wrapped up, Will offered to help Alicia in the kitchen as Danni and Grace sat on the couch watching some movie while Zach had disappeared into his room again. Alicia had noticed the way Will watched Danni interact with her siblings. It was like his eyes were glued to her the entire time.
"You really are a good dad," Alicia said as she took the dish Will had been drying for a little too long.
He raised a brow at her. "You say that like you're surprised."
Alicia thought about her answer before replying. "I'm pleased, a little jealous, and extremely grateful." She nudged him with her shoulder as she past him another plate. "I have to say, she's dangerously bright."
Will grinned. "She got that from me."
"She also got that dangerous lawyer tone," Alicia told him. "I had to learned it, you always said it just came naturally to you and now I know. You were born with it and so was your daughter." She took a deep breath and looked at Will. "I think Peter's going to be coming home."
The words had been difficult for her to cope with. With the appeal on the fast track and everything moving in that direction, Alicia had been dreading the moment of telling the kids. Okay, that wasn't completely true. She was dreading the moment of when she would have to tell Danni. Part of her was preparing to lose her. Part of her assumed that Danni would get the hell out of dodge and move in permanently with Will.
Will saw where that was going. "You know how she is. It would be better to tell her now than wait. She'll be mad, but she cools off. That was something she didn't get from me."
It had been a good night. They had laughed together, spent time together, and in the end Danni's five year old fantasy of having a happy family that included both her parents was coming back into her mind. She had a real take of a family for a few moments, of her real family.
Peter had made her feel like an outsider, even as a child, and that was the worst feeling. She had spent most of her life trying very hard to not be an outsider in every other part of her life to make up for that one person. Then the scandal came along. While her mom was paraded around and her siblings were pitied, she was once again that kid in the background that was left out in the cold. They ran story of the bastard child from law school, blaming her for the unhappy marriage, but in the end, all Danni felt like was an outsider.
But not tonight. Tonight, Danni felt very much a part of a family and she would let her slightly spoiled brother let himself be an outsider for the time being. Not because she wanted him to feel her pain, but because she knew that when he was willing to put his stubbornness aside, he would be a part of it too.
So her five year old fantasy came back to life, but her seventeen year old young adult mind had added a few new flairs.
She chuckled to herself as she sat on the couch listening more to her parents conversation than the movie. When did she become such a romantic?
So I decided to continue it a bit farther. I would love some reviews!
