Chapter Nine.
Faith opened the front door the next afternoon gingerly. She hadn't heard anything from her Dad or Sophie since the previous afternoon. She had smiled, knowing what they were probably doing, but all the same, she needed to come home and do her school work. If she had done it round at Willow's, she wouldn't get any done!
She made her way into the kitchen and saw that it was a mess. Grabbing a can out the fridge, she put her bag on the dining room table and headed upstairs to get her laptop. As she passed her father's room on the landing, she poked her head in the open door. Her father was asleep, entangled in the sleeping form of Sophie Neveu. Smiling, she closed the door, got what she needed from her room and went back downstairs.
Robert's eyes fluttered open as he heard the sound of his bedroom door shut. Thinking it was the wind, he stretched and felt for his phone on the bedside table. He held it above his head and looked at the time. His phone blinked back at him:
15.00
"Shit!" he cursed, finding himself suddenly awake. He couldn't believe he had slept through the day. Usually he was up and on campus by five in the morning. But then he remembered that he and Sophie hadn't actually fallen asleep until five that morning.
"Robert?" asked Sophie, sleepily, "What's going on?"
Robert leant over and kissed her on the shoulder, "Nothing, I've just seen the time that's all."
Sophie too glanced at his phone and gasped, then she bit her lower lip, "Well, can you blame us?"
Robert looked at her and smiled, "No, no I can't say that I do."
Sophie smiled again, "Last night was… magnifique!"
"I know."
"I do love you, Robert."
"And I love you, Sophie." And they kissed again.
"Shall I go make some coffee?" Robert asked, looking for his pajama pants again.
Sophie nodded, "I'm going to have a shower, I think."
Robert smiled and left the room. He walked to the kitchen with a significant bounce in his step, feeling younger than he had felt in years. He sighed as he saw the mess that he and Sophie had left last night, their failed attempt at an omelette. He found two clean cups, put some coffee in the machine and walked into the dining room.
"Faith!" he cried in surprise, seeing his daughter sat at the table, doing her homework.
"Dad!" said Faith, mocking her father's surprised tone.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting beside her.
"Er, I live here." She smiled.
"Cheeky!" and Robert kissed her cheek, "I meant, I thought you were at Willow's?"
"For one night, Dad!" She rolled her eyes, "I have homework to do, and I know that if I do it with Willow, I will not get it done."
"What are you doing?" he asked, peering at his daughter's school books.
"I'm working on my English lit class. We're doing Dante's Inferno!"
"No kidding!" said Robert, "I've lectured on Dante. His description of Hell is the model that we still have, we haven't altered our conception of Hell in over 700 years. Botticelli put pen to paper and drew his La Mappa dell'Inferno reinforcing the image that Dante wanted to show."
Faith smiled.
"What?" asked Robert, smiling uneasily.
"Nothing. It's just, I'm glad that I'm your daughter. I'm so lucky."
Robert didn't say anything, a lump formed in his throat.
Faith coughed and smiled, "So, how was last night?"
Robert blushed and Faith giggled.
"I knew it! I knew that you and Sophie would get together!"
Robert smiled, "So, you're ok with me and Sophie?"
"Ok? Ok? Dad, I'm more than ok!" she smiled, "I'm so happy for you guys. Seriously, it's about time you found someone to be with."
"What about Elizabeth?"
"She was ok, but she wasn't the one I wanted as a mum." She smiled, "Sophie is perfect."
Robert smiled and in that moment, Faith could see he was totally, absolutely head over heels in love with Sophie Neveu. "She is perfect." He sighed.
"We'' be ok, Dad." Smiled Faith.
"Oh?" he asked, standing up to go and get the coffee that he had been in the process of making.
"We're always ok, you and I." she smiled again, "And now we have Sophie in our family. We're going to be just fine."
Robert left the room smiling. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Sophie standing there. She was wearing his pajama top and a pair of pants. She was smiling and had tears in her eyes.
"How long have you been there?" he asked.
"Long enough." She smiled. Robert pulled her into an embrace and held her tightly.
"Welcome home, Sophie."
