Author's Note: Once again- you know I love you all! I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: You know this is JE's… right?
The next morning after showering and picking out an outfit (after going through my entire closet first) I met Aly downstairs for breakfast. I had gone in her room looking for one of her pictures of Joe, and as she was eating her cereal I laid the picture down in front of her.
"Who is this guy, Aly?" She smiled wide, the same smile she always got when she looked at his pictures- or asked about Joe.
"That's my daddy."
"Would you like to meet your daddy?" Her big blue eyes got even wider as she stared at me.
"Yes!"
"Your daddy is coming over today, to meet you and spend time with you. If that's okay with you?" She grabbed the picture and held it tightly to her chest.
"Yes yes yes!" Aly took off from the table and ran upstairs, I followed behind her.
"What are you doing?"
"I need a pretty dress, mommy!" I smiled and lifted her in my arms.
"A real pretty one?" She nodded and I set her on the bed and went to her closet. This girl had more clothes than I've ever had in my life, and more dresses than I could count on both hands. There were a couple dresses though she thought of as her princess dresses, not that they were 'princess' dresses- but they were long and when she would spin the skirt would fly all around her. I looked through all her dresses trying to find the perfect one, and one by one she turned them down. Finally though, we found it- a short sleeved blue dress. The sleeves fluffed up and around the waist was a ribbon I tied in a bow in the back, and when she spun around the under layers of the dress spun with her. Once that was on she wanted me to brush through her hair again, and she put on her blue headband, letting the rest of her curls stay long. It's not that my girl didn't like dressing up- but only when she was playing dress up. On a regular day she liked to wear simple clothes like me, things that wouldn't matter if they got dirty. I loved seeing her all dolled up and it made me smile even more that all of this was because of Joe.
"Okay, mommy- now we need to get you dressed." I looked down at my shorts and tank top.
"What's wrong with this?"
She sighed, "Mom." Like this was supposed to cover everything. I followed her to my room not that I had much choice. This girl was on a mission- and you never get in the way of a girl on a mission- especially my girl.
"Sit on the bed." I did and she walked to my closet throwing the door open and standing with her hands on her hips, just like I had done.
"Do you want to wear a pretty dress, mommy?"
"No, I don't think any of my dresses are as pretty as yours."
After about an hour of going through all my clothes she settled on a pair of my light tight jeans, a black tank top and a white three-quarter length shirt that was see through. I scrunched up my curls, as per her request and put on more mascara- if I knew any better I'd say she was trying to set me up. But after examining myself in the mirror I put this on my list of outfits if I wanted to impress someone- I looked great. Although, wearing all these layers in my house, I had to make sure the AC was on- I'd hate to ruin the outfit with sweat stains because I was nervous.
"I'm going to make us lunch for when your dad gets here, what do you want?"
"What does my daddy like?" Pino's. But I didn't think it was very impressive for me to order food and have him pick it up. We did that plenty before- and now I could actually cook.
"Whatever you like- I bet he'll like."
"How about a nini?" About a year ago I bought a Panini maker, and since she could only say nini when I bought it- that's what it's been called ever since.
"With chicken and cheese?"
"Yeah!"
It was getting close to noon and I wanted to get this stuff made, I could tell Aly was nervous and excited. So to make things a little easier on her I let her sit on the sectional sofa and watch Beauty and the Beast. I prepared the ninis, pulled out some Lay's potato chips with a French Onion dip, and I washed up some strawberries and put them in a bowl. Then the doorbell rang, Aly's eyes shot to me- she was just as nervous as I was. Sure I had seen him once since he came back, and talked to him on the phone- but this was different. Joe was here at the house, meeting his daughter for the first time- and I had to admit, my heart still skipped a beat when I thought of him.
"I'll get the door honey, you stay in here." She nodded and watched as I walked to the front door. Okay, deep breath and- I swung the door open and smiled. Joe stood there jeans that fit him perfectly, a dark blue T-shirt and a perfect smile on his face. He looked me up and down with a smile.
"You look nice."
"Well, what I picked out earlier wasn't up to her standards." He let out a soft chuckle and I noticed a single fully bloomed beautiful rose, and in the other hand was a pink gift bag with tissue paper coming out the top.
"Trying to impress someone?"
He laughed and nodded, "I never thought I would be this nervous to meet my own kid. I couldn't sleep last night."
"She's going to love you, Joe. Now- let's not keep her waiting, she's been waiting just as long to meet you."
We walked into the living room and Aly sat staring at us, barely sitting on the edge of the couch. Joe walked in next to me and we both stopped about 10 feet from her.
"Aly, this is your daddy. Joe, this is your Aly." I could hear him gulp down something, he set the bag down- laying the rose down on top of it. He got down on his knees and opened his arms to her, I watched as Aly decided what to do. But her smile told me she was already so in love with him. She walked very carefully into his waiting arms and let him hug her close. It had to be one of the most wonderful sights I had ever seen, Joe's eyes were squeezed shut- taking in everything about this moment. Aly's bottom lip was holding in her top- the way she did when she was going to start crying. But she didn't let any tears come out as she let her head rest against his. He pulled her back a little and placed both his hands on her cheeks.
"I have wanted to meet you for a long time, you are so beautiful Aly." She smiled and threw her arms back around him, even for a guy that never cried- he was close to tears.
"I love you, daddy." A single tear escaped his eye, and in that one tear I realized that keeping them apart all these years- was the biggest mistake of my life.
"I love you too, baby." After a few more minutes they broke apart their hug and Joe sat back onto the ground and placed the bag in front of her, holding up the rose.
"I was going to get you a bunch of flowers, but I thought one single rose would be best."
"Just like the beast, he had one rose." He smiled and sent a wink to me, I couldn't help but smile- this means he watched the movie. All for this little girl, he probably rented it or something came home from work with take out and sat with Bob and a couple beers and watched it.
"Exactly, I got you this too. If you don't like it, I can take it back." Aly threw aside the tissue paper and pulled out a yellow dress. It was a mock of Belle's yellow dress, and in the bag was also a pair of yellow shoes to go with. She screamed and hugged the dress to her.
"I love it! Thank you, daddy!" Aly hugged him again as I cleaned up the mess of tissue paper. "Mommy, can I go put it on?"
"Later, you don't want to spill your lunch on it- do you?"
"No." She turned back to Joe. "Belle is my favorite princess!"
"Mine too." He answered with a smile.
"Come eat guys." I yelled to them fixing their plates with a sandwich and some chips. I put them on the eat-in counter and they took the two chairs on the other side.
"Where did you get these from?" Joe asked me, skeptical I had actually made them myself.
"Mommy makes them."
"Does she really, or did she just tell you to say that?" I laughed and if my daughter wouldn't have been in the room there would have been a few choice phrases I would have picked from to reply back.
"She has a nini maker." Aly said dipping a chip in the tub of dip I set out, and Joe looked to me for translation.
"I bought a Panini maker, and when I got it Aly couldn't say Panini- so we call them ninis. It's chicken and cheese, not rocket science." He took a bite and looked at me.
"I'm impressed- they're delicious." I smiled at him and let our eyes hold for a moment longer than I originally planned to. But I had become lost in his deep brown eyes, when I finally had a handle on my actions I pulled away. I ate standing and watched as Joe and Aly talked.
They talked about everything from favorite color, to what Aly liked about Wisconsin, and every in between. I was happy that Aly was so excited to see him and completely demanded his attention, I didn't know what I'd say if I had a moment alone with him. But the way I kept catching him look at me, and the way he kept catching my eyes linger a little too long on him- told me this was a conversation I wasn't ready to have. Aly showed him the entire house and when they reached my room I felt myself blush at the way his eyes lingered on the bed for an extra moment. But Aly pulled us out of there and into her room, I sat on her bed and the two of them sat on the floor. She introduced him to all her dolly's and each time she said to them;
"This is my daddy, don't you just love him!"
Joe played along with her and didn't seem bored at all, he never glanced at his watch or looked to me for an out. He enjoyed being with her, and everything she cared about- he cared about too. Aly wanted to play outside with him next, but I refused to let her play outside in that dress. Joe waited downstairs while she changed into a pair of jean capris and a pink T-shirt. The second she was outside with him her hand found his and pulled him to her play land. She hopped on the swings and without being asked, he began to push her. Aly was having the time of her life, she had always loved him- but it was only as much as you could love a picture. With him here, it was a new kind of love- and I saw it in his eyes too. When they both smiled, it was the same smile- she clearly inherited the best features of his. Although she had my eye color- only darker, the way her smile lit up her eyes, was the same as him.
"Mommy, come swing with me!" I took the swing next to her and Aly instructed Joe to push me too. He did as he was told but his hand pressed against the small of my back and stayed there for a little longer before releasing. His touch sent chills throughout my spine, but I hid it as best as I could. I was saved by the sound of my house phone ringing from inside. I excused myself and ran to grab it.
"Hello?"
"I can't believe you haven't called me yet." It was Mandy, I smiled. Valerie was my sister by blood, Mandy was my sister in every other way.
"It's been pretty crazy since I moved here."
"Well what are you doing right now?"
"Standing at my back door watching Aly play with her daddy."
"No shit! Seriously?"
"Yup!"
"How's that going?" I looked out at them, Aly was sliding down the slide. Joe caught her at the bottom lifted her up and spun her around in a circle. Both laughed together.
"Better than I ever imagined- she loves him so much Mandy."
"And do you? You haven't seen that man in just as long as she has. Except you two had a past."
"Yeah, I know." I looked out at them- I could watch them play together all day.
"Do you have a future?"
"We always will because of Aly, but I don't know if anything more will come out of it."
"What did you feel when you saw him again?"
"It's indescribable, I was happy and scared and wanted to grab him and kiss him. But no matter what I decide I want this time- I won't rush into anything. It's not just my heart I'm messing with, but Aly's too. I don't want to jump into something with Morelli and have him around only to have a terrible break up and have it somehow affect her."
"Girl, you are totally getting ahead of yourself! You need to just breathe, and take lots of pictures and enjoy every moment you can. Do you want me to let you go so you can go back outside with them?" I looked at them, Aly was leading him to my hammock, carefully they both laid down. She used his arm as a pillow and slowly the two rocked back and forth.
"No, I don't think I'm needed out there."
I kept talking to Mandy, well more she talked to me I gave the occasional acceptable response to what she was saying but my mind was elsewhere. I watched them continue swinging on the hammock, even from here I could see just how happy they both were to be together. They were relaxed and comfortable together. I could see Aly's mouth moving at a mile a minute telling Joe a story, and he smiled the whole time, laughing occasionally. After a while of laying on the hammock Aly grabbed out her hula hoops and I laughed as I watched Joe attempt to keep up with her. Next was the jump ropes, then the chalk.
"Girl you have been talking to me for almost two hours- are you even still there?"
"Yeah, they're just playing still- I didn't want to interrupt them. They seem so happy."
"Well I need to let you go, I have to get dinner ready for my crazy kids." I looked at the time- almost 5 o'clock. Holy shit! Where had the time gone!
"Yeah, I need to figure out if Joe's staying for dinner."
"And dessert?" I heard the real meaning of what she was asking.
"I'm giving up dessert for a little while."
"Ha- right. I've seen the desserts you have in Jersey, there's no way you can resist those mouthwatering treats for too long." I really hoped she was wrong- I was determined not to act on a whim.
"Bye Mandy."
I walked outside to them coloring together with chalk.
"Hey guys, it's almost 5." Joe looked at his watch, for the first time since he walked in the door.
"Wow- it's been that long already?"
"Yeah time goes fast when you're playing with this one."
"Did you guys have dinner plans? I mean I can head out if you had somewhere to be." I was actually thinking it would be Joe that would have Saturday night dinner plans, probably dressed in a little black dress that left very little to the imagination.
"Nope, you're welcome to stay for dinner if you'd like. I can go get Pino's, but I mean- don't feel obligated to stay." He smiled, I was babbling. Usually the babbling came out when I was nervous.
"Pino's sounds great, if you want me to stay Miss Aly?"
"Yes!"
"Alright, well I can go pick it up if you guys want to stay here?" I offered and they both agreed. I knew eventually Joe would want more time with his daughter, occasional visits at my house was only going to suffice for a little while. Soon he'd want her to meet his world too, and if I was gone for a half hour and my house was still standing, and my kid was still breathing- I'd feel the first completely alone experience was a success.
"Okay, but you have to clean up out here. I'll leave the back door open for you, don't forget to wash your hands when you get inside."
"Yes mommy." Aly said with a hint of attitude, that I knew was from me.
"Meatball sub?" I asked Joe and he nodded, with a smile on the side. "Do you want chicken fingers, baby?" Aly nodded. I was going to stay around and pick it up once it was ready, but I wanted them to have more time together.
I drove to Pino's, placed our order to go and enjoyed a coke while I waited. Once the order was up I took the bag and went out to my car and almost dropped them at the site of Ranger leaning against my car.
"Didn't know you were a big Pino's fan."
"I was driving by and saw your car."
"Oh yeah, how'd you know it was mine? Did the tracker on it tell you?" A small smile almost appeared at his lips.
"Actually your Wisconsin license plates did." I looked at them.
"Oh, right. So what's up?"
"Where's Aly?"
"She's at our house… with Joe."
"How's that going?" I smiled, I had nothing to hide from Ranger. Joe was Aly's father and deserved to have time with her.
"It's great- she absolutely loves him and he loves her just as much."
"Kind of hard not to love that girl."
"Yeah, I agree with you there." I didn't know what else to say, things suddenly seemed slightly awkward between us. As much as I didn't like it- I didn't know how to fix it.
"I'll let you get back to them."
"Okay, did you need something?" Why had he stopped and waited by my car… just to say hi? Something told me there was more, but I knew Ranger enough to know that even if every instinct in my body was screaming something at me- he wouldn't share. He shook his head and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Babe." He said, walking away- leaving me confused and with a bag full of hot food- and people waiting for me to return with that food.
We ate together and watched Beauty and the Beast and Joe still wasn't ready to leave. I took Aly upstairs and gave her a bath while Joe cleaned up dinner. She dressed in her Princess nightgown and when we came back downstairs there was popcorn sitting in a bowl on the coffee table, with a bowl of MnMs next to it. We put Ghostbusters on next and Aly cuddled up on Joe's lap and fell asleep halfway through the movie. He woke her up when it was over and carried her upstairs, while he was carrying her she asked if he'd read her a book. Nothing short of a natural disaster was going to keep Joe from reading a book to her.
When he came back downstairs I was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen. He grabbed a towel and started drying the dishes off.
"Thank you so much for letting me spend the day with her, Steph."
"I'm glad you both had a lot of fun."
"Yeah, that girl definitely has a lot of energy." I laughed handing the last dish to him to dry.
"That she does, trust me you'll sleep like a baby tonight." He smiled to himself and handed me back the dish our eyes locking for a moment.
"You've done a great job with her."
"Thank you."
"I want to see her again."
"Of course, we'll work something out. When I'm at work for a while at least she'll go to my mom's. You're welcome to go over there and have lunch with her."
"I'll do that." He said staring at me. "I should probably go."
"Let me walk you to the door." We reached the door and I crossed my arms over my chest, to keep from grabbing him and not letting go. He placed a hand on my elbow and pulled me close to him, and very gently placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Good night, Stephanie."
"Good night, Joe." I said breathlessly, he smiled and walked out to his truck. I shut the door and locked up behind him. A good night it was.