It was Sunday evening, when the doorbell rang at 6 p.m. Owen knew that it had to be Ian and Leah, back from her weekly visitation with her dad.
He opened the door. "Hello, Leah," Owen said. The tiny girl grumpily stomped her way inside of the house and up the stairs, without saying anything. "What's up with her?" Owen asked her dad.
Ian let out a sigh. "She's mad. She met my new girlfriend, Miranda. No matter what Miranda did this weekend, Leah refused to have anything to do with her. She sulked all weekend and was generally, a little brat." Ian handed over Leah's overnight bag and her school bag to Owen.
"So I guess it wasn't a good introduction," Owen said.
"No, she just treated Miranda like a persona non grata and just ignored her presence. Miranda tried, believe me," Ian said. "How did you do it? How did you get her to like you?"
Owen laughed. "I will be honest. Well, you know that Leah and Matt go to the same school and are in the same class. The first day of school, I saw Cristina and I really wanted to meet her. So I persuaded my son to make friends with the cute, little girl watching the fish-tank. He was a little grumpy at first but he made friends with her and then they introduced us to each other. It worked so well, I must say."
Ian shook his head. "Man, you were sneaky. Unfortunately, Miranda does not have a child to pave the way for her with Leah."
Owen replied, "She will eventually get over it. If Miranda is going to stay in your life, then Leah will have to learn to adjust."
"I hope so," Ian said. "This was a very rough weekend. Okay, I will see you on Friday evening."
"No problem," Owen said. The two men shook hands before Ian left. He could feel sympathetic to Ian about his dilemma between his girlfriend and his daughter.
Cristina came down the stairs. "Did Ian just leave? I wanted to ask him why Leah is in such a bad mood. She just stomped past me, went into her room and slammed the door."
"Yes, well, Ian and Leah had a bad weekend. Leah totally did not accept Ian's girlfriend, Miranda and apparently, ignored her for the entire weekend," Owen said.
"I thought that might happen," Cristina said. "Leah is daddy's little girl. She has never had to share him with anybody. He has always given her his undivided attention and to have this stranger come in the midst of that, she must be angry. I guess I will have to talk to her about it when I tuck her in bed, tonight. Interestingly, it wasn't this hard for you and me with our kids."
"Well, that's because the kids introduced us," Owen said, smiling.
"Oh, come on, let's be honest, you know you manipulated them in introducing us," Cristina smiled back.
"Well, I wanted to meet the beautiful lady with the curly, dark hair and I used my assets, wisely," he said.
"Hmmph," Cristina said.
He pulled her into his arms. "It doesn't matter because in the end, it worked out for the best. We have a lovely family and a beautiful baby. If Matt and Leah hadn't introduced us, Elyse would have never happened."
"Okay, you win," she said. "But I still have to speak to that little girl about her behavior."
Later that night, as Cristina tucked Leah into bed, she decided to broach the topic of Miranda. "So, Leah, how was your weekend with your daddy?"
"Bad, very bad," Leah offered.
"Okay, what happened?" Cristina asked, knowing full well what had transpired.
"I don't know if you are going to like this, mommy. Daddy has a new girlfriend. Her name is Miranda. She is just awful. She is ugly like a witch and mean to me, mommy," Leah said, solemnly. Cristina tried her best to stifle a laugh.
She cleared the mirth from her voice, when she answered her daughter. "I am sure that Miranda is not ugly and was not mean to you, Leah."
Leah's hazel eyes narrowed. She expected her mommy to be on her side. "I still don't like her, mommy. This is my time with my daddy."
"Well, honey, she is daddy's girlfriend and she is not going to go away, so easily. You accepted Papa, why can't you accept Miranda?" Cristina asked.
Leah stayed quiet for a bit, before she answered, "Because he is my daddy and I am not going to share him."
"But you share mommy with Papa, Matt and Elyse," Cristina said.
"Yes, but I see you all of the time. You are always here. I only see Daddy on the weekend," Leah reasoned. "She was there for the whole weekend, pretending to like me."
Cristina understood where Leah was coming from. This was not going to be easily solved, Cristina realized.
"Okay, honey," Cristina said. "I understand." She knew that Ian would have to give Leah some time to adjust. She kissed her girl on her forehead, before taking off the light and leaving the room.
Next Friday evening, Ian showed up, promptly at 5.30 p.m. to pick up his daughter. Cristina was the one who opened the door for him.
"Hey, Ian," she said.
"Hey, Cristina," he said. "Is she ready to go?"
"I think we have a major problem," Cristina said. "I packed her little suitcase and her school bag, but she is not willing to go."
"What?" Ian asked. "What do you mean she is not going?"
"She told me this morning before we went to school that she was not going to spend the weekend at your house, anymore," Cristina said.
Ian was aghast. "Does this have to do with Miranda?" he asked.
"Apparently so. She says if Miranda is there at daddy's house, she is not going. She said she will stay at home and play with her brother and sister," she said.
"Where is she?" Ian asked, determined to have a chat with his young daughter.
"Upstairs in her bedroom. It is the second one down on your right, as you reach the top of the stairs," Cristina said. She had tried to coax Leah to get ready for her daddy's pick-up time but it was to no avail.
Ian stormed up the stairs. He calmed himself down before he opened the door. He found his tiny daughter, lying in her bed.
"Leah, what is this I hear? You're not coming to my house for the weekend?" he asked. Leah lay back against her pillows.
"I am sick, daddy, you don't want me when I am sick," she replied. She tried to look as sickly as she could.
"Leah, I have taken care of you before when you have been sick. So you being sick will not be a problem," he said, knowing that his daughter was feigning illness.
"I am too sick to take that long drive to your house," she said, putting her small hand against her brow.
"Let me feel your forehead," he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. It felt perfectly normal. She did not feel feverish at all. "You feel normal. No fever."
She coughed twice. "See daddy, a cough," she said.
"Leah, we both know that you are not sick," he said. "And even if you were, I am perfectly capable of taking care of you."
It was no use pretending anymore, the little girl realized. Leah folded her arms, tightly. "I am not going," she announced, defiantly. "If that lady is there, I am not going."
Ian threw up his hands in the air. He was exasperated by a six-year-old, who seemed to have inherited her mother's penchant for stubbornness. It was like dealing with a mini-Cristina.
"Well, I am not leaving, until you are ready to go," Ian declared. He was determined to win this battle of the wills. He could not let a six-year-old beat him. "I am going back downstairs. You get dressed and come downstairs. I am your father and you have to do what I say."
He walked out of the room and headed back downstairs. He found Cristina in the kitchen, having a cup of tea.
"Do you want some tea, Ian?" she asked. He nodded; he might as well, since it was clear he was not going anywhere, soon. Cristina got up and poured out a cup of tea and gave him some scones to go along with his tea.
"So, were you successful in persuading your daughter?" Cristina said, with a smile on your face.
"Don't laugh at me," he said. "I told her that I was her father and she had to mind what I said."
Cristina burst out, laughing. "As if that would ever work with Leah."
He laughed, too. "Well, I had to try something. The child is as stubborn as you. Remember all of the fights we had."
"Yeah," she said. "I wasn't willing to give you the upper hand in anything, even though you were probably right, most of the times."
"Thank you for admitting that," he said. "So how long do you think I should wait here before I go back up?"
"Give her half an hour," Cristina advised, as she sipped her tea.
"Do you know that she pretended to be sick?" Ian said. "She said she couldn't take that long drive in her sick state. My gosh, where does this child get this from?"
Cristina stayed quiet. Ian looked at her. "Uhh. I know exactly where she gets it from," he said, observing his ex-wife.
As they sat together, Cristina remarked, "This is nice, Ian. That we could sit and chat like this. We can have tea and talk about our child."
"Yes," he said. "I was thinking the same thing. We've come a long way from that last year of our marriage. There were times we couldn't stand being in the same room with each other."
"Yeah, I am glad we are past those days," she said.
"Cristina, I know I have said this before. But I am really, really sorry about how much I hurt you. I know I made a huge mistake but my greatest regret is how much I hurt you," he said.
"It's okay, Ian. It took me some time but I have forgiven you," she said.
"We were really good together, once," he said.
"Yeah, we were. But the best thing that came out of our marriage is that stubborn, little girl upstairs," she said.
Ian drained his cup of tea. "I think I am heading back upstairs to talk to that little girl."
"Good luck," Cristina said.
"I will need it," he said. He walked, wearily, up the stairs and opened Leah's bedroom door to find her, still lying on her bed. She had not moved since he had last left.
"So you did not get dressed?" he said.
"No," she said. Her tiny face was determined.
Ten minutes later, Ian and Leah came down the stairs. "Ah, Leah, you're going to go to Daddy's house?" Cristina asked. The little girl nodded, as she held on to her father's hand.
Ian opened the front door. Leah skipped outside and headed to her dad's car parked in the driveway.
"How did you do it?" Cristina asked.
"I lost the battle of wills against a six-year-old. I told her that Miranda will not be around this weekend," Ian said. He watched as Cristina's face took on a look of great amusement.
"Don't think that this is over. I have to figure out something soon. But I only get to spend the weekend with my baby girl and I am not giving that up," he said. "You win some, you lose some." He picked up Leah's bags and headed out to his car.
Owen came home, a little while after. "Did Leah go?" He had known about Leah's declaration that she was not going to her father's house, this weekend.
"Yes," Cristina responded. "He had to promise that Miranda would not be around this weekend."
"Poor Ian," Owen said. "Poor Miranda, too."
"So how did you do it?" Cristina asked. "How did you win my girl over?"
"Don't you know? It was my very large aquarium of tropical fish. Leah kept wanting to come over and see it. That's how I got the both of you to come to my house, that very first time," he said, giving her a kiss.
"So the fish did it for you," she said. "Maybe that is the key. Miranda has to find or do something that would make Leah interested in her."
"I am just glad that her mother developed an interest in me, too," Owen said. "We haven't really talked about it but when do you want to have the wedding? The sooner the better is fine with me."
"Wedding?" she said. She hadn't really thought about it much. After all, she had just got engaged the week before.
"Cristina, a lot of engaged women start planning for their wedding, almost immediately after the engagement ring is on their finger. They start looking at the bridal magazines, exploring appropriate venues, making appointments at the bridal shops, choosing their bridesmaids, looking at flowers, catering, the music, the decorations, that sort of thing," he said. "But first, we have to set a wedding date."
Cristina could not believe all of that had to be done. For her first wedding, it was all planned by her mother and Ian's mother. After all, both she and Ian had just graduated from college and they didn't have a clue about what to do about these things. Now that she was 30, she would have to do it by herself.
He saw her horrified face. "Okay, you look worried. You don't have to do it by yourself. I will be with you, every step of the way. Plus we can hire a wedding planner, if necessary. It's going to be fine. Let's just choose a date."
She opened her mouth then closed it. It couldn't be June because that was too close. It couldn't be July because that would be Matt's seventh birthday and he was going to have a party. It couldn't be August because Elyse would be celebrating her first birthday and she, too, was going to have a party. It couldn't be November or December because of the holidays. That left September and October.
"September 15th," she said, arbitrarily choosing a date. Owen looked at the calendar. That was actually a good date.
He grinned. "September 15th. We have a wedding date." He hugged her close, so he missed her overwhelmed terrified look, as she thought about all that needed to be done.
A/N: Please leave your comments and reviews. Feedback spurs me on.