Chapter 37:
"So what did you and your mom talk about?" Joshua was well aware of the fact that maybe he was being just a tad bit nosy but he couldn't help it. After all, this was his daughter.
Layla looked around her room. Since she'd been gone, her room had been cleaned. Everything was back in its original place. She looked at her daddy's smiling face. "Mommy bought me ice cream." She drew her feet up closer to her chest and turned her head towards the breeze coming through the window. "Daddy, do you still like mommy?"
Joshua looked at the window, accepting the breeze that cooled his sweat-dampened face. It felt nice. He gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back towards Layla. "You know no matter what happened between us, nothing is your fault and we both love you very much." He ran a hand over his head. "I know you don't understand a lot of this right now, but one day you will."
He still didn't answer her question. "Mommy says that," Layla said, playing in her hair a little. "But you're my daddy and she's my mommy, why aren't you and mommy together?"
Joshua smiled. Truthfully, Calleigh was perfect. This whole bitterness situation was really uncalled for. They were friends in college. One night, that could be a blessing or curse, depending on how you looked at it, brought them to this point. Even when it happened, he thought that maybe they would stick together and raise this baby together but Calleigh's plans were different. He didn't question her reasons, he just took control. He wanted this more than anything but Calleigh didn't. And now, this entire battle was because of her and it racked his nerves. "Your mom," Joshua started. "She lives in Miami and I live here."
That still wasn't what Layla wanted. She focused her attention on her stuffed animals. She was smart enough to know that her mom and dad were hiding something from her. From her mom, she wanted to know why she wasn't there all along. From her dad, she wanted to know why did he say he was dead. Both of them gave her no reasons but both expected her to tell the truth all the time. "Why do grown ups lie to little kids?" Layla blurted out suddenly.
"Whoa," Joshua said. "You know you aren't supposed to use words like that." He raised his eyebrow.
Layla sighed in frustration. Everything was so confusing and nobody was telling her the truth. She poked out her lips in a pout. "Nobody cares about me."
"Ladybug, everybody cares about you. We all care about you and we all love you." He wrapped his arm around Layla's shoulder and hugged her. "I don't want you to ever feel like that."
Layla's lips were still poked out in a pout. "I do because nobody tells me the truth."
Joshua sighed. All of this was Calleigh's fault. He normally didn't like placing blame on anyone but right now, there was nobody else to put the blame on. He'll just tell Layla the truth. "You know sweetheart, a lot of things have gone on in these past months. You've met your mother and I know you were told I died but a lot of things happened." He definitely didn't want to go this way but it just had to be done. "Your mom and I were friends. When your mom got pregnant with you..." he struggled with his words. He was going to go straight with the truth but the truth would cut Layla deeper than anything. "...a lot of things were going on. Everything was going wrong and to make sure that you were properly taken care of, you lived with me." That was the best way he could put it. "In the last few months, I know you thought I died. The truth is, I was sent to prison. I got out of jail after a few months and I came back home to get my life back in order. I never gave up on you and I never wanted to leave you. I brought you to Miami so that you could see your mom. You wanted that for so long."
"I did," Layla said. "But why aren't you and mommy living together? Aren't mommy and daddy's supposed to live together?"
"Yes, but all families are different. Some families have no parents but have grandparents. Some families have only a dad, some only have a mom. This family is kind of like that but not matter how different it is, we love each other the same."
"Okay." Layla seemed satisfied with that answer. "Tomorrow, mommy's coming. We're going to hang out. She promised."
Joshua raised his eyebrow. Once again... Calleigh did it. How could she make plans and actually not check in with him? "Okay, we'll talk about this more tomorrow. In the mean time, its somebody's bed time."
"But I'm not ready," Layla said.
"Layla," Joshua said. "It's time to get some sleep." He kissed Layla on her forehead and stood to tuck her in. I love you sweetheart."
"I love you too, daddy." Layla's attention was once again diverted to the window.
Joshua gave a slight smile. "Good night honey."
Good night daddy." Layla watched as her dad turned on her night light. He gave a hand wave as he left her bedroom. She turned over and headed to sleep.
The kids were sleep. That was a good thing. Heading down the steps of his house, Joshua pulled out his cell phone. Even though it was late at night, he had to make the call right now.
- - - - -
Alyssa cried awake at the sound of the cell phone ringing.
Calleigh didn't know whether to curse herself for leaving the ringer on or curse the person who was calling her. It was 10:30pm. She sat up on the side of the bed and walked over to Alyssa's crib on the other side of the room. Cradling Alyssa in one hand and fishing for her phone with the other, Calleigh finally managed to find it and answer. "Do you have any idea what time of night it is?" As much as she tried to whisper, it still was enough to wake Eric. He was now sitting up in bed.
Eric just wanted it all to be over now. He already knew who it was on the other end of Calleigh's phone conversation. "I'll take her," Eric mouthed. He grabbed Alyssa from Calleigh's arms and cradled her, trying to get her back to sleep.
"When were you going to tell me about your plans?" Joshua yelled. "What? When you showed up? You know you can't come and interrupt my family. We already have plans and sadly, once again, you're going to let Layla down."
This situation was just wearing so heavily on Calleigh. No matter how many times she tried to control this situation, every time, it was like a kick to her side; she had no control. Her daughter was in the hands of someone else and it was nothing that she could do about it...at least not yet. Someone else made the decisions on how she would spend time with her own child. Calleigh rolled her eyes. For the first time, she realized something: She'd given up on Layla way too easily. Not once but twice. She should've fought harder...
Calleigh bit her lip hard to stop the sudden rush of emotion that came to her. She was speechless. Everything was becoming overwhelming at the moment. "I want to see her." She finally was able to formulate words. "Look, we're going to have to do something."
"Now you want to be part of her life?" Joshua said. "I mean Calleigh, come on. I talked to Layla tonight. I can't believe you haven't told her why you've been absent in her life thus far. Layla has been living with you for eleven months and you never told her. So I told her tonight about what happened. I told her everything." He let out a little chuckle. "I must say, she must really want this relationship to work with you." He was well aware that he was probably hitting some nerves right now but maybe it was time for her to realize what he was feeling."You need to tell her the truth. Tomorrow Calleigh, you need to tell her why you left her with me when she was a baby."
Calleigh bit her lip. Her life was in a mess. Inhaling one deep, strong breath, she started talking. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said it blunt and serious.
"Okay."
They both hung up without any other words exchanged.
A/N:Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story. :D