Stephanie
"there you are all settled in" my mother says putting Gabriella's clothes away in my old room
"mom I'm going to take her out for dinner"
my mother looks up
"but I thought she should spend her first dinner here with the family"
"Gabriella go watch TV with grandpa"
she nodded and left
"she shouldn't be walking down the stairs by herself she is so little"
I roll my eyes
"mom relax she is going to be fine"
"remember when you were little and you jumped off the roof trying to fly"
I sigh
"mom relax I am just going to take her to have dinner with Joe"
she sighed
"are sure that is a good idea?"
"well she is part of my life and so is he mom"
"fine I know your sister wanted to meet her though"
"she's living here she will meet her"
"alright"
I go downstairs
"Gabriella we are going to see my"
I stop to think how I should introduce Joe to her
"friend"
"Ranger?" she asked excited
"nope his name is Joe"
she pouted
"okay"
I hope she doesn't mention Ranger in front of Joe. I am really not in the mood for a fight.
"Stephanie are you ready"
she already has her coat and boots on
"yep I'm coming"
we leave moms house. I put her in the back seat of my car.
"so how do you like it here so far" I say starting the car
"its okay"
we drive in silence to Joe's house, looks like he is not home
"are you afraid of dogs?"
I should have asked that earlier
"no"
"good because Joe has a big shaggy dog named Bob"
"what kind of dog name is Bob?"
"I think its cute" I say getting her out of the car.
"come on"
she looked at the house
"can we go home?" she said backing up from the house
"why?"
she looks scared I kneel down to her level
"sweetie what's wrong?"
she looked down at the ground
"I'm not supposed to say momma will get angry if she knew"
I raised an eyebrow
"what happened?"
"Daddy promised momma he loves her but whenever he was watching me he took to this woman's house and I had to sit and wait for him"
oh he was having an affair
"do not want to go baby?" she nods and I pick her up.
"okay why don't we go get something to eat and you can meet him latter" I say rubbing her back.
She nods into my shoulder. I put her back in the car
"let's get pizza"
I put her back into the car. I sigh, I thought she was going to be given to the perfect parents, the kind you see on TV but I guess there are truly no perfect families. I drive up to Pino's
"here we are best pizza ever" I say opening her car door
"Stephanie can you carry me?"
"yeah"
I pick her up. Being a mom is going to be my new work out. I walk in and see the bar filled with cops, the hostess seats us in the family section, we sit in a booth across from each other
"now what can I get you?" said the waitress
"medium pepperoni pizza and a coke for me Gabriella what do you want?"
"apple juice please"
the waitress smiled at her
"of course I will right back with that"
"so kiddo how are you feeling"
she shrugged
"better"
"good"
there is an awkward silence.
"here are your drinks and here sweetie something for you to color with"
She handed her a cup of crayons and paper
"thank you"
Gabriella smiled at her. My phone rings
"give me one minute you okay by yourself"
she nods and starts coloring. I walk over to a quiet sections
"Hello"
"Hey cupcake where are you?"
I sigh and tell him what happened.
"do you want me to come and eat with you guys"
"no we are going to eat and then I am taking her to my mom's she seems tired"
"do you want me to come over to your place so we can talk?"
no not really
"sure"
"okay cupcake I will see you soon"
"bye"
I sigh. I honestly have no idea what to do with him. I go to my daughter
"hey kiddo what are you drawling?"
"a flower"
I nod
"can I see?"
"no not until I'm done"
I nod
"why am I not living with you?"
"I only have a one bedroom but I am going to look for a bigger place"
she nodded
"I never had a grandma before mommy and daddy parents are dead"
this is getting more awkward
"well you do now kiddo"
"pizza is nice and hot" said the waitress.
Oh thank god, I know she's not doing it on purpose but she is making me feel guilty about giving her up. I put a piece on a plate for her
"careful its hot" I warn her.
We eat mainly in silence but its not awkward this time, we are just enjoying our food.
"ready to go?" I ask her
"I drew two pictures one for you and one for Ranger"
I laugh
"you really like him don't you?"
"he's perfect"
I used to think that to, the perfect mocha knight in black SUVs
"come on sweetie"
she hands we both picture. Wow is the first thought, one is a pink rose and the other is a blue one, there is so much detail I can't believe they were done by crayon
"Gabriella these are amazing"
she smiles
"that's what the teachers at my school told me"
I pay for our pizza and we walk out to the car
"I will give this to Ranger the next time I see him"
she smiles and gets into the car. My mother is already in the doorway when I pull up
"there you are" she says walking to my car,
I get out the door
"she's too little to up this late"
I roll my eyes
"come on sweetie its time for bed" she carries her into the house
"I'm going to put her to bed and then we are going to have a chat"
I sit in the kitchen waiting to be scalded.
"she's asleep why were you at Josephs so late?"
"I wasn't she was too scared to go in because it looks like her fathers mistresses house"
she sighed
"this wouldn't of happened if you just kept her"
and here it comes
"mom I am not in the mood for this"
"you had a child out of wedlock and then give it up for adoption, I offered to raise her as my own then but no you were to stubborn and now she scared of peoples houses"
I roll my eyes
"the phone have been ringing off the hook with people asking questions"
she put her head in her hands
"mom she's my daughter it was my choice"
I get up
"where are you going"
"I have to go talk to Joe"
"your going to need a nice strong to help you raise her and your relationship with Joseph is going nowhere"
"good bye mom"
I walk out of the house. Why does she always need to tell me how to live my life? I know she's my mother and that's her job but I vow I will never do that to Gabriella, she can date and do whatever she wants, if she wants to jump off the roof trying to fly so be it.
I sigh as I park at my building, I should have told Morelli we would talk about this another time, I am not in the mood. I slowly walk to the elevator, dragging my heels down the hall way. I unlock my door and see Morelli sitting on my coach watching the high lights of the game.
"hey" I say to him
"hey?" he stands up
"I find out you have a kid and all you say is hey"
"what do you want me to say?"
"how about I'm sorry for never telling you Joe"
"I didn't know her parents were going to die"
"you could have told me when you were pregnant with her and we could have"
"what?" I snapped
"get married tell everyone she's yours?"
"why not you said you don't even remember what the father looks like"
"she was in my body and I made the choice"
"why didn't you just abort her if you didn't want her?"
I slap him, hard in the face
"get out of my house"
he storms out with that. I sit down and cry. How could he say that? I love my daughter more than anyone could know that's why I gave her up, I have murders and lunatics after me everyday I wanted to keep her safe.
"oh Rex your sister will be home soon"
I can't let her stay with my mother for long, my mother will crush her spirits until she is exactly like her, I look at the drawings and decided to call Ranger
"Yo"
"Yo yourself I have a picture for you drawn by a little girl"
"why were you crying?"
I sigh how does he know me so well?
"my mom and Morelli"
"what did he say?"
"he wanted to know I didn't abort her"
there is silence for a while
"what did she draw me?"
I chuckle
"she drew two roses one for me and one for you but I'm not sure which one is yours"
"you should bring her to Rangeman tomorrow to meet the team"
I laugh
"are you doing to have little Rangeman clothes made for her"
"just need her measurements Babe"
"okay I well bring her by tomorrow"
"Babe"
"good night"
I hang up and smile. Time for some sleep.