"You know what, I don't need this! I've been through too much and come to far to take this from you. I'm sorry that you had to find out like this, really I am, but you don't know how scared I was, how alone I was. And you never will, but she loves you, and I love you, but apparently that doesn't matter anymore. And you know what, I didn't have to take time out of my work schedule to come here and tell you and I really didn't have to tell you at all. But in my line of work, if something were to happen to me, I don't want my daughter put in house full of strangers. She knows you almost like I know you, and she loves you, and she's never even met you! But you'll never know how hard it was for me, and you'll never know how alone I really was!" Kim screamed at him, tears streaming down her face.
"You couldn't have been that lonely, especially with your boyfriend there! So why don't you go back to him! I'm sure he misses you an awful lot!" he screamed back at her. She took a step back, her voice calmed a little, "You really don't get it do you? The only person I left you for was a little girl with brown hair and blue eyes, but I guess you've got your head to far up your ass to see that! She was all that mattered to me then and she's all that matters to me now. I'm doing my best to teach her everything that she needs to be taught, but there are something's that only 'Daddy' can teach her, but if you don't even want that much then fine, I don't care, really I don't, but think about this, maybe she does, maybe she wants 'Daddy' there to see her grow up. You mean something to her, that's all she wants, is to mean something to you, but maybe that's to much to ask of you!" With that she left. He stood there speechless, and everyone just stared at him. Then Kat took him by the arm and pulled him into a back room that Ernie had let her use.
"Tommy, she put herself through college and the police academy. She's putting her daughter through school. And she's trying really hard to be able to get more time off on the weekends and on holidays, so that Julie doesn't have to spend them with the neighbors. I want to show you something." Kat said and she took out her wallet and handed him a picture. It was of Kim and a little girl with long brown hair and blue eyes. She had Kim's high cheek bones, his smile, and his ears, Kim's nose, and she was as cute as a button.
"Is that her? Is that Julie?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's her. That's your little girl. She's so much like you. And she thinks the world of you. But it's up to you if you want her to be apart of your life. Or should I say, do you want to be apart of her life?" Kat asked him.
"Do you think I should go find her?" he asked.
"I think it would be better if you called her, she could be at the crime scene." Kat suggested.
"Good point. I'll go do that." he said and went to call her.
Kim's cell phone rang on the counter. She practically tripped out of the bath tub while trying to wrap a towel around herself. She picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she said.
"Kim?" she heard Tommy's voice on the other end.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked, and she didn't sound the least bit angry.
"I called to apologize, but now that I think about it, I'd rather do it in person." he said.
"Okay, um meet me at the park in about fifteen minutes." she said, "but, um, Lisa needs to call her kids, so I've gotta go, bye!" she hung up. Then she got dressed and left.
Tommy waited at the park for Kim. She came running down hill and stopped just seconds before she would've hit him.
"Hey, you're not late." she said.
"Hey, you are." he said, "But don't worry about it, I mean, nobody's perfect, right?"
"Right, so um, what's up?" she asked.
"Kat showed me the picture you gave her. And she kind of opened my eyes. I'm really sorry for all of the things that I said. I really shouldn't have…" he started and she put up a hand to stop him.
"Don't worry, it was to be expected, I knew that you wouldn't just except it. And I'm sorry too, I should've told you sooner. Julie, she loves you, and her biggest fear, besides spiders, is growing up without you. And the fact that she could lose me scares her even more, because, she doesn't like being with people she doesn't know. But she knows you and she wants you to know her to. And if something were to happen to me, she'd be put in a foster home, but she wants you, and she wants her Daddy to be there to watch her grow up and if you're not, then she has nothing to grow up for. She wouldn't have somebody to interrogate her boyfriends or walk her down the aisle or give her a shoulder to cry on, or somebody to call 'Daddy'. So if you even if you don't want this, if you're going to do this, don't do it for me or because I want you to, do it for her, and because you want to, but don't hurt her. Don't say you're gonna be there and then not. Okay?" Kim told him.
"Okay." he said.