"I know you're nervous about the girls' new introduction to our relationship," Dave assured Rae. "But don't you think you're slightly overreacting?"
Rae was too busy giving her apartment a lobotomy to answer. She went as far as lifting up the cushions on her sofa and cleaned underneath them. She disinfected everything twice and made sure there was no evidence of Dave spending the night.
"Can't you see that I'm trying to Febreeze the hell out of my place?" She asked as she furiously sprayed.
Dave chuckled and folded his arms. He leaned against the living room and watched Rae in amusement. "You could help, you know?" Rae sneered.
"Rae, your apartment is always clean. Even when it's messy, it's clean." He walked over to her and put his hand on her Febreeze-holding hand. "The girls have been over here many times, Rae. I don't see what the big deal is."
"Uh, we're having sex, Dave. That's the big deal."
"Well, in that case, you might want to Febreeze the shower."
"David!"
Dave smiled and held his girlfriend. "My daughters are mature enough to understand that. And I'm pretty sure they don't care to know about what we do in your bedroom. Or the living room. Or the kitchen counter."
"David!"
Dave flashed a smile and kiss Rae's lips to silence her. "Everything will be fine, Beautiful."
Yeah and now say that when your girls hate that we're dating, David.
-----------------
As Rae straightened up her apartment, she thought about all three girls and their respective personalities. Elani was quiet yet opinionated. She was the typical teenage girl whose fascination involved boys, shopping and MTV. She had no interest in sports other than her crushes, LeBron James and Ben Roethlisberger.
Elani's younger sister by two years, Kaira, had other interests. Kaira was an inspiring singer who admired Mariah Carey and Madonna. She often gave Dave tips on how he could improve his vocal performance during his promos. Unlike Elani, Kaira preferred to travel with her dad instead of staying at home waiting for him to arrive.
Elani and Kaira were the products of Dave's real quick union to the girls' mother, Dianne. They went on a blind date, got married three months later, got divorced four years after the fact. A tightly-guarded secret of the divorce was that Dave left Dianne. She was a meth addict and often spent money for diapers and child-care products to support her habit.
After trying to get her clean, Dave decided that it was in the best interests for her and their daughters that he retained sole custody of the girls. Dianne eventually became clean and remarried, but the girls chose to live with Dave and Tracy instead.
Tracy's daughter, Cianna, was a replica of her mother. She was the product of Tracy and a longtime boyfriend she had in college. Once Tracy learned she was pregnant, the boyfriend disappeared and never came back. Cianna always referred and considered Dave to be her father, despite the fact that he and Tracy were divorcing.
Cianna was nicknamed "Peaches" for her love of peaches growing up. Incredibly skinny with her size 3 dress size, Cianna was also very athletic participating in volleyball and softball. She was in between Elani and Kaira in age, so naturally all three girls became very close quickly.
Elani, Cianna, and Kaira also had one thing in common: they had an uncanny resemblance to each other; so much that many people often thought they were triplets. With their dark, shoulder length hair, brown eyes, and respective hourglass figures, the only thing that separated the girls was the age difference—and that wasn't much.
The girls came over to Rae's apartment and brought a variety of junk food ranging from McDonald's to Del Taco. "I thought you guys were trying to eat healthy?" Rae asked as she looked at all of the food.
Elani rolled her eyes. "You've been hanging around Dad too much."
Rae watched as the girls set out the food. "So what are we watching, ladies?"
Cianna held up the DVDs to her view. "Scary Movie, Halloween, and Riding in Cars with Boys."
"Eclectic mix."
"Yeah, we couldn't decide what we wanted." Kaira chimed in. "So we just got everything."
"Hey girls!" Dave greeted his daughters.
"Daddy!" All three girls rushed to Dave and gave him a bear hug.
"What's been going on?"
"Same ol', same ol'. I'm working on a tan; Kaira is taking voice lessons…" Elani paused before she looked at her younger sister. "And Peaches has a booooooooyfriend."
"Shut up!" Cianna sneered.
Dave looked over at his daughter. Although she was close to driving age, Cianna would always be his eight-year-old running around in pigtails. "Who is the punk-ass?"
"Daddy! He's not a punk! His name is Andrew and he's so dreamy!" Cianna gushed.
"So why didn't this dreamy punk-ass come over here?" Dave inquired.
"Daddy!" Cianna shook her head in embarrassment.
"He knows that your daddy crushes skulls for a living, right?"
"Daddy!"
"Alright, alright…" Dave said as he walked his daughters to the kitchen. He then addressed Cianna again. "You two aren't…"
Cianna felt Dave was deliberately picking on her in front of everyone. It wasn't her fault that she was cute enough to have a boyfriend. "No, Dad!"
"I'm just wondering, that's all." Dave winked. "I don't want you guys doing the nasty until you're old enough."
Cianna lowered her head on the counter as the other girls felt her plight. Everyone outside of their family could never understand why the girls didn't think their father was cool. But it was conversations like this that made them all realize exactly why. "Can we please talk about something else, now? Please?"
"Hey, why don't we make ice cream sundaes tonight?" Rae suggested and the girls agreed. "Dave, can you go by the store and pick up some stuff?"
"Yeah, sure. What do you all want?"
"Fat!" The girls said in unison.
-------------------------------------------------
While Dave was gone, it gave Rae and the girls an opportunity to get reacquainted with one another. Rae wasn't sure how she should approach the subject but she felt she had no choice other than just being out with it. "So how do you feel about me and your dad dating?"
The girls shrugged. "We're cool with it." Elani said as Kaira and Cianna agreed.
"I understand you're trying to be nice but I really want to know."
"And we're cool with it, Rachel." Kaira nodded. "Really, we are."
Rae was expecting Dave's daughters to be upset and cold to her, taking the fact that she and Dave started dating when Dave and Tracy were still legally married, although separated. "Oh."
Kaira smiled. "Were you hoping our reactions were different?"
"No," Rae became quiet. "I just didn't know what to expect. I mean, with your mom and dad divorcing and me being the new girlfriend, I thought it was just be weird for you guys."
Kaira, Cianna, and Elani shot Rae disbelieving looks. "Um, Rae…it would've been weird if Dad and Kristal were dating." Elani shuddered.
"How did you know about them?"
"Mom told us. She said she couldn't stand the dingy tramp." Kaira said. She then went to back to the subject. "Anyways, I think you and Dad are great together."
"I think so." Cianna said. "And plus, you're a distraction from him picking on me!"
"Anything to help, Peaches." Rae smiled. "So how are you guys dealing with the divorce?"
"Meh, it sucks." Kaira said. "I want you and Dad together, Rae. But no offense, I wish him and Mom would've tried harder."
"None taken." Rae replied.
Elani was less sympathetic. She saw first-hand the struggles Tracy and Dave went through to survive and the imploding arguments they had when he was recovering form his injuries. "I understand why Dad cheated." Elani shrugged.
"You understand?" Kaira questioned. "And you're okay with that?"
"Hey, I understand why he cheated. I didn't say it wasn't messed-up of him." Elani defended. "But I'm not going to hold it against him. Mom hasn't; why should we?"
Rae almost asked what mother Elani was referring to but she realized Elani was talking about Tracy. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that with your father this time."
"I don't think Dad will be stupid again." Cianna said. "Isn't he paying Mom like three thousand a month in support?"
"I'm paying her too damn much." Dave snickered as he re-entered the apartment with bags full of sweets.
The girls got up and helped their father with the dessert as Dave greeted Rae with a kiss. He licked his lips. "Cheeseburger. Nice scent." He smiled as he took a bite of Rae's dinner.
"Delicious, isn't it?" She giggled.
Dave sat next to Rae on the couch and looked over at the kitchen window. His daughters were making a concoction of a sundae and he wanted to leave the masters to their work. "Is everything fine now?"
Rae smiled and settled into Dave's arms. "Everything is perfect!"
------------------------------------------
As all of them got acquainted on the living room watching Scary Movie, Rae thought how good her life has become. She found love with her best friend. His family embraced their relationship. And her mind was now at ease.
Until the constant ringing of her cell phone disrupted it. She put her phone on vibrate so she could focus on her evening with Dave and the girls. However, whenever she looked at the Caller ID, she had to wonder why this particular person wasn't leaving a message.
"Who's calling you?" Dave asked.
Rae rolled her eyes. "Randy."
"Beautiful, get the phone. He's not going to stop calling you until he reaches you."
Rae sighed in anger. "Fine. I'll get rid of him." She hurried to her phone and answered. "Yes, Orton?"
She could hear faint breathing and what sounded like sniffling on the other end. "Could you come over?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll be over in a minute." Rae then flipped up her phone. "Something happened with Randy and I'm not sure what's up. He didn't sound like himself. I'm going to go over and talk to him for a minute."
"Okay." Dave walked over to her and kissed her. "Let me know if you need anything."
"I will. See you later, girls!" Rae said as she left.
"Bye, Rae!" They said.
Dave went back to watching Scary Movie with his daughters. Despite his own personal feelings toward Randy, Dave knew he was a good man. Randy was very professional at work, whenever he could keep focus on his performance and not himself. He often cracked a joke about some situation and he was fan favorite. Dave figured that if he concentrated enough on the good things about Randy, it would take away the asshole he possessed.
Yet, Dave was a little concerned on why Rae had to leave in a hurry but he had no reason to suspect anything. That would be the last time that thought would enter Dave's mind.