I look down at my watch 12:30 hmm I guess he isn't coming. As I'm making my way to the door I see Charlie coming down the steps with Hope. Seeing her brings peace to my heart.
"Hey man! Sorry for being late. This little one didn't want to stay with her mom" he says setting Hope down and fixing her bow
I wish I could do that with my daughter
"Hey don't worry man its okay. Plus I get to see this princess again" I say smiling
"Hi cowboy Luke!" She say as she run to hug my legs.
I felt an exploration of feelings. I looked down at her and I stare at her big emerald eyes. They might not be brown but oh how she looks like Riley.
"How are you princess?" I say as I bend down to meet her gaze
"I'm doing good cowboy" she says smiling she just melts my heart
"She really like you. Your her hero since u saved her favorite princess " he says smiling
" yea! And my mommy said yes to!" She says clapping her hands
"Well thank you" I say as I tip my imaginary hat
"We should head inside its kind of cool" he says taking Hope hand and walking inside
We go and sit down at a table at the far end. We place are orders and the waiter brings Hope some crayons. I sit and stare at her. The way she cringes her brows, the way she colors with a smile. It's like I'm seeing Riley...
"So how has life been?" Charlie asks making me move my gaze to him
"Pretty good I guess. I finished my Veterinary practice. Now I'm just waiting to start my job. " I say smiling
"Dude that great! You finally got your dream!" He says
I did but it cost me everything
"Yea but anyways how about you? How did sweet talker Charlie become a dad" I say as I look at him
He turns and looks at Hope "Her mom changed me without me even knowing and when Hope was born I felt this love that I can't describe"
"Must have been a fun adventure" I say as I sit back
He chuckles
" It was but boy did it take a while to get to where we are now. It was really hard " he says meeting my gaze
"What do you mean" I ask siting up straight
He takes out his phone and some pink headphone
"Hey Hope do you want to watch princess belle" he ask smiling
"Yyyyyaaaaaaayyyyyy! Yes daddy" Hope yells taking the phone from him. He gently helps her place they headphones and starts the movie. I watch as her eyes light up.
just like her
He turns back to face me
" I just didn't want her to hear. It's not a pleasant story" he says looking down
Curiosity was taking over me. I couldn't stop myself from asking
"Why?" I say as I took a sip of my coffee
He sighs " she hated me at first. You know I tried the whole player thing on her but she sure didn't fall for it. She gave me one big lecture and something clicked in my brain that I was being stupid " he says smiling
"I was ready to give up on her, nothing I did got her attention. But everything changed when I saw her crying. He frowns " I got this feeling that I needed to protect her. you know I couldn't let her be hurt. She was already getting crap from people for being pregnant" he say clenching his fist
I choke on my coffee " wait a minute! You were hitting on a pregnant girl!?"
He rolled his eyes " I didn't know she was pregnant at first. She wasn't showing much. I found out when I saw her crying ."
I turn to look at Hope and then back at Charlie and can see by his expression that he knew what I wanted to ask
"What about Hope" I ask Turing to look at him
He breathes in and begins to talk " Hope is something special to me Lucas. She's my world she changed me. He turns to look at Hope and smiles. "She's not mine Lucas. But I love her as if she was" he says as he turns to me I can see the sadness in his eyes
My mouth hangs open trying to process this information
"You took care of her? What about college? You took that role?" I ask not believe it how did he do it. When I couldn't
He smiles "hell yea I did! I fell in love with her mom. I could let this little angel be without a dad. I wanted her to grow up happy. As for college I still got it done yea it was hard but I got it done" he says proudly
" what happened to her real dad" I ask as I turn to look at Hope
Charlie's body tenses up
" that jerk left her when he got a fancy accepts letter. I don't know much , she doesn't like to talk about it. I don't even know that dude's name because believe me if I did I would make him pay. How could someone leave knowing a human being is on the way? I know I played with girl but a baby is different there special" he says with anger
I place my hands on the table and look down. That's exactly what I did to Riley. I left her and my baby. I couldn't look at Charlie he took in Hope and her mother and I could even stay for my Riley. I felt the tears start to form dam it Lucas pull it together
"Hey dude are you okay" Charlie reaches out to and taps my hand
I close my eyes and try to control my emotions and look up at him " yea dude. It's just that's a lot to process."
" sorry I just blurted all that out. I don't have much friends here" he says
" don't worry about it. I get that you needed to talk. You did something great Charlie" I say
He smiles "thanks. I won't trade it for the world"
I turn to look at Hope and see that her eye lips are getting heavy
" I guess this little one is ready for a nap." Charlie says getting up
I smile as I look at her "yea I guess she does. Do you guys need a ride?"
"You don't mind? It would be better than the subway." He says take the the headphone off her
"Not at all dude" I say standing up
"If you're ready to pay please follow me this way" the waiter says
"Okay let me just carry her" he says taking out his wallet and gets ready to pick her up.
"hey don't worry I got her" I say as I pick her up gentle
"Thanks bro. I'll be right back" he say smiling
I pick up Hope bridal style and she snuggle close to my chest. I sit down as I gently rock her side to side. I run my finger through her hair.
"You're such a beautiful little angle" I whisper as I place a kiss on her forehead. I don't know what it is but I feel a connection to Hope.
I will soon meet my little girl and I hope she's as bubble and happy as you. Maybe you two could be friends.
I FINALLY UPDATED! I'm sorry about that I've had a lot of some stuff going on lately like work and school. So that took a lot of my time to update. Anyway thank you to all of you who follow, review and read the story it means a lot. I hope you guys enjoy these chapters.
