Davis The Daddy
Chapter 6:
Sophie's Dress: .com/Girls-Circo-Printed-Dress-Multicolor/dp/B001UREHBA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=145232011&searchRank=salesrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=30
Mark's hat from the picture: .com/detail_147_
Mimi's Shirt: .?ID=402011&PseudoCat=_results
Mimi swiped a tube of pink lipstick across her lips and then observed herself in the mirror. She was wearing jeans, and an orange-ish, red-ish printed top. Her hair was pulled back half up half down and her eyes were glowing with happiness. She had been waiting for this day for the longest time, and walked over into Sophie's room to find her daughter still in her pajamas, playing with her dollhouse. "Sophie, baby why didn't you get dressed?" Mimi asked, Sophie always got dressed when she woke up. The little blonde girl shrugged. "Honey." Mimi said picking her daughter up and putting her on the bed. "Do you remember what I was talking to you about during your bath last night?" Sophie shook her head. "About meeting someone special today, do you remember who?" Sophie looked up at the ceiling and raised her eyebrow in thought, but then shook her head.
"Nope." She said shrugging.
"Soph, you're gonna meet your Daddy today."
"Oh yeah." Sophie said smiling.
"So why don't you pick out something to wear to the carnival today?" Sophie got up off of the bed and headed over to her closet and pulled down an adorable pink and different shades of blue and purple striped dress.
"Can I wear this?" She asked.
"Sure babe, just pull out your denim jacket so we don't forget." Sophie pulled down the jacket and handed it to Mimi and changed out of her pajamas and into her dress.
"Do I wook boooooooo-tiful?" She asked.
"Very, now let's go brush your hair and teeth." They headed to the bathroom and washed Sophie's face and then Mimi combed through her hair, leaving it down. She sprayed it quickly with apple scented detangler to keep it from knotting up during the day and then Sophie brushed her teeth and hopped down from her bathroom stool.
"Can we have bweakfast?"
"Sure pumpkin." They got settled in the kitchen with bagels and then Sophie headed off to her room to play until Roger got there.
Meanwhile:
Roger was standing in front of the mirror at his hotel room. He ran his hand through his hair and looked over his outfit. He was wearing a royal blue polo and jeans. Roger thought he looked very "Dad-ish" but still felt like even after the 10 other outfits he had tried on this morning that nothing would ever be perfect enough for this day. He took in and let out a deep breath and shoved his wallet and cell phone in his pocket and grabbed his leather jacket. Roger turned and looked around the room at the many shopping bags, and his unpacked but not put in drawers duffel bag. "I really gotta get out of this hotel." He thought to himself, before checking himself in the mirror one more time and heading out the door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! Mimi took a deep breath and walked over to the door and swung it open. Roger's facial expression couldn't have been anymore like Mimi's, extremely happy but still so nervous. "Hey." He said with a broad smile on his face. Mimi smiled back and let him in.
"You look nice." She said.
"Thanks, so do you."
"Um she's in her room why don't you go sit down?" Mimi said nervously, gesturing towards the couch. Roger slowly walked over and sat down, thinking hard. "Ready?" Mimi asked.
"Will I ever be?" Mimi giggled lightly
"No." Roger just smiled and nodded. She smiled back and walked into Sophie's room, closing the door softly behind her. "Sophie."
"Hi Mommy."
"Honey, are you ready to meet your Daddy?" Sophie shrugged. "Well you look very pretty."
"Is my Daddy nice?"
"He's very nice."
"Is he your old fwend that you talked about?" Mimi took a deep breath and bent down to Sophie's height
"Yes." Sophie giggled.
"Do you wuv Daddy?" Mimi thought about how to answer this question the right way.
"Do you love your Daddy?" Mimi asked her.
"Well I don't know! I never met him befow!" Sophie said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mimi pretended to act shocked.
"Well then we need you to meet him don't we!?" She said. Sophie nodded. "Okay hold my hand baby girl." Mimi said standing up. Sophie placed her little hand in Mimi's larger one and put her other thumb in her mouth. Mimi opened the door a little bit and Roger looked up from his previous position (Bent over, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, very nervous facial expression). "Roger, this is your daughter, Sophie." Mimi said gently tugging on her hand, and Sophie walked out of the bedroom, thumb in her mouth, and Mimi bent down to her height and put an arm around her daughter's waist. "Sophie this is your Daddy." Roger had never seen anybody so beautiful besides Mimi in his entire life. The feeling he got when he saw her was totally indescribable. He felt himself smile brightly, and Mimi saw his eyes totally glowing. He looked surprised and so happy. Roger looked at the adorable young girl in front of him, he looked at her shiny blonde hair, and tiny fingers, and her cute little dress, and who could forget; those eyes. Her head was bent slightly down and her eyes gazed up at him nervously, sparkling, and glimmering. Mimi looked at the two of the, Roger who probably viewed this as the most important day in his life, and Sophie who had absolutely no clue how much this day meant to Mimi, Roger, and one day would mean to her. Mimi smiled at Roger. He still looked totally in awe like he had the second his daughter had walked into the room but finally managed to say softly.
"Hi Sophie." Sophie took her thumb out of her mouth and waved.
"Hi." She said shyly, clinging to Mimi's leg as she stood up. Her voice was the cutest thing Roger had ever heard in his life. It was high pitched, but not mousy, and she definitely sounded like a young child, but she had a soft beautiful ring in her voice that made Roger think she could be one hell of a singer.
"C'mon Soph." Mimi said walking slowly towards the loveseat that was across from the couch. Sophie stopped walking in the middle of the loveseat and the sofa, gazing at Roger, neither of them moving or saying anything. Finally Sophie walked towards him, and got down on the floor on her knees. Roger looked down at her and cocked an eyebrow. She began untying his right shoe, and then retied it.
"I can tie shoes." She said softly.
"Good job." He said, holding up his hand for a high five. She smiled and raised her hand to hit his but he pulled away, this made Sophie very confused. He held out his hand again and she tried to hit it but again he pulled away and smiled at her "Too slow." He said shrugging. Sophie caught on, smiled and tried high fiving him 3 more times before he finally didn't move his hand back and her tiny hand collided with his. She giggled and then grabbed his hand and held it up facing her. Sophie put her hand against his, comparing the size and Mimi got up and got the camera. Sophie examined the watch on Roger's wrist and said
"9:15. I can tell time." Roger didn't really know what to say so he just said
"Cool."
"Smile." Mimi said. Sophie turned towards Mimi and smiled and Roger leaned forward so his head was a couple of inches away from Sophie's and grinned. After Mimi took the picture Sophie turned her head towards her father's and sniffed.
"Daddy you smell good." Mimi laughed, because she had always loved the cologne Roger wore too.
"Thanks." Roger said after chuckling lightly. Sophie ran over to her Mom and sniffed.
"Mommy you smell good too. Do I smell good?"
"Yes you do." Mimi said, bending down and kissing Sophie's cheek.
"Do you know my Uncle Mark?" Sophie asked Roger.
"Yeah, your Uncle Mark is one of my best friends."
"I have a best fwend, I have a lot. Their names aw Kelly, Gabby, Shelby, Sawa, Jodie, Lexi, Jack, Emiwy, Andwew, Lisa, Penny……" She said counting off on her fingers and looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"Okay Miss Popularity." Mimi said. Sophie skipped over to a table by the front door and pulled one of the picture frames off of it and walked back over to Roger and showed it to him.
"That's me and Uncle Mark on Christmas!" She exclaimed. Mark was in a spiral Christmas tree hat, and looked like a total goofball. Sophie was smiling and pretending to hang an ornament on him. "Doesn't he look silly?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah he does, what does that ornament you're hanging say?" Roger could see that the red ornament had some writing on it but he couldn't make it out.
"No day but today. Me and Mommy made that ornament since she always says that to me."
"Ah." Roger said nodding and giving the picture back to her and smiling at Mimi. Sophie skipped on back to the table and put the picture frame down on it and walked back but stopped about 8 feet away from the couch and cocked her head at Roger. He just gave her a small, very uncomfortable smile. Finally Sophie said
"You're my Dad?" Roger nodded.
"Yup I'm your Dad."
"So how come I've never seen you befow?"
"Sophie we've talked about this…" Mimi said.
"No it's alright." Roger replied.
"Um well Sophie when you care about somebody very much you want what's best for them right?" She nodded. "And a before you were the big girl you are today, when you were a baby, and a little girl, and even when you were still in Mommy's tummy I cared about you and your Mom very much. And I thought that the better thing to do for both of you was for me to not be here. I missed you both very much though."
"And now your Daddy and I both think that what's best for you is to have your Dad around." Mimi added.
"Is that okay with you Sophie?" Roger asked in a friendly tone. She nodded.
"You look like me." She said after a few moments. A thought immediately came into Roger's head, maybe he would be a good Dad after all.
"No I think that you look like me." He said teasingly. Sophie caught on to the game very quickly, smiled and shot back with
"No you look like me!" Roger chuckled.
"Nope you look like me."
"No you look like me!"
"No! You look like ME!"
"NOOooOO! YOU look like ME!" Sophie cried with a glow in her eyes and a shine in her smile and a giggly tone in her voice. She ran full speed towards Roger and jumped up into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck tightly. Roger's face immediately lit up and he wound his arms around his daughter's small body and held her close and tight to him and Mimi watched his expression change from shocked, to confused, to happy, to amazed, to finally seeing him smile broadly and a few tears fall from his eyes and in that moment, where Sophie and Roger were finally reunited, and when Mimi could tell that Sophie loved her father Mimi couldn't help but let a few joyful tears fall from her eyes too. Sophie pulled her face away from the nape of his neck and looked Roger in the eye, and put her hands on his cheeks gently. "Daddy why are you cwying?" She asked sincerely. Roger chuckled a bit.
"They're tears of happiness, I'm not sad."
"Oh." But Sophie still looked confused so Roger said
"Sometimes when you're REALLY happy or you REALLY love someone you cry a little bit."
"Oh." Sophie turned her head towards her Mom.
"Mommy you're crying too! Aw you both cwying because the person you wuv a lot is each other!?" Sophie asked winking, smiling, and raising her eyebrows making both of her parents laugh and shake their heads. "So Daddy, if youw not cwying because you wuv Mommy then why aw you cwying?" Roger chuckled lightly and put his hand on the back of Sophie's head, pulling her closer and leaning his forehead against hers.
"Because I love you." He whispered, letting a few tears fall. Mimi and Sophie both smiled and Sophie kissed Roger's nose
"I love you Daddy." She said.
"Soph why don't you go grab your jacket from your room and we'll head out." Mimi said wiping her eyes. Sophie nodded and crawled off of Roger's lap and into her room. "That went well, and it went quickly." Mimi said to Roger as they stood up.
"Yeah I didn't think she'd like me that much."
"It's pretty hard not to like you." Roger smiled and the 2 adults hugged and he smelled her hair.
"You do smell good." He said playfully.
"So do you." They both grinned and Sophie came bounding back into the room with her jacket on.
"I'm weady!" She cried. They all laughed and Mimi opened the door, as Sophie grabbed her Dad's hand and they walked on out to the car.
They arrived at the carnival in about an hour and 45 minutes, and parked. Sophie hopped out of the car and stood in between her parents as they walked, holding both of their hands. She got her mischievous facial expression on and took Mimi and Roger's hands and pulled them closer until they Sophie pushed them together so they were holding hands. "Sophie Marcella!" Mimi bent down to look her in the eye and began speaking firmly in Spanish, and then she stood up and the 3 kept walking.
"She knows Spanish?" Roger asked shocked.
"No she just knows that when I speak Spanish she's in trouble."
"Ah, hey Soph ya know what? Whenever your Mom used to speak Spanish to me it meant I was in trouble too." Roger winked at a smiling Mimi as Sophie giggled.
"Can we go take a picture with the giant pumpkin!?" She asked pointing towards a 6 foot high jack o lantern that photographer was taking pictures of families with.
"Sure." Mimi said. "Rog, c'mon."
"No, no just you two get in it."
"Roger get over here!" Mimi said.
"Please Daddy!" Roger sighed and headed over to the pumpkin.
"Okay what a pretty family here smile on the count of 3 ready 1, 2, 3!" The photographer called, snapping their picture and pointing them in the direction of the booth where you bought your picture and waving over the next group.
"Okay we'll take 2 in those frames." Roger said to the worker, pointing at a frame with the name and date of the carnival on it with many Halloween-y decorations on it.
"Sure." Roger paid and then handed them to Mimi to keep in her purse.
"Kay Soph what do you want to do next?" Mimi asked.
"Hmm I wanna play that game!" She cried pointing to the game where you throw a dart to pop black and orange balloons. They all headed over and Mimi pulled some money out of purse and paid the guy behind the counter. Roger pulled money out of his wallet and slid it into her purse, she shook her head.
"Take it please." He said but she shook her head.
"Mommy he said please!" Sophie exclaimed, Mimi smiled at her daughter and took the money into her hand and put it in her purse.
"Thanks." She said, he just smiled before lifting Sophie up and holding her while she threw the darts and popped some balloons and won a orange and black princess crown.
"Yay!" She cried as Mimi put the crown on her head. "Can we go sit I'm sorta tiwed." She said.
"Tired? Sophie we just got here!" Mimi exclaimed.
"I know I just wanna sit for a few minutes pwease." Sophie pouted at Roger and he smiled innocently at Mimi who rolled her eyes but nodded.
"Let's head to those picnic tables." Roger said pointing. They sat down at the table. Sophie sung softly to herself while she kicked her legs back and forth and Mimi and Roger talked quietly.
"So I was thinking maybe lunch here, dinner either at home or on the way home depends on when we leave." Mimi said.
"Sounds good. Um I just wanted to say thanks."
"Mhmm." Mimi gently ran her hand along Roger's. He took a deep breath and whispered.
"Look Mimi, I've been wondering about this for a while now. I just, I just need to know where we st…."
"Ferris wheel!" Sophie squealed pointing. Roger and Mimi both looked up at it. "I wanna go on!"
"Sophie just wait me and your Dad were talking."
"No, no it's okay Mimi. We'll talk later." Mimi nodded and the 3 headed over to the ferris wheel, and bought their tickets, stepping into line.
"When will it be our turn?" Sophie asked.
"Soon." Both her parents said in unison. A few minutes later they had moved up in line but as any 4 year old would be Sophie was getting pretty impatient.
"I want to go on NOW!" She whined, stomping her feet.
"Well it's not our turn yet." Mimi said .
"But Mommy!"
"Sophie we're just gonna have to wait a few more minutes." She said firmly. Sophie crossed her arms at her mother and made an angry face, and then a lightbulb went off in the bright little girl's mind and she turned towards her father, and gave him a good old Maureen Johnson pout.
"Da-ddy!" She whined. "I don't wanna wait I wanna go on the ferris wheel NOW." Roger took one look at her pretty little pout and pleading chocolate eyes and was hypnotized.
"Roger." Mimi whispered.
"Sophie it's not out turn yet." He said, trying to be as firm as Mimi had but he knew he had failed.
"But I wanna go on now."
"Well that's not gonna happen baby girl."
"I'm NOT baby girl I'm a BIG girl!" She cried angrily.
"I'm sorry. But it's not our turn." Roger said, growing impatient with the whininess in her voice and actually starting to sound assertive.
"BIG girls go on the ferris wheel when they want!" Sophie wailed.
"No. Big girls wait their turn." Roger said, Mimi smiled slightly as she watched how well Roger was handling this.
"I hate you Daddy!" Sophie spat out. Mimi saw Roger's face fall, and could have sworn she heard his heart break. He truly did look upset.
"Sophie Marcella Davis you apologize right now." Mimi said.
"No."
"Fine then we'll go home." Sophie pouted.
"I'm sowwy." She said teary eyed, grabbing a hold of Roger's jeans and clinging to his leg. Mimi nodded to Roger and he took the signal as an okay to run his hand through his daughter's hair and say
"It's okay." Finally it was their turn to get on the ferris wheel.
"Rog." Mimi said with a very thoughtful look on her face. "Mark told me this story about you getting sick on the ferris wheel at a high school carnival, he said you had like a severe phobia of heights. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah no sweat, that was like forever ago I'm sure I'll be fine." Roger lied, he knew very well that his fear of heights hadn't gone away, even just being back up in the loft the other day looking down was unsettling.
"Okay…" Mimi said skeptically as they sat down. There were 2 benches inside of their "cart", one on each side. Mimi slid into one and Sophie slid into the other and Roger went to sit down next to her.
"Can I sit by myself?" She asked. Roger nodded and sat next to Mimi, pulling down the safety bar on Sophie's side first and then on theirs, their knees touching. "Up, up and away!" Sophie cheered as they started to move. Roger took a deep breath and let it out, closing his eyes gently.
"You okay?" Mimi asked as they moved upward. He nodded. They went about ¾ of a circle around when Sophie asked.
"Daddy why are your eyes closed?"
"I um, I like closing my eyes." Sophie cocked her eyebrow but as they slowed down near the top of the wheel she was more caught up in everything she could see from their height. They finally stopped at the tippy top. "Oh boy." Roger said when it came to a full stop. "How long are we gonna be up here?"
"Like 2 minutes. It's okay Rog." Mimi said, giggling a bit.
"Not funny." Roger muttered.
"Oh yes it is." Mimi put her hand on Roger's shoulder and squeezed gently, she continued rubbing his shoulder and running her hand along his back until she felt his breathing become easier. "It's okay Roger, just relax." She whispered in his ear, grabbing his hand. She could feel his pulse racing. "Open your eyes."
"No way."
"Please?"
"Nope."
"Daddy she said please!" Sophie exclaimed. Roger chuckled and slowly opened his eyes. He was speechless, his eyes wide in fear, as he looked down.
"Oh god." He said putting a hand on his stomach.
"Close em." Mimi said, he quickly shut his eyes and felt Mimi's arm around his shoulder, and her other hand was lightly moving up and down his leg.
"Can we get down?"
"It's not our turn yet Daddy. We have to be patient and wait ow turn wight?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah Daddy, wait your turn." Mimi said softly and playfully. Roger smiled and reached for her hand. She gently traced her fingers along his neck, feeling his pulse slow down.
"Daddy it's not that scary." Sophie said. "I like it up here!" She added happily.
"I'm glad." Mimi chuckled. Finally the cart lurched and the wheel began turning again. "Thank god." Roger muttered. The 3 hopped off of the wheel and Sophie exclaimed
"I'm starving!"
"Well let's go grab some food then." Mimi said. They headed over to the food stands.
"I want lasagna." Sophie said.
"Soph I don't think they have that." Mimi replied.
"Do you like cheeseburgers?" Roger asked. Sophie nodded. "You want one? And some French fries?" She nodded again. "Okay, Meems you're getting a hot dog?" Roger asked.
"How'd you know?"
"You love hot dogs." Mimi smiled at Roger's good memory and nodded.
"And 2 waters."
"Okay you 2 go sit down I'll order."
"You're only doing that so that you can pay." Mimi said.
"Yeah, what's your point?" He asked Mimi smiled and her and Sophie walked over the picnic tables and sat down while Roger got the food. They all ate quickly, and pretty quietly, Sophie gently humming to herself while Roger playfully kicked Mimi under the table. Sophie picked up her cheeseburger and it accidentally slipped, causing the ketchup that was on it to slide over her arm and onto the table, the rest of the burger falling on the ground. "Oh Soph you want me to get you a new one?" Roger asked.
"No thank you I'm full."
"You sure?" She nodded. Mimi giggled at her daughter's ignorance of her ketchup coated arm and then stood up.
"I'll get you some napkins." Roger just smiled brightly at his daughter when out of the corner of his eyes he saw a young, brunette, attractive man approach Mimi at the utensil cart. He watched carefully. The guy obviously cracked a joke because he smiled and Mimi laughed. They talked for about another minute before the guy pulled a pen out of his pocket and began writing down his number and Mimi accepted it happily. Roger's heart sunk and his jaw dropped.
"I'm sowwy." Sophie said. Roger turned back towards her
"What?"
"I'm sorry I spilled." That's when Roger noticed that Sophie's dress was drenched and a big puddle of water was dripping from the table to the ground, and her empty water bottle was laying on it's side.
"Oh kiddo don't sweat it." Roger said giggling.
"I'm not sweating, that's water." Sophie said making Roger brake into hysterics. She looked at him like he had 3 heads so he puffed out his cheeks and pulled out his ears making a monkey face, and his daughter crack up.
"What's so funny?" Mimi asked returning with napkins, putting the piece of small paper with the guy's number down next to Roger with her purse and cleaning Sophie up.
"Nothing we're just laughing at that dork you were just talking to." He replied.
"Jealous?"
"Nope." Mimi looked at him.
"Is everybody done?" They both nodded and began piling up the garbage. "Anything else?" Mimi asked. Roger stealthily slipped the phone number inside a folded napkin and put it in the pile and Mimi was about to carry it away when she saw it and held it up, and then whispered in Roger's ear. "I was gonna throw it out anyway."
"Throw what away?" Roger asked, pretending to not know what she was talking about. She smiled and he winked as she threw the garbage away.
They stayed at the carnival for about 3 more hours, playing games, watching shows, taking pictures, and on rides. The last thing that Sophie had chosen to do was ride the kiddie train, so she hopped in line while Mimi and Roger waited outside of the gate. "You're really good at this Roger. To be honest, you're better than I thought you would be."
"Thanks. She's perfect, you did a good job. God she's so beautiful."
"She loves you."
"Who doesn't?" He asked with a fake smugness. Mimi laughed and asked
"So are we gonna eat back at my place?"
"Whatever you want, you know I don't have to stick around and eat with you guys if you don't…."
"No. No it's fine." Mimi replied, Roger nodded tensely. Mimi suddenly reached for Roger's hand at looked at it. "You haven't played in a while." She said.
"Hm?"
"Your guitar, you haven't played it in a while, your hands aren't very callused."
"Oh, oh yeah. I've been writing a lot of stuff, just not playing it. I used to have the music and not have lyrics and now I have lyrics and no music." Mimi laughed. "I wrote a lot of stuff about today. How nervous I was, well am."
"How are you still nervous? It's obvious that she loves you Roger."
"Well, I dunno what if I screw up? Not just now but the rest of her life."
"You're so nervous Rog but what you don't realize is that everybody screws up with their kid once in a while, everyone makes mistakes." Roger just nodded and waved to Sophie as she passed by. Mimi giggled while Sophie waved back and smiled.
"What should I get her for her birthday?" Roger asked suddenly.
"What? Rog it's like 3 months away!"
"It's actually 89 days away, that's not too far away."
"You're really starting to bug me with how nervous you're getting about this stuff." Roger looked at her with a slightly panicked look on his face.
"Oh I, I I'm sorry." He said quickly and nervously. Mimi chuckled
"I'm kidding but can you please like chillax?"
"Chillax?" He asked with his eyebrows raised. "I like that word. Chillax. Mimi just chillax." He said mockingly.
"Shut up." She said smiling. Sophie bounded over to them
"Okay I'm ready to go home." Both her parents nodded and the 3 of them got in the car and drove back to the city.
"So I guess I'll just make some pasta if that's okay?" Mimi asked as they walked into the apartment door.
"I can make it Mimi." Roger said as Sophie tugged on his hand.
"No Daddy you have to come play dolls with me!" She exclaimed.
"Oh okay." The 2 headed into Sophie's room and Mimi started cooking.
"I was reaaaaaaaaaaal scared and newvous about meeting you today Daddy, my fwend Cawly's Dad isn't vewy nice so I thought you wewen't gonna be vewy nice but I was wrong you aw." Sophie said, the 2 were sitting on the floor in front of her dollhouse, and Sophie's doll was riding the horse that Roger was moving across the "lawn".
"Thank you Sophie. But you know what I was kind of scared of meeting you too." Roger admitted.
"Why? Do you have another daughter who isn't very nice?" Roger laughed.
"Ha no I don't have another daughter." Roger paused. "Well I hope I don't." He muttered. "Well anyway I wasn't scared you weren't going to be nice I thought you weren't going to like me very much."
"Why wouldn't I like you!?" Sophie asked very surprised.
"Well I dunno, I didn't think I was very good with kids, I thought I would make you sad or something."
"Well you don't. I like you." Roger chuckled.
"And I like you." They played in silence for a few more seconds before Sophie got a thoughtful look on her face and said.
"Are you in love with my Mommy?" Roger gulped and looked at his daughter. He thought carefully how to answer this, and he was about to just say no when Sophie piped up "It's not nice to lie." With her sweet, smile and innocent eyes.
"Well um." He thought some more. "I love your Mom. We're friends, I love all of my friends, like Uncle Mark, I love him." Roger thought that maybe bringing Mark into it would help change the subject, and not using the term in love could help the situation but of course Sophie was too smart for his tricks.
"Yeah but are IN love with her?" Roger took a very deep breath and whispered.
"Yeah. I am." Roger immediately regretted saying it as soon as he saw the excited look on her face. He didn't want her to get hyped up about him and Mimi to get let down if Mimi didn't feel the same way. "But um how about you, you got a boyfriend? You in love?" Roger asked quickly.
"Mommy says I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend."
"But you have one anyway don't you?" He asked smirking at her.
"Maybe. YES! His name's Ethan!" Sophie exclaimed and Roger laughed and the two continued playing with the dollhouse.
Mimi was pouring the pasta when there was a small knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to find Mark, camera in hand.
"Hey, how's he doing?" He asked.
"Really good, there in her room playing dolls." Mark snorted and laughed.
"Roger Davis, dolls? Mind if I…?" He asked holding up the camera up. Mimi opened the door and Mark headed inside and towards Sophie's room. She followed him and watched as he quietly snuck in and filmed for about 3 minutes before Roger turned his head.
"Hey!" He called. Mark was laughing.
"Uncle Mark!" Sophie cried running and hugging his legs.
"Roger can you make that very nice horse sound again!?" Mark asked in between laughs. Roger rolled his eyes.
"You wanna mock me for this, let's go discuss a certain photograph mister Christmas tree." The 2 men headed out to look at the picture while Mimi bent down and smoothed over Sophie's hair.
"You having fun with your Dad babe?" She asked. Sophie nodded.
"And guess what!?"
"What?" Mimi asked.
"Daddy said he's in love with you." Mimi didn't say anything.
"Honey I don't th…"
"NO! He said it I swear! 1st he said that he loved you cause he loves all his friends but then I asked him if he was in love with you and he said yes I swear! And then we talked about my secret boyfriend Ethan!" Sophie put her hand over her mouth when she realized what she said and Mimi giggled.
"Don't worry hon, I think maybe as long as you don't sneak out with him at night Ethan can be your boyfriend."
"Oh then we won't sneak out, maybe when I'm a little older like when I'm 5." Mimi laughed at her daughter's seriousness and heard the stove timer go off and they headed out into the living room all the while Mimi couldn't stop thinking about what Sophie had told her.
"Mark you wanna stay for dinner, well sorry if it's okay with Meems." Roger said.
"Sure." She said, as she filled plates with spaghetti.
"Oh no, I was just going out to film a little over in little Italy."
"But why go there when we have little Italy right here?" Roger asked holding a plate of spaghetti up.
"Yeah please stay Uncle Mark!"
"Okay." They all sat down and began eating. They talked and laughed. Roger was getting red sauce all over his face and Mimi started laughing, taking a napkin and gently wiping off his face. Mark watched the chemistry in their eyes when they looked at each other and smiled.
"Uncle Mark I showed Daddy the picture from Christmas of you!" Sophie cried.
"You did? I look pretty silly don't I?"
"Yeah you're wearing the same shirt you're wearing in that picture of you holding me when I was a tiny baby! Mommy can I see a picture of Daddy holding me when I was a baby!?" Sophie asked excitedly. Mark and Mimi and Roger's jaws all dropped and Roger dropped his fork and Mark watched his eyes slowly fill with tears. Mimi was about to say something to Sophie when her daughter exclaimed. "Daddy are you gonna cwy?!"
"Um, uh no baby I'm just I have allergies I'm gonna run to the bathroom for some medicine." He said getting up. Once he shut the door Mark got up to follow him.
"Uncle Mark Daddy's a big boy I don't think he needs help on the potty!" Sophie said.
"Oh yeah but he might not know where the medicine is." Mark said walking into the bathroom and shutting the door. Roger was leaning over the counter, crying. "Hey, don't worry about it Rog." Mark said, rubbing his friend's back. "It's okay."
"NO! It's not okay! There's no photo in this world of me holding my daughter as a baby and there never will be! Because I wasn't there!" Roger whisper-yelled trying not to be too loud, hot tears streaming down his red face.
"But you're here now Roger. And she loves you, you're a great Dad, I've been here for 20 minutes and I can see it. I can see that she loves you, and that you love her. You love both of them."
"I do. I do love both of them. But my scrapbooks from when I was a kid, from when you were a kid, everybody's scrapbooks are filled with 10 pages of everyone holding them when they were born. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Cousins twice removed, parents' best friends, siblings, and parents. Mom and Dad, holding their kid. And…."
"So a page, a picture of her scrapbook will be missing Rog. Big deal! You love her and you're here now, that is ALL that matters! She's 4 years old, she just wanted to see a picture, it doesn't make a difference to her if that picture's there or not!"
"But when she's 16 she'll know, she'll get it and she'll hate me." Roger said quietly.
"You know, I've never raised a kid before but I'm pretty sure you're gonna hear the words 'I hate you' a billion times when she's a teenager. Or when you don't give her ice cream, or you get her the wrong Barbie doll, or god knows when else you'll hear it! You'll hear it all the time!"
"I already heard it once and I don't know if I can take hearing it again!"
"Well you have to Roger. Look I'm gonna head out, you're an awesome guy, a great Dad, and if you talk to Mimi you could leave tonight being a wonderful boyfriend. Good luck man." Roger and him butted knuckles.
"Thanks." Mark smiled and waved to Mimi and Sophie and left and Roger quickly splashed his face with some water and walked back out.
"Aw you okay Daddy?" Sophie asked running to Roger and into his arms. He kissed her cheek
"Yeah sweetie I'm fine." Sophie smiled her brilliantly beautiful smile and rested her head on her Dad's chest.
"You wanna watch a movie Soph, before bed?" Mimi asked. Sophie nodded.
"I should…" Roger began.
"You can stay, I'd like it if you did." Mimi said.
"Okay, sure." They put in the movie and all sat down on the couch. Sophie crawled, sucking her thumb into Mimi's lap, who ran her hand through her daughter's hair. A little while into the movie Roger subtly looked at them. This was how he wanted things to be. Him and his 2 girls. Mimi saw him looking out of the corner of her eye and turned towards him and gave him a small smile, still stroking Sophie's hair. Roger smiled largely back and nodded his head toward Sophie. Mimi looked down and chuckled quietly, her daughter was fast asleep.
"Bedtime." Mimi whispered and Roger nodded. Mimi lifted up her daughter who stirred a bit.
"No Mommy the movie isn't over." She muttered sleepily.
"Oh but it's been a long day sweetheart we can watch it in the morning."
"Did Daddy leave?" Sophie asked since her eyes were still closed.
"No Sophie I'm right here." Roger whispered, standing up.
"Goodnight Daddy." She whispered, waving as Mimi carried her to her room.
"Goodnight." He said waving back. Roger began picking up dishes and bringing them to the sink and washing them and in a few minutes Mimi came back out, quietly shutting Sophie's door behind her.
"You don't have to do that." She said but Roger shook his head. "Roger please it's fine, leave it." She said gently taking the plate he was rinsing out of his hands. Roger got lost in her eyes for a few moments before finally saying nervously.
"I um I guess that I should leave now I guess." Mimi shrugged. Roger got his jacket and slipped it over his shoulders. "But I've gotta know something before I leave Mimi." She looked at him. "I um, I just don't know um…uh. Where do we stand Meems?"
"Hm?"
"What are we? Me and you."
"I don't know."
"Are we something, are we nothing, are we together, are we…."
"I don't know. But I think that might want to be." Mimi said shyly.
"And I know I wanna be." Roger replied, walking towards her and gently taking her hand.
"I don't know." Mimi said pulling her hand away.
"I think that you do. I think you know." Roger said, taking hold of both her hands. "You may not like what you want but you know what you want. And I'm not gonna pressure you about anything and if you want me to go I'll go…"
"No don't go. Please don't go." Mimi rested her hands on his chest and lifted her face towards his and he lowered his slowly. They both rested their foreheads on each other's and looked deeply into each other's eyes for about 5 seconds, breathing nervously. Mimi lifted her head some more, noses touching lips just barely an inch before and remained like that for a few more seconds until both of them in unison dove into each other's lips furiously, lips moving, tongues swirling, his arms holding her tightly around her waist, her hands over his shoulders, pulling him towards her. They both felt fire, and saw fireworks as they passionately shared the 1st kiss they had, had in 4 years. Mimi pulled him closer and slowly and gently began pushing him back towards the bedroom, and pushed him against the door once they were inside and had closed the door, and began running her hands under his shirt, and lifting it up slowly
"Mhmm Meems." Roger said, stopping her hands and then quickly pulled away from her and held both of her hands, softly running his thumbs over her hands. "Mimi, you know that I love you. But you don't think this is kind of fast?" Mimi kissed him again.
"Nothing we haven't done before." She said. Roger thought about this and replied
"Good point." Mimi smiled and they continued to kiss him until she pushed him down on the bed and they lifted her shirt over her head, leaving her in her tank top. Roger ran his hands over her bare shoulders and arms and then began lifting up her tank top when a cry interrupted them.
"Help! Mommy help!" Mimi sighed and fell on top of Roger's chest. He stroked her hair,
"Do you want me to…?"
"Could you?" Mimi asked.
"Sure." Roger said, both of them sitting up. Roger headed into Sophie's room
"Help! Help!" She screamed and he gently jogged in and kneeled down next to her bed.
"Sophie, Sophie honey I'm here." He said gently, grabbing her hand.
"You're not Mommy!"
"It's Daddy Soph, what's wrong?" Roger laid next to her on the bed, and stroked her hair, like he always did to Mimi way back when, whenever she was upset. She continued crying, and crawled into his lap, burying her face in his chest.
"I had a bad dream again." She sobbed.
"Do you remember what it was about?"
"I was here all alone. Mommy said she was going shopping but she never came back and I was here all by myself and the monsters came!" She wailed.
"Sophie, monsters aren't real. And listen to me, you're never going to be alone okay? We'll always be here for you."
"You've never been here before until now." She whispered.
"I'm here now. And I'll be here forever."
"Pinky promise?"
"Yeah." They linked pinkies and Roger kissed the top of her head and fixed her covers around her. "I love you." He whispered, as he watched her eyes close and her fall into a deep sleep. "I never told you until today, I never knew you until today but I love you Sophie Marcella. I love you." He whispered before walking out, to find Mimi in the kitchen, doing dishes. "I'm gonna head out." He said, she nodded and walked over to him.
"You're a good Dad."
"You're a good Mom. And she's a great girl." Mimi smiled and kissed him tenderly.
"Goodnight." She whispered. He touched her cheek gently
"I love you Mimi, I never stopped."
"I know. And I love you." He kissed her cheek and headed out the door, looking back and saying before closing it
"Mimi, tha…"
"Do NOT thank me one more time Roger." He smiled.
"Well I really appreciate this 2nd chance. I really do." She smiled back.
"Goodnight Roger."