Author's post: Enjoy this very special story. Dedicated to an old friend. Congrats to you.
Her name was Elise. Just like her name, she was very beautiful and Jake Muller loved her with all his heart. She was petite, with dirty blonde hair, had a plump porcelain face and long lashes that complemented her snow blue eyes.
"I hate you!"
But, she always did get on his bad side.
"Like I care! Big whoop!" Jake hollered at the girl as she slammed the bedroom door.
"Who does she think she is?! The fuckin' queen?!" Jake snorted and grabbed a banana out of the fruit basket. Eating any fruit always did calm the nerves. But earlier in the day, she took the last apple that was in the fridge, and ate it right in front of him out of spite.
This was a very repetitive fight; it always occurred whenever he had to leave for a mission DSO gave him. And Elise would always dig through his travel pack to throw his clothes around the house to delay him from leaving. It was an odd and irritating habit Jake had to get used to.
He found himself always sad and disappointed in himself with the way she turned out. She was way too sensitive about living creatures, so sometimes Elise brought home stray animals. Dirty cats, rowdy and smelly dogs, it got bad to the point she brought home a coyote on accident thinking it was a rare type of dog.
He was also bummed out how the way she dressed was very… similar to him. Black combat boots, long loose socks, dark colored shorts, long sleeves, gothic belts, and suspenders turned out to be her iconic fashion statement. Elise always donated the 'girly' clothes he bought her.
To be honest, it was so much easier when he spoiled Sherry, his partner in crime; his gorgeous girlfriend. Sherry loved him, she was always grateful for the love he gave, more than what their job could provide. Sure, his job asked a lot and made him take trips outside the country to put a bullet in someone's head, but she welcomed him home with open arms. In short, he missed having her around.
However in his heart, Jake couldn't help but love Elise too.
"Knock knock! Anyone home?" A woman's voice was heard from outside their doorstep.
A sigh of relief struck Jake as he opened the front door. "Hallelujah. I'm safe."
"Is there trouble between you two already?" The lovely sophisticated brunette walked in with her packed bags and dropped it to the floor. "What happened?"
"Well, why don't you ask the miserable princess herself." He scoffed and leaned to the side, getting ready to grab his travel bag and get the hell out of the apartment; he was at wits end with the girl.
The older woman knocked on the door, eyeing Jake for being so heartless. "Elise sweetie… its Aunt Claire. Come out already, I'm already here and I brought you more books to read."
"Sono felice che ti trovi. Ti amo più di lui!" Her tiny voice was muffled through the bedroom door and Jake seethed at her statement.
Claire giggled and turned to him surprised with the seven year-olds spot on European accent. "What'd she say?"
"Its Italian. She said, 'I'm happy you're here. I love you more than him.'" The thought of Elise loving her aunt more, pained him, but it was inevitable considering she did favor the women in her life than the men. He put up a face as if he didn't care… but-
"Fascinating. It always amazes me that she inherited that learning ability from you." Claire softly looked at Jake. "Last week she was speaking Spanish to Leon!"
"Yeah well… she learns everyday." He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Listen. I got to go and catch my flight. Thanks for taking care of her while I'm gone. DSO might hammer me again for being late on the debrief and-"
"Why don't you just leave the game already? Enough is enough Jake." Claire shut the front door before he could leave. "Elise needs her dad around…" He paused and avoided eye contact with her. Leaving the only job he grew up doing was asking a lot from him. It was his escape route and he only knew how to do the dirty work.
"She actually needs a lady in the household. But I'm not looking for one." He harshly whispered out of respect for Sherry. He was faithful, and accepted that his heart only belonged to her.
"I'm leaving Jake. You do your job as a dad and comfort her." Claire put her foot down and started heading out. "… Just ask yourself, what would Sherry do?" She flashed him a cheesy smile and shut the front door.
Indeed, what exactly would Sherry do? He furiously scratched his head and spotted a picture of Sherry on the refrigerator door. He gazed softly and placed his hand over her face. "Your daughter's acting up again… what do I do?" Jake grabbed her photo and sat down on the small dining table in the kitchen.
Thanks to Sherry, their daughter was growing up to be beautiful, fearless, and extremely caring. And Elise grew up to be a special child different from all kids; she was fast at learning skills, language and academia through demonstration. The only downside was that her healing abilities ostracized her from the other kids in school. It was strange to see a child fall in the play ground and their cuts would magically close up right before the human eye. When she got called a freak, Jake just called her a superhero and took her out of school; no daughter of his should be insulted. Now Elise loved to learn on her own, so Sherry would buy her books to home school her. But they both regretted taking her social life; if anything Sherry wanted their little girl to be surrounded by other kids her age. It was unavoidable to become normal, since crazy ran from both sides of the family.
Here Jake was, moping how his daughter loved Claire more than him; it wasn't fair. He brought home the bacon, he spoiled her with books, clothes, and other riches most parents couldn't even buy. What was he doing wrong that was making Elise despise him as she grew older.
He needed Sherry around to help him with that.
Claire was right, he needed to be out of the BOW game and focus on raising a child. Elise already lost one parent – even though he wished it were him instead of Sherry – she doesn't deserve to lose another in the bioterrorist war. If only he had stopped her from going on that one last mission before becoming a full time mother, she would be sitting here at home taking care of Elise.
Jake's biggest regret however is that he didn't marry her. He didn't want to tie the knot just yet in fear that Sherry would find someone else while he was gone. But being the ultimate woman she was, Sherry was faithful, patient with Jake's choice to grow up first and travel from country to country for his job. To show that she loved him, Sherry named their daughter on a play after his mother's name, Ellie.
Jake looked at Sherry's picture and made a soft smile. Its only been a year since her death, and he felt stupid for not leaving the game earlier.
"Yeah yeah I know. I know you're calling me an idiot for always sending Claire and Leon in to take care of her." He scoffed at the tingly feeling he felt in the air. "No worries super girl, I got this."
Jake came home an hour later with a open box in his hands and looked to see if Elise was still locked up in her room. After a few more hours, she popped her head out from the door and scanned the apartment only finding that her dad was sitting at the table with a home cooked meal and a huge piece of German chocolate cake sitting out with her name on it.
"You didn't go to work?" She shyly asked, surprised that he was still home instead of her aunt.
"Nah, I plan on quitting anyway. But I'd rather have them fire me." Jake yawned and started playing with the table knife out of boredom
Suddenly, Elise unconsciously found herself ravenous from the heavenly aroma in the air. But she was too stubborn to even step out of the room.
"Well, are you just gonna stand there and be angry, or are you going to join your dear old dad for a meal?" Jake smirked at his young daughter and started chuckling to irritate her.
"I don't need dinner!" She spitefully yelped and crossed her arms.
"Really now…" He rolled his eyes and smiled anyway knowing very well Elise's weakness was chocolate, after all, it was Sherry's weakness too. "So I'm guessing this is up for grabs…" Jake started to slowly pull in the plate of cake towards him.
"No! That's mine!" Elise gave in to temptation and ran up to the kitchen table trying to grab the plate of cake. But right before she could take it, he snatched it away and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Not so fast, young lady. Lets make a deal." Elise obediently waited for the catch. Jake raised a brow in amusement, realizing his daughter definitely inherited his greedy personality, but was grateful when most of her genetic traits came from Sherry. "Wash your hands and eat all of your vegetables at the table. Non-negotiable." Elise nodded and rushed to the bathroom.
He loved watching her eat his cooking, she was a monster when she inhaled her vegetables. And it was no surprise that she sneakily spat all her peas in the napkin, pretending that she was wiping her mouth. But Jake let it slide… Seven year olds aren't supposed to like veggies anyway.
"Can I have cake now…?" Her voice chimed through his ears like heaven and he couldn't help but crack a smile. Her voice was much like Sherry's, just more whimsical and immature, and more childish.
Jake slid the plate towards her side and carefully placed the fork in her hand. "Eat slow, alright?" She happily nodded and dug right in to the chocolaty goodness.
After watching her be the messy monster she was, he spoke. "Elise, why do you give me such a hard time?" Jake leaned on his arm, still amazed how much her tiny stomach can hold.
She paused from eating her cake and made a frown. "You always leave me." His eyes widened at her blunt answer. "When I wake up, you're not even home." He noticed Elise's eyes were getting watery. "I-I don't like being alone anymore… Mommy didn't come home when I woke up one day. Un-Uncle Leon told me she went to heaven." Jake's heart clenched up as he watched his daughter break down about her mother. He gently grabbed and carried her in his arms.
"Mom flew up above so she could always have her eye on you.…" He cradled her in a hug and slowly rocked her from side to side. "Your ma is a super hero after all." Jake chuckled and rubbed her back to calm down. She just ringed her little arms around his neck and laid her head over his shoulder.
"Wh-What if y-you don't come home one day? W-Will I be alone forever?" He tightened his grip around her.
"Hey! Don't say that kiddo…" Jake wiped her eyes and watched her hiccup. "Dad's built like a tank. Nothing can slow me down from coming home to you."
"…And mom was a super hero after all…" She wittily quoted him
Jake narrowed his eyes at his clever daughter and shook it off. "Point is, I'm always going to come home to you. I mean for chrissake, who else would tolerate your temper tantrums?" He joked and set her down back on the chair to finish her cake.
She grinned showing the fudgy residue marks stuck between her teeth, indicating she was fine now.
It finally hit him; this was his life and he rejected it for too long. It was time to start fresh and live his life for someone else now; live for something more valuable and priceless than anything.
Jake bent down and smoothed her hair, smiling lovingly at his gorgeous child. He skimmed his thumbs on both sides of her face. Those short gold locks suited her oval face, long lashes, pretty pink lips, pixie sized nose, doll colored skin, and that sweet innocent vibe emanated through the room. But he observed her eyes closely; realizing they were the color of his instead of Sherry's. He smiled. "We're going to make some changes around here alright? From now on, its me and you, you and me against the world kiddo."
'You should really look at her supergirl, thank God she's a splitting image of you…'
"Changes?"
"For one, this place seems too big for you and I." He switched on all the lights in the apartment to make it brighter. "It could use some liveliness around here…" Jake grabbed the open box from the counter and brought it to his daughter.
Elise curiously looked inside and yelped in glee. "She's so cute!" She grabbed the small sleepy beagle out of the box. Elise cupped the little dog on her lap and gently cuddled with her. She glowed in excitement and looked at her father in appreciation.
"Here's the deal. If you wanna keep her, you have three conditions to follow. First don't bring home those damn- I mean! – those strays from the street anymore. They smell and I don't like it." He waved his finger. She hesitated and nodded in defeat.
"Second, I don't think your mom would like you to wear these types of clothes…" He tugged on her ripped black sweater and poked her dirty old boots. "You're a girl, I need you to dress like one."
"I'm willing to renegotiate." Elise raised a brow and giggled. "You wear them, so I wear them." Jake was baffled at his daughter's defensive claim and just grunted with a flustered face.
"Third, we need to enroll you back in school. Private or public, whatever. What are you, in preschool right?"
"I'm seven dad."
"Right, right. Kindergar-"
"Second grade!" She corrected.
"Whatever! Thing is, you cant stay at home anymore… even though I'd like to keep you locked up from the crazy shitty- I mean - cruel world." He coughed off the cursing and covered his daughter's ears for a brief moment to shut out the bad words. Now that he was going to be a full time parent, he had to learn to tone down his potty mouth.
She made a mild scowling face, thinking about the deal, and finally gave in. "You drive a hard bargain daddy… but I'll take it." She laid out her hand for a handshake. Jake snorted and shook her tiny hand. "Can I call Aunt Claire to come over and play with the new puppy and I?"
"Huh? Sure, sure. Go nuts." He handed Elise his cell phone and she ran away giggling to her room with her new pet. She mumbled away, calling the little beagle pet names saying how cute she is and how she'll dress her up with clothes.
Jake sighed in relief and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, thinking he earned it from his parenting lesson. He sat down on the couch, rested his eyes and lifted his beer up as a toast. "Job well done." Jake blinked and noticed he still had his gun and badge attached to his belt. He took them off and threw it in one of the drawers in the end table. After all, he was going to request a desk job now at DSO, one where he could make his own hours and work from home.
He noticed another photo propped up next to the lamp; one with Sherry carrying a younger Elise to reach the monkey bars on the park playground. Leon took the picture since he accompanied them to the park, because Jake was most likely doing dirty work in another country. He made a sad yet accomplished smile. "I did good, didn't I babe?"
Jake was shaken from his thoughts suddenly when he heard pitter patter sounds on the wooden floor. He was taken aback when Elise tackled him on the couch and hugged him tightly. "I love you…" Out of nowhere he felt her little lips kiss his cheek, making the same smacking sound Sherry made whenever she planted one on him.
Jake couldn't help but hug his little girl back. Its been awhile since someone said those three words to him, let alone with a sweet innocent kiss, and it felt rejuvenating to hear it coming from his daughter. "Me too kiddo." She then let him go and ran back to her room. He turned and watched her laugh and play around with her new dog from afar and breathed out in satisfaction.
"I cant believe that girl is mine. She's beautiful, Sherry. I can't say that enough." Jake chuckled and took a huge swig of his beer, looking at her photo. He then felt a cooled chill caressing his face, and he soaked that stimulating feeling in- knowing it was probably Sherry, comforting him. "I'll show you super girl. Just sit back, and watch my new partner take on the world with me."