Jordy woke up in her 'bedroom' after hearing a sudden clap of thunder. Right now it was pretty barren, but Randy had promised to take her shopping tomorrow. She glanced at her watch that was on the night stand and groaned, it was only 2 am. Jordy took a deep breath, she was wide awake now and there was no way that she could go back to sleep. Honestly, the room was too dark and big for her taste. Then there was the creaking of the branch against her window. She gasped as the lights flickered from the sudden clap of thunder. Jordy pulled her knees to her chest and took a deep breath. She wasn't supposed to leave her room, after bedtime if her mom had someone over. Did that apply to Randy? Jordy didn't want her mom to get mad at her, especially if it was over a guy. She started to cry, this was scary. Then another clap of thunder shook the house and she took off downstairs. Randy looked up and saw her flying down the stairs and smiled. He had forgotten how scared little kids could get. She ran into the kitchen and sat at one of the chairs with her head down. Randy got up and walked over towards the kitchen. "Jordy?" She looked up at him scared and began backing away from him.
"I'm uh, I'm sorry," she stammered. "I'll go back upstairs now." She made a move to get past him, but he stopped her and knelt down. He stroked her hair which was now in pigtails.
"It's ok, baby. Were you scared?" Jordy looked at the floor she hated to admit that she was scared. He pulled her close and rubbed her back. "It's just a storm, it will pass." Jordy nodded. She didn't know what to make of Randy. None of her mom's other 'friends' ever treated her like this. "You wanna go back to bed now?" Jordy didn't know what to say, that room was too scary and she wouldn't be able go to sleep. She looked at the floor. Randy picked her up in his arms. "How about we get you some milk and you watch TV down here with me?" Jordy looked at him and shook her head.
"I don't want to bother you." Randy laughed.
"You're my kid, you could never bother me. Now what do you say?" Jordy took a deep breath and nodded. Randy set her on the counter and watched her as she drank her milk. He grimaced at how nervous she looked. She was tense and glancing around every five seconds, what's wrong with her? He sighed. "Jordy, sweetie what's wrong, are you still scared?" Jordy looked away. "Please talk to me, I just want to help you if I can." Jordy looked into his eyes, there was something trustworthy about him.
"I can't say, Mama will get mad." Randy widened his eyes. She finished and hopped off the counter to place her glass in the sink. He frowned when she started washing it. He grabbed the glass out of her hand and set her back on the counter.
"We can wash that tomorrow." Jordy shook her head and hopped back off.
"No, I'm supposed to wash a dish that I use." Randy sighed and rolled his eyes. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the living room. "Please let me down so I can wash the glass. I'll get into trouble if I don't." Randy shook his head.
"Nope. You're gonna sit here with me and watch TV." Jordy sat back and pouted. It made Randy uneasy to see her pout like that over washing a glass. She wasn't a servant. He turned the TV down and turned to her. "Can you tell me the rules?" Jordy looked at him funny.
"Don't you know them?" Randy shook his head and pouted.
"Please tell me so I don't get into trouble too?" Jordy giggled at his silliness and shrugged.
"Ok, um when you use a dish you have to wash it. No going out without telling someone where you're going. Come straight home after school. Don't talk back. Clean up after yourself. No swearing. After bedtime no leaving your room." Randy listened intently as she rattled off the rules with the last one catching his attention.
"Why can't you leave your room after bedtime?" Jordy shrugged.
"Mama has guy friends over sometimes. She gets really mad if I come out when they're around." Randy sighed it was all clicking now.
"Is that why you were scared when I caught you in the kitchen?" She nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry, please don't tell Mama," she almost had tears in her eyes and it broke Randy's heart. He pulled her close.
"Jordy, that rule is no longer a rule ok?" Jordy's eyes got wide. "If you're scared or want a drink you come get it ok?" She just stared at him like a deer in the head lights. "You forget that I'm your new daddy, I make just as many rules as mommy." Jordy gave him a soft smile.
"Are you sure?" Randy nodded.
"If she says something, you tell her that I said it was ok." Jordy nodded shyly. This wasn't going to work. She lay back on Randy's chest and watched TV. A few hours later they were both fast asleep on the couch.
Emily Connor-Orton stretched as she woke up. She glanced over at Randy's side of the bed and noticed it was empty. He's probably watching TV, he does that sometimes because he's used to traveling late at night instead of sleeping. Slowly she got out of bed and hopped into the shower letting the water run over her small frame. Life was so good for her these days. Her job had let her transfer here, she had her special baby, and her new husband. God had been good. Life wasn't easy for her after Jordy was born, she had to scratch, claw, and fight to get where she was and she was determined to teach her daughter that same self sufficient no holds barred way of living.
Once out of the shower she pulled her hair into a tight bun and threw on jeans and a tank top ready to start the day. She walked down the hall into Jordy's room and looked around. It was empty. Panic set in and she quickly ran down the stairs. She took a deep breath when she saw Jordy asleep on Randy's chest. Warm sensations filled her body as she looked at the scene. She had finally found a daddy for her baby. She walked over and kissed Randy and pulled Jordy into her arms. "Good morning Babe." Randy stirred.
"A good morning it is." He stood up and stretched. "I got my two girls, I'm the luckiest man alive." Randy kissed Emily while Jordy scrunched her nose.
"I'm going to go and make us some breakfast while you go and a get a shower." Randy nodded.
"Then I'll take Jordy here to decorate her room and get some uniforms." Jordy sighed, she hated the idea of uniforms. Randy kissed Emily and pecked Jordy on the cheek before running upstairs.
"Morning Mama," Jordy said rubbing her eyes from her new perch on the counter. Emily walked over to her.
"You and I are going to talk, what did I tell you about leaving your room after I put you to bed?" Jordy's eyes got big.
"But Mama—"
"You know better don't you?" Jordy nodded and sighed, she knew that her mother wasn't going to care what Randy said. Emily walked to grab a pan when she noticed the glass in the sink. "Did you get a glass of milk too?" Jordy nodded slowly knowing what was coming next. "Come here." Jordy did as she was told and walked slowly to her mother. Emily looked into her daughters' eyes sternly. "You know I'm not a maid. You don't leave dishes in the sink and you don't disobey me. do you understand?" Jordy nodded slowly staring at the ground. Tears glistened in Jordy's eyes as she was being scolded by her mother. "No magazines or TV this weekend. Now grab a corner." Jordy nodded and stuck her nose in the corner by the fridge. She was crying because she was angry and because she was dumb. Dumb to be scared then come downstairs and angry because she had trusted Randy. The tears were itching her face but she didn't care. She was going to be there for at least eight minutes.
Randy walked into the kitchen and saw Jordy crying with her nose in the corner. It broke his heart, but he knew that she had to punished for disobedience, but what could she have done in the ten minutes that it took him to get dressed? He shrugged it off and walked behind Emily who was now preparing the eggs. "Hey babe," he said as he nuzzled his face into her neck and kissed it softly. They shared a passionate kiss on the lips.
"Have a good shower?" Randy nodded and pulled her even closer.
"It woulda been better if you were there." Emily blushed and motioned her head towards Jordy.
"Not with our baby in the room," she whispered. Randy nodded.
"Speaking of whom, what did she do?" Emily shrugged.
"She broke two rules and is now being punished." Randy groaned causing Emily to look at him.
"It wouldn't happen to be that she didn't wash her glass and that she was downstairs would it?" Emily's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah it would why?" Randy took a deep breath.
"I told her that she could wash the dish in the morning, she tried to tell me that she had to but I told her not to." He saw the irritation growing in Emily's eyes then spoke again. "I also told her that the no leaving your room after bedtime was no longer a rule," he whispered so Jordy couldn't hear. Emily shook her head and went back to making breakfast.
"I wish you wouldn't have done that." She sighed. "Jordy times up." Jordy wiped her eyes and then shot daggers at Randy with an evil glare catching Emily's attention. "You want to look like that you just earned yourself eight more minutes." Jordy stomped her foot and then turned back around.
"Let me handle this one," he said to Emily who nodded. Randy walked over towards Jordy. He knelt down in front of her and turned her around.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry I know you trusted me to not get you in trouble. I should have talked with Mommy first before I said those things." Jordy wasn't buying it.
"I told you I would get into trouble and you didn't listen." Randy rubbed the back of his neck.
"I know Sweetie, I'm sorry. How bout I make it up to you today with some ice cream?" Jordy paused for a moment and then smiled.
"Ok." He picked her up into his arms and kissed her on the cheek. "Good, now that look you just gave me, I never want to see it again, is that understood?" She nodded while staring at the floor. "Good," he kissed her on the forehead, "Now go brush your teeth and get ready we're leaving after breakfast." He set Jordy down and she took off for the stairs. Randy turned to Emily who was finishing up breakfast.
"You shouldn't change rules Randy, they're in place for a reason." Randy sighed, first fight, ok let's do it.
"And you shouldn't treat her like she's an adult. She's eight, one dish left unwashed isn't going to killer her." Emily turned to face him.
"One dish turns into two, then three, then before we know it she's not washing any dishes or doing any chores. If we drill it into her now when she's a teenager there won't be any problems." Randy shook his head.
"It's not like she wasn't going to wash it, just later." Emily wiped her hands on the dishrag sticking out of her jeans.
"Look, I know you're new to this whole daddy thing, so why don't we just leave the discipline up to me?" Randy shook his head.
"No, she's our child. I have a say too." He paused. "How about before we discipline her we sit down and agree on it first?" Emily hated the idea, but marriage was all about compromise. She nodded.
"I'll give it a try." Randy walked over and kissed her.
"That's all I ask." They went into a deep passionate kiss. Jordy walked in and sat down quietly waiting for them to finish. Emily turned to Jordy and smiled.
"Ready for breakfast?" Jordy nodded slowly still pouting from before. She was now wearing a blue tank top with her favorite pair of green overalls. They all sat down as the small square table with Randy at the head and Jordy on his left while Emily was on his right. "Jordy say grace please." Jordy bowed her head and clasped her hands.
"Dear God, thank you for this food that we're about to eat, thank Mama for making it, and Randy um Daddy uh Randy for buying it. Amen." Jordy quickly lowered her head, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to call him. There was a moment of awkward tension. It was Emily who spoke first.
"I'm sorry, I guess no one had the talk with her." Randy shook his head and smiled. He turned to Jordy.
"Who told you to call me daddy?" Jordy looked down at her eggs scared.
"Grandma." Randy took his large hand and lifted her chin.
"Do you want to call me daddy?" Jordy looked at her mother who was looking indifferent.
"I guess." Randy smiled.
"You guess? That's fine. Look, Sweetie, daddy or Randy is fine with me. Just please don't call me Mr. Orton." Jordy smiled and nodded.
"Ok." The rest of breakfast went by quickly and Randy grabbed Jordy into his arms and kissed Emily.
"We'll be back before four." Emily nodded and went upstairs as Randy carried Jordy out to his H2 Hummer. Once they were buckled in and driving down the road, he took a deep breath and glanced at Jordy who was staring at the floor fidgeting with her hands. He sighed, the kid was so skittish. They pulled into the furniture store and Randy grabbed Jordy's hand as they went to cross the street. Once inside the store he knelt down in front of her. "We're here for you. You like something bring it to me and we'll get it ok?" Jordy nodded, this was totally different than shopping with her mom. She really wasn't sure how to handle it. They walked around in the store for about ten minutes before Randy realized that Jordy wasn't looking at anything other than the floor. He stopped and he knelt down in front of her. "Don't you see anything you like?" Jordy looked away. Randy sighed. "What's wrong, are you scared?" Jordy nodded slowly. "Why, I told you to get what you want?" Jordy bit her lip. "Tell me what's wrong now," he said sternly. Jordy sighed.
"Mama always gives me a choice of two things. I'm not supposed to wander off and grab things off of shelves." Randy rolled his eyes, he and Emily were going to have a long talk. He grunted and then a weird thing happened. Jordy burst into tears and ran away. Randy's eyes grew large and he ran after her catching her quickly. He roughly pulled her into his arms and looked her dead in the eye.
"What has gotten into you?" Jordy was still crying as Randy carried her out of the store and sat on the bench in front of it. He saw how scared she was and felt bed for talking to her in such a harsh voice. He took a deep breath. "Please talk to me?" Jordy looked up and then started staring at her fidgeting hands.
"You grunted and I didn't want a spanking." Randy was utterly confused.
"What do you mean?" Jordy rolled her eyes, adults were supposed to know these things.
"Leon always grunted at me right before he spanked me. I didn't mean to make you mad I just didn't want a spanking." Randy's heart was breaking. He took a deep breath.
"Jordy, I love you. I want you to promise me something right now, if you're ever scared or confused that you'll come to me ok?" Jordy nodded. "I promise you that I won't ever spank you, ok?" She nodded and smiled.
"I'm sorry," she said softly as she wiped her tears. Randy smiled, but was fuming on the inside. Who the hell was Leon and why did he have Jordy so skittish?
"You ready to go back inside and try again?"Jordy nodded. Randy turned to walk down the aisle holding Jessie's hand. He noticed that she glanced up at him and then at a green clock with silver stars. "You want it?" Jordy nodded. "Well grab it then," he said smiling. Jordy let go of his hand and grabbed the clock and placed it into the cart. She smiled to herself as she had a few more things in the cart when Randy said they needed to look at beds. They walked around for a while and then she saw it. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was a black set of bunk beds with green racing cars all over it and a built in racing game with a steering wheel. She was totally mesmerized by it. Quickly she turned her head towards the other ones. Randy raised an eyebrow noticing her change. "Baby do you want that black one?" Jordy looked up at him and sighed.
"Yes sir." Randy looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"What's wrong?" Jordy stared at the floor.
"It costs too much." Randy groaned, eight year olds shouldn't' be worrying about cost. He walked over and looked at the price tag: 1293. Randy smiled it was more than he wanted to spend, but it was way worth it. He called for a sales attendant and decided to do something special.
"Yes sir?"
"I would like to purchase this bed for my daughter and get her name engraved on it." The sales clerk nodded. Jordy looked up at Randy and beamed he looked down at her and winked.
"What would you like it to say?" Randy smiled.
"Jordy." Jordy looked up at Randy and grinned. He was so happy that he could afford to give her the finer things, but she had to know that this was a special treat. He knelt down in front of her. "This is something that you can get when you behave ok? I don't buy nice things for bad little girls." Jordy nodded.
"Yes sir, and thank you again." Jordy wrapped her arms around his neck causing Randy's heart to melt. One week as a dad and she already stole his heart.