*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much.
John:
I have spent all day preparing to hang out with Angelina this afternoon/evening. I am a little nervous but I think everything will be fine. I get to spend time with my daughter for the first time ever in her life. I am ready to be a father. I would have been a father from the start if I had been given the chance but that's over with. It is in the past and I am focusing on the present and future. I can only make up for the time I've lost with Angelina now. I drive my rental car to Natalie's house. I pull up into her driveway to park my car. I only see her car so I know that clown Max isn't there. I have to say I am relieved. There is just something about that guy I don't like or trust. I get out of my car and walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell and wait a few minutes before Natalie answers it. "Hi, John," she says with a smile but she has a really big black and blue eye.
"Hi, Nat," I say looking at her eye. "What happened to your eye?" I ask.
"Oh. I got bumped in the eye," she says but something in her voice tells me she's not telling the truth.
"It looks pretty nasty," I say.
"It's fine," she says, "Let me get Angelina for you," she says as she puts her hand on the door exposing bruising on her wrists.
"Okay," I say looking over the bruises on her arm. Now I know she's definitely lying about the black and blue eye.
"ANGELINA!" She yells. "JOHN IS HERE!"
"Coming, Mom," I hear Angelina yell from upstairs.
"So what happened to your wrists?" I ask taking her arm.
"Nothing, John. Nothing happened to my arm."
"It looks like someone grabbed you," I say.
"Well, no one did," she says pulling her arm away as Angelina appears at the door.
"You know you can tell me anything, Nat. I won't judge you."
"There isn't anything to tell," she says. "Now, you two have fun okay?"
"Okay," says Angelina. "Can we go to the playground?"
"I don't know any playgrounds around here," I say because I don't. I don't know my way around Hershey.
"There is one right down the street off Cocoa Avenue. It's called Cocoa Castle. It is a pretty nice playground. Angelina likes it there," says Natalie.
"All right," I say as if I know where Cocoa Avenue is. "Where is Cocoa Avenue?"
"It's down the street from Hersheypark," she says. "Angelina can give you directions from here. She knows her way."
"Okay," I say. "Angelina, are you ready?"
"Yes," she says as she takes my hand. It makes me smile. "Let's go to Cocoa Castle," she says as she skips out the door. I have no choice but to follow behind her.
"We'll be back," I say as we hurry over to my car. Natalie was right. Angelina knows exactly where she's going and what she's doing. She takes me straight to the playground. I park the car when we arrive and the park is amazing. Everything is wooden, there are tons of swings and slides. It is a pretty awesome place. We spend at least an hour and a half to two hours at the playground. She has me pushing her on the swings, chasing her around, catching her at the bottom of the slide and she was laughing as I did it. Her laugh melts my heart. These are the things I have missed the last 7 years. "So Angelina, do you want to go get some ice cream or something?"
"Ice cream," she says. "I like ice cream."
"Okay," I say with a smile. "We'll go get ice cream."
"Yay!" she says with a smile. She really does look like me. She is my mini me. I can see the resemblance now but a couple nights ago I couldn't. She is my daughter 100% no need for a paternity test although I trust Natalie enough to know she would never lie to me about the paternity of her child; hell she didn't even want to tell me about her in the first place. She would have no reason to lie to me about it now. I take her hand and we walk to my car. We head off to the ice cream place down the street. Angelina tells me to turn up the radio in the car but I'm not sure Natalie would approve of the music I am playing so I tell her it's not a good idea and turn it off to put something more kid friendly on. I have got to start making decisions now that I am a father.
We pull into the parking lot of the ice-cream place and get out of the car. I walk up to the window and pick Angelina up so she can see the choices. She decides on vanilla with sprinkles while I get a chocolate with sprinkles. I know I am a big kid at heart. We get our ice-cream and find a seat. I am going to use this as my chance to find out about Max and a little more about her of course. "So Angelina," I say, "how do you like this Max guy your mom is dating?"
"He's okay," she says as she spoons vanilla ice cream into her mouth.
"Just okay?"
"Yeah," she says. "He's not special."
"So you don't like him?" I ask.
"Not really," she says. "I mean he's nice to me."
"At least he's nice to you," I say. "Does he do a lot of things with you?"
"Yeah right," she says, "he works a lot. He doesn't really have time for me."
"I see," I say. "How long has your mom been with him?"
"I don't know. I was really little," she says. "Before I went to school."
"That's a long time," I say. "But he is a nice guy right?"
"I don't know sometimes," she says eating her ice-cream.
"Is he nice to your mom?" I ask. I have to know. I can't stand the thought of anyone ever mistreating Natalie. She doesn't deserve to be mistreated.
"Sometimes. He yells at her a lot. She yells back but he yells more. They fight a lot," she says.
"Does he ever hurt her?" I ask.
"Sometimes," she says. "He makes her cry a lot."
"I see," I say. My heart breaks thinking about it. I don't want to tell Natalie I know about Max hurting her because then she'll know I was pushing Angelina for information and she'll never let me see her again. I have to wait for Natalie to confide in me which I know she will. I just have to give her the time. "So what is this big Father Daughter dance all about?"
"It is this dance we have at school every year. All the girls from 1st grade to 5th grade go with their dads. Max is supposed to take me but I want you to take me. Can you take me?" she asks.
"When is it?" I ask.
"Next Friday," she says. "I know you are busy and travel a lot but it would really mean a lot to me if you could take me."
I think about it and I know I don't have a show next weekend because of it being a pay-per-view weekend so the only show I have is the big one on Sunday night. I don't see why I couldn't take her to the dance. She seems to really want me to take her. "I can take you," I say. "But what about Max?"
"I don't know," she says. "He won't take me. He will probably say he has to work anyway. He always works on Friday nights. Sometimes he works all night and that makes my mom mad. That makes them fight."
I really doubt he is working overnight on a Friday night. He's working overnight with another woman. I don't doubt that. I have seen him hanging around the front desk with that Callie girl that works at the hotel. I didn't find it professional but I don't have the heart to tell Natalie either. She says she's happy with Max so I can't ruin her happiness but I don't want to see her hurt either. I know she will end up being hurt. I just don't have the heart to tell her the bad news. "I see," I say. "They fight a lot huh?"
"Yeah," she says. "So are you married?"
"I am," I say. I wish I wasn't and that is the first time I have admitted to myself that I don't' want to be married. Ashley is just too high maintenance for me and seeing Natalie the last couple days has made me realize this.
"Oh," she says sounding almost disappointed. "What's her name?"
"Ashley," I say.
"Will I ever meet her?"
"I don't know," I say. I don't even know how Ashley is going to react when she finds out I have a little girl. Actually I do know how she's going to react. She is going to be pissed off, throw a fit and blow it out of proportion. She already has something against Natalie this will just be another thing. I really don't know what I was thinking when I married her. I am miserable and she's either miserable or just demanding I can't tell. Either way our marriage was a mistake. I have to end it.
"Oh," she says, "is she nice?"
"Sometimes," I say. "I won't lie to you, Angelina, she's not the nicest person but she's not the meanest."
"Oh," she says. "Like Max?"
"Like, Max," I say. Natalie and I both have bad taste it is obvious. Maybe that's a sign that we should be together. I have to believe that we were brought back to each other after all these years for some reason. I know it has a lot to do with Angelina but why after 7 years would we run into one another again if this wasn't supposed to change our lives. Maybe I am reading too much into things but I have a strong feeling that something is going to come out of all of this besides the fact I have a daughter. I think there is so much more to it. "Well, I will definitely be taking you to the father daughter dance."
"Good," she says with a smile.
After we eat ice-cream I take her home because I know she has school the next morning and I want to get her home so she can go to bed. I get her home and Natalie allows me to come in. She even allows me to put Angelina to bed. I read her a bedtime story; "Cinderella" and she falls asleep half way through it. I smile at her. I could watch her sleep all night she looks so peaceful and beautiful. I cover her up with a blanket and I lean down and kiss her forehead. "Goodnight, Angelina. I love you." Even though it has only been a couple days I can honestly say I love that little girl with all my heart. I turn off the light and walk out of the room. I walk downstairs and say, "Well, she's asleep."
"That didn't take long," says Natalie as she brings me a beer. "You must have worn her out."
"Yeah," I say as we walk to the living room. "So Angelina and I did some talking tonight. She wants me to go to the father daughter dance with her next Friday. She doesn't want Max to take her."
"Are you going to take her?" she asks.
"I want to," I say. "I am her father, Natalie. I think it's my right."
"And what about, Max?"
"She says he is probably going to be working," I say as I take a swig of my beer.
"Probably," she says taking a swig of her own beer. "If you want to take her who am I to stop you? You are her biological father and she seems to love you already. I won't deny her what she wants. I never have and I never will."
"Thank-you," I say. "So where is Max tonight?"
"Working," she says.
"This late?" I ask. "How does someone that is a DM of a hotel work this late at night? I mean I would think he would be home by 5:30 at the latest."
"I don't know," she says and it almost sounds like she doesn't believe his story of working either. "I guess he does more."
"Oh," I say. "But to work overnight on a Friday?"
"I don't know," she says. "I have no idea what he does."
"I see," I say. "Are you sure you're happy with him?"
"I'm sure," she says but I can tell it's a lie. She's not happy at all. Her eyes say it all. She is sad and she is hurting.
"So how'd you really get that black and blue eye?"
"I told you I got bumped. It's not a big deal so please drop it."
"Okay," I say.
"And what about your wife? Are you happy with her?" she asks.
"Honestly?" I ask her.
"Honestly."
"No. I'm not happy with her. She doesn't make me happy," I say.
"So why are you with her?"
"I honestly don't know. I think after you broke up with me I just wanted to get married and settle down. Ashley is the first person that came along. I thought she was all right but then after I married her she turned into a nightmare. She doesn't support me in my career. She's a rich man's wife is the best way to put it."
"I see," says Natalie. "Nick said that she wasn't very nice."
"Nick is 100% correct. She isn't very nice. She is a horrible person," I say.
"I see," she says.
"I can admit that I am unhappy and I am trying to change that. Are you happy with Max or are you pretending?"
"John, I don't know," she says. "The last couple days have been very emotional for me. I don't know how I feel and I don't know what I want anymore. Sometimes Max can be an asshole but sometimes he can be sweet. I really don't know what else to say about it. I can't tell if I'm happy or not. I'm just with him."
"I see," I say. "Natalie, if you would have told me about Angelina 8 years ago. I promise you everything would have been different. I would have been there for you. I would have stepped up to be a father. I would have married you."
"Sure, John," she says.
"I would have. What do you think would have happened? Or were you scared of what could have happened?"
"John, I'm not having this conversation. In fact I think it's time for you to leave," she says avoiding the question. I know she feels the same as me. I know she believes that if things were different 8 years ago. Our lives would have turned out differently.
"All right, I'll go," I say, "but one day you're going to need to answer the question."
"One day but not today. Goodnight, John," she says as she walks me to the door.
"Goodnight, Natalie," I say as I open the front door. "I will talk to you later."
"Bye, John," she says as she shuts the door. I know things would have been different. Things can still be different if she would just face the truth. As I walk to my car I pass Max on his way into the house.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.