*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. they were greatly appreciated. thank-you all so much.
John:
The day has arrived that I am taking Angelina to the father daughter dance at her school. I have been staying at Natalie's house with her but she has me sleeping on the couch. I guess she has good reason. She is planning on packing to go to West Newbury tomorrow while Angelina and I are at the dance. I can't lie. I am very nervous about taking Angelina to this dance. I am not the best dancer in the world and I look like a giant next to her. I am sitting on the couch waiting for her while Natalie does her hair and make-up. I don't like the idea of my 7 year old wearing make-up but it is a special occasion. I mean after all I am wearing a tuxedo something I never do except on really special occasions like this. "Daddy," I hear Angelina say as she walks down the stairs. I love hearing her call me Daddy.
I get up and walk to the bottom of the stairs to see her walking down the stairs in a white spaghetti strapped dress with sequins on the chest area. Her brown hair is pulled up into a bun with sparkles in her hair. She looks absolutely beautiful. "You look beautiful," I say with tears in my eyes.
"Thank-you," she says with a smile. "You look handsome, Daddy," she says.
"Thank-you," I say as Natalie stands next to us holding her camera.
"Let me get a picture of you two," she says. Angelina and I pose for a couple pictures before we get ready to leave. "You two have a good time."
"We will, Mommy," says Angelina.
"I'm sure we will," I say. "Have a good evening."
"Thanks, you too," she says.
"Shall we go, Miss Angelina?" I ask.
"We shall," she says with a smile and we hook arms and walk out of the house.
Angelina's dance is a typical elementary school dance. They are playing music by bands like One Direction, Justin Bieber songs and Katy Perry all of which I have never heard of in my life. Angelina seems to know who they are she seems very excited over Big Time Rush and Victoria Justice. I never heard of them in my life then again I am an 80's child. Angelina seems so proud of me. She has shown me off to all her teachers and all her friends. A lot of her friends giggled as they met me. She takes me to meet her friend Ruthie. "Daddy," she says. "This is my best friend Ruthie."
"Hi, Ruthie, nice to meet you," I say as I shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you too," she says with a giggle.
That's when I hear Angelina whisper, "I told you he was cute," and then she let out a giggle. I can only smile.
"Hi, Mr. Cena, I am Ruthie's father Ben," he says he extends his hand for me to shake.
"Please; call me John," I say shaking his hand.
"John, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," I say. "So Ruthie and Angelina are best friends?"
"Yes," he says, "they have been friends since pre-school."
"That's pretty cool," I say. "I am glad Angelina can have a friend like Ruthie."
"They do everything together."
"I heard," I say.
"Daddy, can we dance now?" Angelina asks me.
"Absolutely," I say as I take her hand. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay," he says with a smile. He seems like a very nice guy and his daughter seems to be a really good girl.
Angelina and I walk out to the dance floor and dance to some song by someone I don't know. I never really knew what being a father was until I met Angelina. I never thought about being a father till I met her. I never knew what unconditional love was until I met Angelina. Angelina has changed my life. She has made me see things in a new light. She made me realize that being with Ashley is no good. I don't want her to be exposed to Ashley as much as I don't want her exposed to Max. She makes me want to be a better person. She allows me to know what love really is. I wish I had known her sooner. I wish I could have been her father sooner. I missed so much of her life and that still hurts. I have wondered since I found out she was my daughter if things had been different would I be married to Natalie right now? It just makes me wonder where my life would have gone. I smile down at Angelina as she smiles up at me. Her face just seems to light up. She looks so happy. We continue to dance into the night. She gets so tired that she starts to fall asleep as we dance. I realize that it is time for us to go home. I pick her up and she says, "Daddy, I want to dance."
"You're falling asleep," I say with a smile. "It is time to go home."
"Okay," she says as I hold her in my arms as I carry her out to the car. I could get used to this whole daddy thing. I want to get used to it but only if Natalie will let me. I put her in the backseat of the car and buckle her in. "Daddy, do you love my mommy?" she asks me.
"Of course I do," I say.
"I think you should marry my mommy. She loves you too," she says.
"We'll see," I say as I shut the door. I'm not sure if she's awake or if she's asleep. I don't' want to say too much because I don't even know what's going on with Natalie and I. I love her and I would love to marry her someday but that is a long way to go. We both have so much to do before we even talk about us.
Angelina sleeps the whole way back to Natalie's house. I get her out of the car and carry her inside. "How was it?" asks Natalie as I walk in carrying Angelina.
"Shh," I say. "It was good. I'm going to put her to bed. She fell asleep."
"Okay," says Natalie with a smile before I head up the stairs to put Angelina to bed.
I lay her down and tuck her in. I give her a kiss on her forehead and say, "Goodnight, Angelina. I love you."
"I love you too, Daddy," she says melting my heart. It still amazes me how those words can wrap around my heart and melt it. I smile as I walk out of her room and head downstairs with Natalie.
"So how was that dance?" she asks as I start to take off my tie.
"It was good. I had a good time and I'm sure she did too. She had such a good time she fell asleep."
"I see that," she says with a smile. "That's Angelina for you."
"I see," I say. "She said something to me in the car."
"Really?" she asks. "What did she say?"
"She asked me if I love you and I told her of course. She told me that you love me and that we should get married."
"That's a bit impossible isn't it?" she asks. "I mean you're married. I don't think you're legally allowed to have two wives."
"Yeah, I think that's illegal too. Are you saying you're going to marry me when I divorce her?" I ask.
"I didn't say that. I don't know what I'm going to do. Anything is possible. I have learned not to plan my life because something always comes up that gets in the way and changes my plans. I won't lie to you John I loved you so much 8 years ago. I loved being with you. I planned to be with you the rest of my life. I wanted to be with you the rest of my life. I wanted to marry you, I wanted to have kids with you. I wanted eternity with you but then I got pregnant. I broke up with you because I knew you didn't have time to be a father. You were reaching the climax of your career. I couldn't ask you to walk away from it. I couldn't ask you to give it all up to be a father. I did what I thought I had to do even though it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It was so hard walking away. I thought about telling you about Angelina before I met Max and hoped that you and I could work out but then my brother told me you had gotten married. I knew there was no hope so I just went on living my life. I met Max, got involved with him and I thought I was going to marry him then out of the blue you show up here in Hershey and my whole life changes. I don't know what's going to happen in my life anymore."
"Nat, I would have given up everything to be a father. My career would have been nothing."
"That's why I couldn't tell you. You wanted to be a wrestler since you were a kid. I couldn't let you give that up," she says.
"Letting you walk away was the hardest thing I ever did. I wanted to be with you too. I loved you so much. I would have given up anything to be with you," I say. It is not a lie I would have given up anything including my career to be with her.
"John, I'm sorry. I know I can say sorry as much as I want but it's not going to change anything."
"It isn't but things can still change," I say, "if it were possible would you marry me?"
"If it was possible I probably would," she says. "John, I love you. I really do love you and I would love to be a family but things are so complicated right now."
"I know everything is complicated but I hope one day we can marry each other."
"I hope so too," she says. "But like I said, I can't plan my life anymore. I have to just let whatever happens happen. Look at me I lost my job, you came back in our lives and my fiancé is an asshole."
"Maybe things are happening because you weren't meant to live that life you planned. I don't know why all this happened. I have been looking for you for years. I have wanted that chance to run into you but it never happened until now. You have to believe there is a reason for this."
"I guess," she says.
"I believe it," I say.
"Okay," she says.
"So are you all packed for West Newbury?" I ask changing the subject knowing she is uncomfortable.
"Yes," she says. "I'm nervous to talk to my parents."
"Everything will be fine. I will be there for you. You have nothing to worry about."
"I hope so," she says.
*A/n: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.