A/N: Julie, you have made this such a wonderful experience. Thank you.
And a special note to Carol, Kim, and Julie - this is the first chapter from home! ;)
Thanks to all the readers and reviewers! Sorry for the wait.
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A Change In Me
Chapter Seven
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I put off the Joe problem for a few more weeks, mostly out of cowardice, but Sophia asked me again about finding her daddy one night as she was falling asleep. Knowing that my little girl was plagued with thoughts about her missing father was all the motivation I needed to find Joe.
I called his mother – for the first time in my life. She was less than pleasant, but I told her that I felt terribly guilty about what had happened with the car and wanted to send Joe an apology. She clearly didn't know me well enough to know how ridiculous that was and gave me his address.
I waited until I was off of work, since I didn't know how long this meeting was going to take. I also knew from his mother that he was working at a desk because of his still healing leg. I hoped that meant he would be home in the evenings.
I drove just outside the Burg to his apartment complex. I had considered these apartments when I had been looking. It was a nice area, and I briefly thought about Sophia playing in the large playground. Then I pictured Joe and I with her. The images reminded me of all those foolish fantasies I had had when I was pregnant. My heart flip-flopped as the reality of it actually happening sunk in.
Once I finally made it out of my car and into the building, a flood of guilt overtook me. What if Joe hated me for keeping her from him? How could I ever make it right if he was angry? And then I wondered why I wanted so desperately for him to not be mad. I was pretty sure his broken leg gave him enough reason to hate me already.
There was only one way I would find out. I closed my eyes and knocked on his door, making sure my face was visible through the peephole.
It took a few minutes, but then I heard him curse through the door. "What the hell do you want?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Talk."
I sighed.
"No, don't talk. Just leave." I could hear him moving away.
I knocked repeatedly. "Joe, please. I'm sorry about the … accident."
I heard him bark out a sarcastic laugh. "Accident?"
I waited for a moment. I was just about to knock again when he flung open the door. He was wearing his uniform still. He looked beyond attractive. He looked sinfully good. He had grown broader and had filled out since he had left for the Navy. His face was still movie star handsome, if not even more so. I guess I hadn't really looked at him before. I couldn't stop now.
He glared at me and lifted his crutch up, pointing it in my face. "This is not how I envisioned starting on the force."
"I'm sorry. Can I please come in?"
He balked at me. "Why would I let you in my home? You here to finish the job?"
I took a deep breath, and chose to ignore his comment. "I just need to talk to you for a few minutes. I promise that I will leave and never bother you again if that is what you want – after you hear me out."
He slowly lowered the crutch and gave me a calculating look. Finally, he hopped back from the door and gestured for me to enter with the crutch.
I quickly made my way into the small apartment. It looked masculine and somewhat sparsely decorated. "How long have you been here?"
"That's not what you're here for. Let's get this over with."
He slowly lowered himself onto his couch where I could see the second crutch resting. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. He crossed his arms and gave me an expectant look.
I sat down in the one chair across from him and said a small prayer. "You said that you knew I had 'been busy'. What exactly did you mean? What have you heard about me?"
He narrowed his eyes. "I didn't want Terry to say those things to you. I told her to grow up after you kicked us out. I was trying to apologize to you when you accidentally broke my leg."
"Thank you, by the way, for not pressing charges."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You were pretty distraught. I was worried and I …" He crossed his arms again and stayed silent.
"But what have you heard? You obviously meant something," I insisted.
His mouth barely moved into the hint of a smile. "Always so challenging," he murmured softly and then his smile vanished. "I heard you had a kid."
My eyes widened. He already knew! Maybe he didn't care. Maybe he really didn't want to even know if Sophia was his. "How?" I breathed.
"I took my grandmother to the store, and we ran into your mom. She told us that your sister was expecting." He frowned. "I congratulated her on becoming a grandmother, and then she said she already was. That you had a child."
My mother! I couldn't believe it. "And then?"
"And then I congratulated her again and walked away."
"You didn't – "
"I was angry when I found out, okay? I thought you were going to be …something." I winced at that. He didn't seem to notice. "Honestly, I thought you'd be gone. When I got back, I thought you'd be off in college somewhere, ready to take on the world. To find that freedom you wanted so badly."
I stared at him in disbelief. "You thought about me?"
He glared at me. "Yes. Unlike you, I thought we had been friends when I left. So yeah, I wondered what happened to my friend since I never heard from her. It's not like you couldn't have asked my mother for my mailing address."
"You made it pretty clear you didn't want to hear from me, Joe."
He gave me an exasperated look.
I continued, "I don't know which was more convincing, the way you froze up on me when I mentioned writing to you or the way you never once called me or saw me again. Or maybe it was your little love notes you left for me all over town. Do you even know how many times I have heard comments just like Terry's? And I won't even bother you with how some of the boys treated me."
He pressed his lips together. He looked upset about that. "Stephanie, I was … I was with my brothers. And I was drinking. It was the night – look, I saw you leave that party with that jerk. So don't act like I meant anything to you. You were practically taking his clothes off before you even got out the door."
"Well I got drunk too! And I did something so stupid that night. It took me a long time to forgive myself for that. But I got drunk so I could forget that I saw the boy I loved sticking his tongue down some slut's throat just four days after we had slept together."
He clenched his jaw. "You saw me?"
"Yes, it was … it was," I paused, unsure of how much more I wanted to reveal of my heart. "It was devastating."
He leaned forward as well as he could with his bad leg propped on the coffee table. "You loved me?" he asked softly.
I slowly brought my eyes up to his. "Yes. I did. I wouldn't have slept with you if I didn't."
He closed his eyes. "I don't know what to say, Stephanie. I should never have let her come with me to that party."
"It doesn't matter. It's in the past." I noticed that he didn't say he shouldn't have even been with her at all, just not brought her to where I could catch them. "And we're getting away from the reason I came here."
He looked up at me. "We are?"
"You said that you knew I had a child. You didn't ask how old?"
He watched me for a moment, reading me. "No, I didn't even consider it."
"She just turned four. On September 5th."
His face paled. "Four?"
"Yes."
He sat back. He seemed to be in shock. Then he looked at me with disgust. "You slept with that guy?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes, I did. And everyone thinks that he is the father. Some nameless stranger that I let take advantage of me the first time I got drunk. And I will continue to let them think that," I paused and then said very clearly, "if that is what you want."
His breathing was growing fast as he started to really hear what I was trying to tell him. "How can you even be sure who it belongs to?"
"She. She's a she. And some men actually use a condom." I took a few cleansing breaths. I didn't want this to turn into a fight. "And maybe I know because a blond-haired, blue-eyed stranger didn't give me a brown-eyed, dark-haired little girl."
He put his head in his hands. I waited patiently for him to make the next move. Finally, he looked up at me, a pained look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I decided to wait until you came back. If you came back."
"I've been back," he gritted out.
"Not really. You've been in Sea Girt."
"And before that?" he snapped, his face turning red.
"I was scared. And I …" I bit my lip. Suddenly, I felt like that girl again. Walking through the halls, a target for the vicious gossip of my classmates. Ashamed of what I had done, but unable to hide my growing belly. I shook my head of the painful memories. "I was so hurt. And it was easier to try to forget you – to believe the lie. At least that way I could pretend that I had just been stupid to get drunk, not that I had …" My throat closed up. I forced myself to look at him. "Not that I had fallen in love with someone who only wanted to use me."
Joe's angry expression faded slowly into a look of sadness. "I didn't want to use you. If you had just told me …" He clenched his fists, his anger returning rapidly. "How could you not tell me?"
"I'm sorry. I did what – "
"You did nothing! I had a right to know. How could you think I wouldn't want to know?" He struggled to sit up and then yelled in frustration, flinging a nearby pillow away from him.
"I did what I thought was best for me and for her."
"And what about me?" he bellowed, pounding his fist into his chest. He hoisted himself up on one crutch and I felt like he was towering over me even though he was still a couple feet away. "What about me, Stephanie? Do I not deserve to know my …" He took a deep breath, and I worried he was going to pass out. "My child. My … child. Mine." He hobbled over on one crutch to stand in front of me.
I looked up at him, letting the tears fall down my cheeks. "I'm sorry. I told myself it wouldn't change anything since you were gone anyway."
His whole face twisted in anger. "Oh, I see. It's my fault that I was gone? It's my fault that we didn't use … " He groaned in frustration, and as he twisted his body, the crutch fell down.
I jumped up to get the crutch. When I handed it to him, he grabbed my hand tightly. "I never planned on leaving you the way I did."
I never planned on having your baby. I never planned on being an outcast my senior year in high school. I never planned on being a single mom before I even turned eighteen.
I didn't want to keep fighting. So I decided to just say, "And I never planned on keeping her from you forever."
He took several deep breaths through his nose. "For how long then?" he asked tiredly. He still had a firm grip on my hand.
"I don't know. I think I always knew I would tell you when you came back. I just didn't expect you to come back to … " I gave him a wry smile. "There … and with your mean bitch of a girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend," he answered swiftly.
I blinked at him, unsure of what to say. My heart fluttered as I took in his close proximity. I could see a thin scar running through one brow that had not been there before. Tiny flecks of gold sparkled in his warm brown eyes that were still bright with anger. I almost forgot what he had said. Oh yeah. He wasn't dating Terry. Well, that's actually pretty good -
He suddenly pulled away and dropped my hand, distracting me from whatever feelings were bubbling up inside of me. "I've been around for several months. I know you had to have known that."
I frowned at him as I sat back in my chair. "I can't undo it, Joe. You can't go back and undo the things you did. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I am here now. And to answer one of your questions – no, I didn't know that you would definitely want to be in our lives. I still don't know. Joe, you hurt me more than I can even say. As far as I knew, you wanted nothing to do with me, and so … I just didn't tell you."
He made his way back to the couch and slowly sat back down. Rubbing his temples, he sighed loudly. "You … I … " He closed his eyes again. "We have a daughter?"
I felt another tear slide down my cheek. "Yes. Her name is Sophia Grace."
He half-smiled at that. "That's really pretty."
"She's so beautiful, Joe. She's amazing."
He nodded, looking a little shell-shocked. "Do you have a picture?"
I smiled as a few more tears slid down my cheeks. "I brought a small album for you. It has some of my favorite pictures of her. I ... I thought maybe you'd want to see it."
I reached into my purse and leaned forward to hand it to him.
"Bring it over, so you can tell me about them."
"All right." I walked around his coffee table and picked up the pillow from the floor. "Is that why they're called throw pillows?" I smiled, trying to relieve the tension.
He chuckled and reached up to take it. "I'm still angry. But let's just move past that for now."
"Fair enough." I sat next to him, and I told myself to relax. He was only my first love and the father of my child. That's all. "Here, this is from just a few weeks ago." I opened it to the first page.
Joe gasped as he looked at her. She was wearing a purple bathing suit with her pink tutu. She had been playing ballerina in the backyard. She was striking what she considered a ballet pose, her arms lifted above her head in a half-circle, one foot pointed forward. Her hair was up in a bun, but there were long curls that had come loose hanging around her face. He traced her face with his long finger. He smiled as he took her in. "She's perfect."
"I think so."
"She looks so much like you. I can see why no one questioned you. But … she has my eyes." He looked at me proudly.
"And your hair color. And she makes some of your gestures. And when she really likes something she has your special smile." I stopped and looked down at my lap. That had been his smile for me. Had he really cared? Then I thought about Dickie. "I met someone," I blurted out.
He stiffened next to me. "That's great, Stephanie. I'm glad you have someone."
I gave him a weak smile, nodding quickly.
He cleared his throat. "What else?"
"She loves puzzles. I think she gets that from you. And she has a dimple in her right cheek like yours."
He grinned, revealing the exact dimple. Then he flipped the page. It was of me holding Sophia in the hospital. His mouth turned down as he gazed at the picture. "You're so young. You had to be terrified."
"I was. I still am sometimes, but it's better than it was. That day wasn't so bad – other than the labor. I was so happy to meet her."
"Did you know she was a girl?"
"No. I wanted the surprise."
"She's so tiny. So fragile. I would have been terrified to hold her." He frowned again. "I should have been here."
"No. Joe, you did what you were supposed to do. Even if you knew, I would never have wanted you to stay for us. You needed to leave. And you were already committed to the Navy. You still would have been gone all this time."
"I could have come back here on my leave. I could have been excused to be there when she was born. I don't know." He shook his head. "I would have …" He shifted towards me and grasped my hand. "I would have been here for you." And then so softly, I almost didn't hear it. "I wish I had been here for you."
I pulled my hand from his and stood up. "You can keep that. It's for you. And you know my parents' number. We still live with them, but I'm hoping we will be moving out soon. And then there's Dickie. He wants to get married. And I think Sophia likes him. I don't know what we will do for sure. Maybe we will wait to move in with him. But I want you to meet her, if you want, of course," I rambled as I grabbed my purse. "I really should go now. Please do come over. Or maybe it would be easier if I brought her to you? I can do that. It's the least I can do since I injured you. Please don't tell her that. She's been really upset about not knowing you so don't be afraid to meet her. She cries for you. And it kills me. Anyway, I'm going." I smiled at him without really seeing him and quickly fled his apartment.
I was halfway down the hall when I heard him call for me. "Stephanie, wait!"
I was so tempted to keep running, but I didn't think that would help our situation. I slowly turned to face him and saw him making his way towards me as quickly as his crutches would allow. He stopped right in front of me.
"Stephanie, I want to see her. I definitely want to see her." He shook his head. "It's a lot to take in, but I want to know her. I … I … I don't want to confuse her. You said that she …" He looked guilty. "She cries for me?"
I immediately felt my eyes water again. It hurt to just think about my sad little girl, missing her daddy so much. And I didn't think I would ever forget her crying out that she wanted him. "Yes. She's just become aware that everyone else has a daddy. I told her that I was looking for someone to be her daddy. She just met Dickie –"
"He's your boyfriend?"
"Yes. And it's getting serious. He wants to adopt her."
"Adopt her?" he asked angrily. "What about me?"
"Joe, we're not even engaged yet. But … I think that we will be soon. And I told you that this is up to you. You can be as much a part of her life as you want. She can call you Daddy or she can call you Joe. You can just be another friend of mine. But when I marry Dickie …" Wow. I think that's the first time I really embraced that. "He will be a huge part of her life. She will know him as a father. And that's okay. Because she can have you both. If you want."
His eyes displayed a myriad of feelings: hurt, regret, happiness, love. "I want … what is best for her."
"Then you're already being her father."
He blinked his eyes, and I thought I could see a glimmer of a tear. "You always make things sound so easy."
"Because things are easy, it's people who aren't."
He laughed nervously. "When can I meet her?"
"I haven't told anyone about you, Joe. Not even Dickie." I frowned about that. I wasn't looking forward to that conversation. I knew Dickie liked that he would be the only man in her life. He probably wouldn't be happy about Joe being in the picture. "I can bring her by tomorrow?"
"Are you telling them tonight? I can come with you," he offered.
I stared at him for a moment. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I can't tell them with her in the house. And," I hesitated, not wanting to anger him. "And I am going to wait until you meet her and decide for sure if this is what you want. I will be telling her that you're my friend first."
He nodded curtly. "I guess I can understand that. I know that I want to be in her life, Stephanie."
"You might feel differently when the reality is in front of you."
"No. I won't."
"Fine. I'll bring her tomorrow. We can bring some food, too. Is six okay?"
"Yes. I'll be here." He looked a little lost. "It's still kind of shocking."
"I know. Well, we'll see you tomorrow."
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OoOoO
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That night, I wanted so badly to talk to someone. I decided to call Dickie, figuring that I may as well get it over with. I waited until everyone was in bed. I knew Dickie would probably be asleep, but I needed him.
"Stephanie?" he answered. He had caller id on his phones.
"I need to talk to you about something important."
"Steph, it's late and shouldn't we do this in person if it's important?"
"I need you right now," I said softly.
I could hear him moving around in his bed. "Why don't you come over then? You can leave Sophia for the night. Just leave a note for your parents."
I considered it, but I didn't want to scare Sophia. And I didn't actually want to have this conversation in person. "I just need to tell you something. And I need to know you still love me."
He grunted into the phone. I pictured him sitting up completely. "Okay, you have my attention. What's going on? … Did you cheat on me?"
I stared at the phone in wonder. Why would he even think that? "No! I … I would never do that, Dickie. I think it's inexcusable."
He sighed. "What is it, then?"
"I know who Sophia's father is. I lied to everyone because he has been gone. But he's back and I think he needs to meet her."
"No. Absolutely not, Stephanie. You can't let some loser who left you pregnant into her life."
I sighed. "He's not some loser. He didn't even know."
He was eerily silent for a minute, and I almost said his name when suddenly he snapped at me. "He didn't know? You mean he knows now?" he almost shouted into the phone. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner? You should have told me first!"
"I'm sorry." I bit my lip. "I had planned on never telling him." I don't even know if this was true anymore, I'd been having such mixed emotions about Joe since I hit him with the car.
"And what? Because a four-year-old throws a fit you make a stupid choice like this?"
I gasped at that. "She didn't throw a fit. She's devastated that she doesn't have a father."
"And you know that she will!"
"I shouldn't have called you. I'm sorry. We can talk about this tomorrow." Then I remembered my plans with Joe. "Or maybe in a few days when you cool down."
He was silent.
"Dickie?"
"I'm coming over right now to talk to you."
"What? No –"
He hung up.
I put my head on the kitchen table and cried. This was not what I wanted. But Dickie was the man who loved me and wanted to provide a home for Sophia and me. He wanted to make a family with me. He was almost definitely going to be my husband, and years of being told how important it was to honor your husband would not be forgotten in one argument.
I went out on the porch to wait for Dickie to arrive. He pulled up quietly in front of the house and then gestured for me to come out to him. I sat in the car, bracing myself for his anger. Instead he grabbed me and kissed me, hard. I pulled back and stared at him in surprise.
"You're mine, Stephanie. I don't want some idiot to come in and try to take you from me."
"He can't. I don't want him anymore. Dickie, I never told him because he really hurt me before he left. And I was so young and stupid about it. I stayed in denial for practically two months. I call her my bug because I had told everyone repeatedly that I had a flu bug. By the time I accepted that I was pregnant, I didn't even want to contact him."
He smiled at that and stroked my cheek. "I didn't want to do this like this, but …" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
I put a hand to my mouth. I couldn't believe this was happening.
"Stephanie, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He opened the box, revealing a large, princess-cut diamond.
I laughed through my hand and nodded my head. "Yes," I sighed. "Yes, I will."
He placed the ring on my finger and then pulled me into another kiss. "Can I take my fiancée home and make love to her now?"
I smiled. "Yes. Just let me leave a note." I ran into the house and left a note on the fridge that I was with Dickie and that I would be home before work.
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Once we made it back to his house, Dickie practically attacked me in the foyer. He lifted me up and carried me to the couch in the front room. He was far more aggressive than he had been in our night together or our few stolen moments together the last couple of nights. I had even visited him on my lunch break the day before, but as hot as it was to do it in his office, he hadn't been like this.
I kept staring at my ring, admiring it in the moonlight. It wasn't the cut I had envisioned, but it was twice the size I ever would have picked. Dickie laughed every time he caught me looking at it.
"It looks good on you," he murmured against my neck. Pulling me into his chest more tightly. We had finally made it to the bed. And I was enjoying being pressed up against him, warm in his embrace, our skin touching everywhere. Dickie kept his house very cool, which I loved, so we could still wrap up in blankets even in August. "And I look good in you."
He pushed against me again, poking me in my behind.
"Hey, Mr. Orr. Only my husband gets to try that door."
"Really?" he asked excitedly.
"Maybe." I blushed.
"Let's get married tomorrow."
I laughed. "We need to sleep. We have to work tomorrow."
"One more time. And you can call in sick. I would if I didn't have a big meeting tomorrow – today."
"Exactly. And I can't just call in sick."
"What if you were actually sick?"
"Fine. Have your way with me," I said dramatically.
"Thank you, future Mrs. Orr." He quickly thrust himself into me, causing the reply to my new name to catch in my throat.
.
A few hours later, Dickie woke me up with a kiss before he left for work. He pointed to a set of keys next to me on the nightstand.
"These are yours. I called your mother and told her you were sleeping still. I even talked to Sophia. I told her that I would give you a kiss from her, and that you would give her a kiss from me when you came home."
I smiled at him. "Did that work?"
He chuckled. "Yes, actually, it did. And I called the hospital to tell them you were sick."
My eyes widened. "You did?"
"Yes. I told them that I was your fiancé and that you were not feeling well."
"Oh my God, Dickie! I am going to be completely mauled tomorrow when I go in."
He kissed me once more. "From Sophia. I'll talk to you later. I have a late night tonight, but I want to see you again."
I stretched delightfully underneath the covers. "I'll call you later. Love you."
"Love you, too."
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OoOoO
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The moment I entered the house, my mother came storming into the front room. "Let me see it!"
I blinked at her. "What?"
"Your ring! Oh, I knew he was the one for you!" She pulled at my hand and frowned when she found my naked finger. I had put the ring in my purse, thinking we would tell my family together. "Where is it?"
I tried to smile through my frustration. I didn't even get to tell my mom I was engaged. I opened my purse and pulled it out. She quickly grabbed it and started twisting it in the sunlight.
"Wow! This is bigger than Valerie's diamond."
I couldn't help but smile at that. "Is it? I didn't realize."
She handed it back. "Put it on, I want to see it on you."
I rolled my eyes at her, but I put it on and held out my hand.
"Oh, Stephanie! I'm so happy for you. Your father was happy too." She wiped a tear from her cheek.
I dropped my hand and my jaw. "Dad knows too?"
"Don't be upset. Dickie was just so excited that he couldn't keep it to himself. But Sophia doesn't know. You can tell her now. She's upstairs playing.
.
I huffed in frustration, but then quickly made my way up the stairs, excited to at least tell Sophia. I stood in the door for a moment, watching her play with her dolls.
"Lady, you're the queen of the fairies," she said to her stuffed ladybug. "And you're the king, Teddy." She held the stuffed bear up. "Now dance."
I bit my fist as she shook them all around, making them look like they were having seizures more than dancing.
"Lady and Teddy are your mommy and daddy." She faced them to all her dolls and other stuffed animals that she had lined up on her bed. "Aren't they pretty?"
I sighed, and she turned around. "Mommy!" She flung the king and queen behind her and came running to me, jumping up into my arms. "I missed you so much, Mommy. I was such a good girl for Grammy. And she said you had something to tell me."
I kissed her cheek and carried her over to my bed. "I missed you too, bug. Mommy does have something really special to tell you."
She hugged me tight. "Is it a surprise?"
"No. Not really. It's just some news. And it's really good news."
"Okay," she gave me a toothy smile.
"You know Mommy's special friend, Dickie?" She nodded happily. "Well, Dickie asked Mommy to marry him. And that means I'm going to be his wife, and he will be my husband. Like Grammy and Grampy, and Nana and Papa, and Uncle Steven and Auntie Val." I smiled brightly at her.
She twisted her mouth in thought. "What will I be?"
"You will be our daughter. And you will be with me. Always. We will be a family."
She smiled really big. "We can get a puppy!"
"That's right. But not until after the wedding. You remember Mommy's cousin had a wedding? And we went to Mass, and we went to a party, and we had cake!"
She squealed in excitement. "I love cake!"
"Well, we will have lots of cake at the wedding."
"Yay!" She bounced up and down on my lap.
I was really surprised she hadn't asked about Dickie being her daddy. I thought about her little play with her stuffed animals. "So I heard that Lady and Teddy are the queen and king?"
"Oh yes! And they're the mommy and daddy too!"
"They are? Are the rest of your dolls happy to have a mommy and a daddy?"
She smiled at her dolls like they could see her. "They're so happy, Mommy. They told me."
"That's nice, bug."
"But Teddy has to hide," she said dejectedly. "They can't see him no more." She climbed down from my lap and picked up the stuffed bear. She put him in the closet.
"Why does he have to hide?" I thought she understood my marriage explanation!
"Because daddies sometimes hide." She looked at me with sad eyes.
I knelt down next to her. "Sophia? You remember when Mommy said that she would look for a new daddy for you?"
She turned to me, her eyes wide. "Did you find one?"
"Yes, bug. Dickie is going to be your new daddy when we get married." I smiled encouragingly at her and stroked her soft cheek.
"No he's not! You said he wasn't my daddy."
Damn. She's so literal. "I know. But he can be like a daddy to you. When we get married, he will be something called a stepfather. Or stepdaddy. So, you see, he will be a daddy to you."
She frowned back at me in confusion. "Where's the daddy who put me in you? Auntie Val said Uncle Steve put the baby in her. And that's why he's the daddy. She said Grampy put you in Grammy."
I was going to kill my sister. "Some daddies put babies in the mommies. Sometimes we find daddies. And aren't you excited that we found Dickie?"
She lowered her eyebrows and twisted her mouth again. She looked so much like Joe in that moment. It reminded me that we were meeting him for dinner. "Uh-huh," she said softly.
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Thank you for reading. I know there were some things in this chapter that you probably didn't like. Tell me all about it in a review!
