“How did it turn out?” she asks from the kitchen. Once I’m there to properly greet her I hold up the blanket. She turns from making cookies to look at it. “I like it.”
“Should keep you warm and cozy when we’re snuggling and watching movies on the couch at night.” I can’t even believe I say words like cozy and snuggle these days, but as her Daddy, I’ve surprisingly grown accustomed to it quickly, and love making my little happy. I twist my hands so she can see the other side of the blanket, where our names are hand-stitched on one side.
“I love it, Daddy. But you know the only warmth I need is yours.”
I shoot her a naughty look. “And that’s not the only thing I’ve had done.” I slide up my sleeve, being careful not to catch the plastic that’s taped to my forearm.
“Whoa!” she says, stopping with the cooking immediately as she moves closer to me.
“Yep, sweetheart. It’s your name and…us.”
It took over two days in the chair to complete and a lot of work to hide it the last couple of days, but the ink on my arm is easily my best yet. It’s her name accompanied by a drawing of the two of us kissing. She stands on my toes, lifting up on her tiptoes to reach my lips. It couldn’t demonstrate our relationship better. I’m always trying to lift her up, in all ways…to help her feel a little bit taller and let her know there’s somebody there for her. Always.
“When did you…?”
“It’s been a work in progress my entire life. I just never knew it until I found you.”
“Does this mean we can’t shower together?” she teases.
“Where there’s a will there’s a way.”
“I love your positivity.”
“And I love you. Every. Single. Thing. About. You.”
She melts into my arms before taking a step back and sliding the cookies into the oven.
“How’s your homework?”
“Great. I even got an A on my math quiz.?
??
“Because you’re a freaking genius!”
“Thanks to your help. I can barely pronounce trigonometry, let alone learn it. My tutor,” she winks at me, “made all the difference.”
I pull her in and give her a kiss on the top of the head.
“And there’s something different I wanted to talk to you about, too.”
“This sounds serious,” I say, pulling back, recognizing the change in her tone.
“It is.”
I scoop her up, along with the blanket, and carry her into the living room and sit her on my lap on our couch. Pulling the drawer out of the table next to it, I remove her wooden hairbrush and begin brushing those long, beautiful locks of hers. I know it relaxes her and I can see that’s what my little girl needs right now.
“Some things have come out in the news lately that make it seem like you had some kind of history with Freddy. And you’ve kinda alluded to it too. Did you know him before I came into your shop a few months ago?”
I exhale hard. “I’m happy to tell you about my past, anything and everything you want to know, but I don’t want to throw salt on a fresh wound.”
“I’d like to know.”
“Okay then,” I begin. “I don’t know him, but I know of him. Reason being is he locked me up on b.s. charges when I was younger. He wanted to keep his conviction rate high when he was a lawyer, and once I’d been booked, for a crime I knew nothing about, by the way, he was determined to convict. He even refused a simple twelve dollar D.N.A. test which would have proved my innocence, proved I’d never even been anywhere near the scene of the crime. All he ever wanted to do was refuse anything the public defender put in front of him, especially my juvenile status, trying me as an adult.”
“You’re kidding?”
I shake my head. “Unfortunately not. I was an orphan and I had no one to back me up.” I roll my eyes. “Seems he has a thing for orphans in every way. He preys on people he incorrectly perceives as weak when in reality we’re tougher than the average kid because we’ve fought through more.”