“Oh, wait. Wait, wait. I forgot to ask. Jesse needs to see some kid from Haven Falls and apparently, the guy is throwing a party on Friday, so I was going to go. Tora wants to come too. Are you up for a party?”
“Tora?” I grunt.
“Yeah, Nate’s girlfriend,” she says. “She’s cool. I’ll introduce you guys. You’ll really like her.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I tell her, pulling myself up off the couch, getting ready to change dad’s entire world with this kid at my feet. “I think Noah has a race, but I’ll check. I wouldn’t mind partying with the Broken Hill kids, see how you guys do.”
“Oh, come on,” she laughs. “You know I’m still a Haven Falls girl at heart.”
“Uh huh,” I laugh. “We’ll see.”
With that. I end the call and look down at Aria. “Are you ready to meet your daddy?”
She looks up at me with those big blue eyes. “Do you think he’ll like me?”
“I think he’s going to love you.”
She puts her little hand in mine and together we walk to the door. I feel her nerves radiating off of her, but there’s nothing for her to worry about. Dad is a big bear. He might seem a little scary on the outside, but on the inside, he’s the most caring man she’ll ever meet.
I’ve already explained this to her, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. She’ll just have to tear it off like a Band-Aid and get it over with. The second that’s done, they can work on getting to know one another.
We walk out the front and I watch dad reversing his truck into the drive. It’s always impressed me watching how easily he does this with such a massive truck and it makes me wonder what the hell is going through Aria’s head. Though one thing’s for sure, she’s right there with me on the whole ‘impressed’ thing. I doubt she’s ever seen a truck so big.
“What did I tell you?” I grin down at her.
“It’s big.”
“Damn straight.”
I tug on her hand and together we walk out to meet dad. He catches us out of the corner of his eyes and he looks across, stopping when his eyes land on the little girl beside him. He looks damn shocked despite the few video calls they’ve had together. I momentarily fear for the safety of our driveway and the house, but dad quickly pulls himself together and gets back to concentrating on what he’s doing.
We wait a few moments for dad to cut the engine of the truck and grab his things before climbing down. The second he turns to face us, we walk forward and instead of throwing myself at him like I usually would, I proceed with caution as to not freak Aria out.
“Dad,” I say, trying to be the calming middle man. “This is Aria, a.k.a Squirt.”
A smile plays on his lips as he drops down to one knee but looks up at me. “You’re saying I have a Squish and a Squirt?”
“Yeah,” I laugh.
Dad looks down at Aria, his eyes roaming over her body from head to toe, taking her all in, checking her over while instantly falling in love with this little girl. “Aria,” he repeats softly, his eyes filling with emotion and unshed tears. “I’m your daddy.”
His arms open wide and Aria dives into them, snuggling her face into his chest as though he’s her missing link, the thing that’s been missing from her life all these years. “Welcome home, baby girl,” Dad soothes, making my eyes water.
I’ve never known my dad to ever break, but here, as he looks into the eyes of the daughter that he’s never known, his world is shattered and restored all at once. There’s so much he’s missed out on in her life. Both of us have missed, but now she’s here, where she belongs, and I bet my ass that dad is going to do anything he can to make it right.
The two spend the afternoon together and I head into the kitchen to start on dinner and to give them some time to discover one another. The booming laughter and cute giggles coming from the next room are telling me that there’s nothing to worry about. It seems they’re getting along just fine.
“Well,” Dad says as we sit down at the table together. “There’s no doubt about it, she’s my kid.”
“That’s what I thought,” I tell him. “She’s got your eyes.”
“Damn straight, she does,” he chuffs proudly as he helps dish up her dinner.
“So, what now?” I ask. “Did you try and get in contact with mom? Do you know what’s happening?”
Dad presses his lips into a thin line. “Not now, Squish,” he murmurs. “We’ll talk later.”
I get the hint and get back to eating dinner, but the question grates on my nerves. Dad’s never been one to hold back and it’s clear that whatever the answer is, I’m not going to like it. He’s never gone out of his way to protect me from the truth before so this is clearly about sparing Aria’s feelings and not letting her know exactly what’s going on with her mom. After all, she’s only five.