“Hey, sweetie,” I say, taking my coat off. “How’d you sleep?”
“Good. Grandma made me cereal for breakfast.”
My anxiety is high, not knowing how today is going to go. Oh, who cares. I’m not going to ruin my day. If she ends up hating me for something stupid, then so be it. At least I can say I tried.
“So guess what we are going to do today?” I say, smiling over at Emily.
“What? What?” She starts jumping up and down. “Tell me.”
Leslie is staring at me, so I change course. “Well, what do you wanna do?”
I know her mom didn’t want to go to the zoo, but I refuse to sit at the house all day. We should get out and have some fun.
“Could we take Grandma to the pizza arcade place? Have you ever been?”
Leslie smiles. “I haven’t. That sounds like fun, baby girl.”
It’s decided. No zoo but at least we can do something that everyone could enjoy. Who doesn’t like pizza?
“Well, you better go get dressed then. We’re losing hours in the day...”
While Emily gets dressed, I talk to Leslie. As a man, I need her to know I’m serious about them.
“So, I know you have a problem with me... and I’m not sure why... but I love your daughter... Emily’s like my own... I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Her eyes narrow as she smirks, and then she responds, “The fact that you love her isn’t the problem...”
“Then what is?”
“You guys are living together. Sleeping in the same bed. From what my daughter has told me, Emily got attached to you quickly, and I don’t want her to get hurt in this. She already lost Chris...”
Well, there it is. Out in the open. Her problem with me. I get it. Chris ended up being a total douche, but I’m nothing like him. As far as living together, it’s a mutual decision, and I don’t see anything wrong with it. We are happy. What else does she want?
“I’m ready!” Emily says, running back into the living room to fill the awkward silence.
We head out the door toward Martin's. It’s the best family-friendly, all ages, place around. They have a pizza bar, arcade games, miniature golf, and a couple lanes of bowling.
We spend the next few hours playing arcade games. Leslie seems to enjoy herself and isn’t giving me as much side-eye as before. Emily holds my hand while walking around and pointing to each machine. We have plenty of time. There is no rush. I encourage her to play any game she wants.
While she is playing Hit the Otters, Leslie pulls me back a bit.
“I just want to say that I don’t have a problem with you. I just don’t agree with some of the things you two are doing. My daughter is smart and if she really likes you, then I’m happy for her.” She smiles and pats me on the shoulder.
Maybe she is finally coming around to realize that I’m not a bad guy. That’s all I want. Family is important to both of us, and even though she tells me not to worry about it, I know she cares. So I want to do everything I can to change her mind about me.
Once we get done playing the games, we hit up the pizza bar. Emily scarfs down four pieces of pizza before we leave.
I say today’s outing has been a success and maybe Leslie is finally seeing how happy we all are together. She just needed a little push and some confirmation from me. Maybe today proved that to her.