22
Damon
The father-daughterdance is tonight, and I’ve been looking forward to it since the day she asked me. Maybe this will put a little more pep in her step.
She’s been talking about it for the last couple of days and coming out of the room wearing froufrou dresses and saying that she’s a princess. And that’s true. She’s my princess and deserves to have someone who loves her, cherishes her, and wants what’s best for her.
I take the entire day off so I can prepare while she’s in school. The tuxedo shop calls and lets me know mine is ready. Tessa took her dress shopping yesterday, and I really can’t wait to see what they picked out. No matter what it is, she will look gorgeous. I swing by the flower shop and pick up a corsage because what’s a dance without a corsage? It makes me think back to my prom days with Carol when I put the corsage on her and ended up stabbing her.
The plan for today is to stay away from the house until it’s time for me to pick her up. I’m taking her to dinner before the dance.
When it hits five o’clock, my nerves rattle. Not that I’m necessarily nervous about going to the dance with her, but with the issues with her actual father, I feel like this is an enormous step for our relationship. The night needs to be perfect.
As I head over to my house in the tuxedo, I think about what the night has in store for us. And a smile sweeps across my face, knowing that tonight is all about Emily and me.
Walking up to the door, carrying the corsage in my hand, I can hear them talking inside. The excitement was apparent in her voice.
As the gentleman I am, I ring the doorbell and wait for Emily to answer.
“He’s here, Mama. He's here.”
When the door opens, I fixate my eyes on her and her dress. They picked out a beautiful lilac princess gown and gave her ringlets. “Oh, my goodness. I get to go to the dance with a princess tonight. How did I get so lucky?”
I pin the corsage on her dress, and we are on our way. She does not know what I planned, and that is the best part. The surprise.
“Would you like to accompany me to dinner, my lady?”
She giggles. “Oh, good. My tummy is growling.”
We get into my car and head toward the restaurant. Her smile doesn’t waver for a single second on the ride over.
“Here we are, princess,” I say, opening the door for her.
The inside of the restaurant is beautiful, but nothing compared to Emily. It’s a nice restaurant, but not too nice where there isn’t something that a kid would eat.
“Welcome to Robertson’s. I’ll be your server. What can I get you?”
I look over to Emily who is looking at the menu. “Do you know what you want, sweetie?”
She looks over to me and whispers, “Can you help me look at the menu?”
Of course, I forgot. She is still young and needs help reading a menu. Idiot. “Give us another few minutes.”
I sit down next to her, reading her the menu. “You can have whatever you want.”
After a couple of minutes, the waitress comes back and takes our order and compliments Emily on her dress.
“Thank you. We are going to the father-daughter dance.”
It will never get old, seeing her smile so big. She is a big part of my life now, and her happiness means a lot to me. Her acceptance as her stepdad is huge.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about something. But it’s a secret,” I say, putting my finger over my lips. “Can you keep a secret from your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, what do you think about your mom and I getting married someday? Would you be okay with that?” I ask, watching her face to gauge her reaction. Truth is, if I knew she would say yes, I’d ask her tomorrow.
“Married? So, you would be my dad?”