And there goes half my heart… gone. It’s now been handed over to the four-year-old sitting across from me, and I pray she never gives it back.
I have to take a second to control my breathing. I’m suddenly choked up and there’s a lump in my throat. I’m afraid if I speak, I’ll start to cry. Bella’s looking at me shyly and I know I need to answer her before she thinks I don’t want that. Screw it. If I cry, I cry. If that makes me a pussy, then so be it.
Sure, enough as the words come out so do the tears. I get up and walk around the table to kneel next to Bella, turning her little legs to face me.
“Oh, Princess. I would love it more than anything in the world if you would call me Daddy.”
Bella reaches her hand out and swipes at my face to get rid of the tears.
“Then why are you crying?” she asks in a sad voice.
“These are happy tears. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but I promise you, I am so happy right now.”
I pull her into a tight hug, never wanting to let her go. She’s mine. This precious little girl is mine.
“Daddy, you’re squeezing me so tightly my head is going to pop off!”
I let go of her and we all laugh. I go back to my seat, looking around, as we all grab our food and begin to eat. This is my family and I’m the luckiest damn guy in the world.
Twenty-Five
Liz
After breakfast Cooper announces today is Sunday-Funday Family Day. What that entails I have no clue. When Bella and I ask him, he tells us to go get dressed and be ready to head out in fifteen minutes. Ha! That’s funny. He clearly hasn’t spent enough time with women to know we don’t get ready in fifteen minutes. That’s okay, though. He’ll learn.
An hour later we’re piling into his Range Rover to head out. I go to grab Bella’s booster seat from my car, but he tells me he already has one. Is there anything this man hasn’t thought of?
The entire drive Bella keeps guessing where we’re going. Cooper keeps laughing and saying he’s not telling her. About twenty minutes later we pull up to a grocery store, where he insists we wait in the vehicle for him. When he gets back, he’s carrying several bags and a wicker picnic basket. He loads the shopping bags and the basket into the trunk and then we’re back on the road.
A few minutes later we pull up to the Town Square. Bella is trying to figure out where we are, but she can’t see beyond the parking lot.
“We’ve never been here. What’s there to do?” I ask as we get out.
“You’ll see.” He grabs the basket, which must be filled with the stuff from the bags, slams the trunk closed, and we all head toward the buildings. As we walk down the sidewalk, in the distance, it looks like there are a bunch of playhouses. Bella starts walking faster, wanting to see what’s going on. When we get closer, sure enough there’s a huge park filled with sidewalks and playhouses everywhere. To one side, there’s a huge Oak tree, and connected to it is a tree house with a rock wall and a fort. Just past that there, is a cool fountain that’s shooting water up in the air. On the other side, is the most adorable princess tower playhouse with slides coming out of the sides.
“Oh, my God! Mommy. Daddy. Can I go play?” Bella squeals in delight. She’s looking every which way, not even sure where to begin. I see a couple benches nearby and Cooper must notice them too because he heads straight for them. I think he’s going to sit and watch her play, but he shocks me once again when he sets the basket down on the bench and says to Bella, “C’mon, Princess! Let’s go play.”
She’s so excited he’s joining her, she jumps up and down, grabs his hand, and then pulls him along. Mom who?
We follow Bella through the playground. She runs from playhouse to playhouse and Cooper keeps up with her every step of the way. It’s hilarious to watch this six-foot-three man try to go where the barely three-foot little girl goes. I have to give him credit, though. Cooper can barely fit in some of the tunnels and slides, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. Where Bella goes, Cooper goes.
I pull out my phone and snap a bunch of pictures of them running around, climbing up the rock wall, and going down the slides. I’m sure he’ll love to see these later.
After a while of playing, Bella spots the water fountains from earlier and asks if she can go play in them even though she didn’t bring a suit.