Janice blushes, her face turning bright red. I just continue to look at her in confusion.
"I hope that you can forgive me. I didn't know that this was going to happen," Janice explains.
I still look at her, feeling more confused than ever.
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" I ask.
I just continue to stand there staring at her with a confused expression on my face.
Why is she not making any sense?
Can she have some sort of surprise, or something planned that I didn't know about?
I hope it's not my brother again. Even though we made amends, I'm kind of not ready to deal with him right now. Or anyone, really. I just want to relax with the little bit of me-time that I have and wait for the next time my daughter needs me.
"Just please try to forgive me," Janice says again.
She walks over to the front door and opens it. I gasp out loud when I see Steve standing there. Our eyes meet and he walks in.
Janice closes the front door and stands there watching both of us. It takes a few minutes before I'm able to collect my thoughts and speak.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" I ask.
I'm overwhelmed and trying not to cry. He steps close to me and grabs my hands.
"I've been trying this whole time to reach you, but I haven't been able to. I've also been by to see your brother several times. After my last visit with him, I figured something was up. He was acting very strange. Then he blurted out something about you having someone to take care of now. So, I contacted Janice and convinced her to tell me where you were,” Steve explains.
I look over at Janice who says, "I didn’t know he would come right away! I thought I’d have more time to break the news to you. But I care about you. Both of you. And I really want this to work out for you guys," she explains.
I'm overwhelmed and shocked, feeling like I might burst into tears. I can’t believe Steve is standing here right in front of me. I want to pinch myself to make sure that this isn't some sort of dream.
The more I stand here, the more I realize that it is reality and that he actually is here.
I stare at both of them, awestruck. Steve still continues to hold my hand.
"I really think he wants to do the right thing. Please just give this a chance. Don't worry; I didn't tell him anything about…" Janice starts to say.
At that moment, the baby wakes up and screams from the other room. Steve looks at me with widened eyes. I take his hand and pull him into the bedroom.
"Well, I guess it's time you knew that you're a father," I say. “I was going to tell you. Eventually. It was just so hard for me to find the right words and I wasn’t sure when the time would be best…”
“It’s okay,” he quickly says. “I understand. I’m just looking forward to meeting our baby.”
I lead him over to the crib, where we both stand gazing down at the baby for quite a while.
“She’s beautiful,” he says, and I swear I can see a tear of happiness in his eye.
As if responding to his voice, she cries. I pick her up and hold her over my shoulder, rocking her gently. Then I walk around the room with her in my arms.
Steve is overwhelmed. I can tell. He looks like he's fighting back more tears. I can hear him sniffling softly.
I'm emotional too. I can't even wipe my own tears away.
The baby continues to cry. It looks like I'm going to have difficulty getting her back to sleep like usual, but this time, I don’t even mind. I rock her some more, but she doesn’t settle, so I take her over to the changing table that's in the corner and change her diaper.
I offer her more milk, but none of that gets her to sleep. Steve is with me, just looking at the both of us. I don't know what to say.
Well, neither one of us can really talk at this moment, I guess. I’m just amazed that he's here and that Janice was able to do bring us back together. I can't believe I didn't see her doing this after all.