Troian Bellisario: Just Me & My Girl

Dad of Her Dreams

"But we're inside." Aspen questions quietly, tear stains still on her cheeks.

"I know, it was just a joke." Keegan smiles "My mom used to say that to me all the time when I was little."

"Really?" Aspen asks. Keegan nods, looking down at her with a smile. Finally, Aspen smiles back, looking sheepish.

"Will you help me look for Rosie?" She asks quietly.

Keegan nods "I'd love to."

For the next little while, Keegan, Aspen, and I look for Rosie, although with no positive outcome. We can't find her anywhere, and although I hate to leave without Aspen's beloved toy, I realize that we have plans we're going to miss.

"Aspen, I'm sorry, but we have to get going now." I say "Max is coming over soon, and we don't want to be late."

"But we haven't found Rosie!" She whines "We can't leave without her!"

"Aspen..." I sigh "Max will be waiting at our house if we don't leave now. I'm sorry, but we'll have to look tomorrow."

"But mommy, we can't leave her here." She pleads "What if Max gets mad that I lost Rosie?"

"Honey, I promise you he's not going to be mad." I reassure her "Now let's go. Say goodbye to Keegan." Without another word, although with a disgruntled sigh, Aspen hugs him then walks back over to me. I realize that even though we're kind of going through a rough patch right now, Keegan and I are still dating, and I should probably do more than just a simple wave when I say goodbye. So without a second thought, I walk over to him, then stand up on my toes and give him a delicate kiss on the lips. When I step back, I can't help but notice the small smile on his face.

"Gross." Aspen scoffs at the sight of us kissing. With nothing more than a mere chuckle from me and a quiet 'bye' from Keegan, I take Aspen's hand and leave the dressing room. We walk out to the car, Aspen moping along beside me at the disappearance of her favourite new toy. She gets into the backseat, and I get into the front, looking at the time as I start the car. 3:51. Shit, Max is coming at 4:00.

"Mommy!" Aspen exclaims suddenly "I found Rosie!" I turn around, only to find her clutching the teddy bear with a big grin on her face.

"Where was she?" I laugh.

"On the seat beside me." She explains "I guess I left her in the car."

"You silly girl!" I chuckle, reaching back and tickling Aspen. She squeals with laughter, instantly making me happy.

"M-m-mommy!" She manages to get out in between fits of laughter "Stop!" I tickle her for a few more seconds, poking her ribs and causing her to shriek, before realizing that I'm making us even later.

"Okay, we really have to get going." I say "Max will get there before us." I pull out of the Warner Brothers parking lot and onto the main road, heading toward home. The radio is turned on to Selena Gomez's Same Old Love, which Aspen sings along loudly to. I can't help but chuckle as she gets almost every single word wrong.

Soon enough, we arrive at home, Max's Jeep parked in the driveway. I was never usually one to arrive late for things, but ever since having Aspen that's definitely changed. Not that I'm complaining, some people would just call it 'fashionably late'.

"Hey, sorry we're late." I apologize as I help Aspen out of her seat "I got a little held up at work. And you know how that LA traffic is."

"Been there, done that." Max laughs "It's no problem. Plus, it gave me time to try and beat a level in Geometry Dash."

"You still play that?" I chuckle.

He pretends to look offended "As a matter of fact I do! I'm a proud Geometry Dasher."

"Is that even a thing?" I question.

"As of two seconds ago it is." Max says matter-of-factly.

"You're a goon." I chuckle, rolling my eyes jokingly.

"Don't act like that's a bad thing." He teases. I just laugh as I unlock the door, Ella running over to us.

"Hi Elly Belly!" Aspen exclaims, crouching down to greet her puppy "I missed you today!"

"Don't you just wish she could answer you?" Max asks her.

"Yes, then we could talk all night and I would never have to go to sleep!" Aspen replies.

"If she could talk, what do you think her voice would sound like?" He asks. Aspen sighs, putting some serious thought into it. Finally, she uses a voice that's something between that of a mouse and a Disney princess. I snort with laughter at the sound of it, and Max laughs so hard that he clutches his stomach.

"If Ella's voice sounded like that, I don't think we'd be able to have a conversation without me laughing the entire time." I admit sarcastically. Aspen just laughs in response. After pouring everybody a glass of strawberry milk, upon both Aspen and Max's request, we all go into the living room. Max and I exchange worried glances with each other, knowing what's coming next. I get Aspen to come sit down between Max and I, telling her that we can play and do something fun after, but that we have to be serious for a few moments now. She agrees with a sigh, sitting in between us expectantly. As she waits for something to happen, I realize that this is when I should probably start talking. No beating around the bush, just get to the point I tell myself.

"Um—Aspen, we have something to tell you." I start shakily "You know how I promised that you would find out about your dad soon? W-well, this it, this is where you're going to find out. I know it's hard to wrap your head around, but...M-max...Max is your dad, Aspen."

She just stares at me, the expression on her face unreadable. Her big blue eyes, the ones that she gets from Max, they hold no depictable emotion. They just stare up at me, as if Aspen didn't catch a single word I said. But I know she did, her eyes are alert, they just don't seem to hold any emotion to show how she feels about this. Maybe she doesn't know how to feel, maybe she's not happy about the news I just told her.

Slowly, Aspen turns to face Max, studying him carefully. Still, she has no expression, just the same unreadable look to her. Since when is she so good at hiding her emotions? I mean she has to feel something, right? I just told her who her dad is.

"Max?" She asks quietly, staring straight at him.

"Yeah, I-I'm your dad, Aspen." He stutters "Are you happy?" She doesn't reply right away, nor does the expression on her face change. But when she smiles her perfect, huge smile, I feel as if a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders.

"Yes!" Aspen exclaims "I'm happy you're my daddy because you're the best daddy in the whole world!" Max grins happily, the same smile lines near his mouth that Aspen gets. He pulls her into hug, the smile not fading in the slightest.

"Well, I haven't had much time to practice being your dad yet, but I promise I'm gonna be the best daddy I can be, okay sweetheart?" Max asks.

"Okay," Aspen agrees easily "You're gonna be the best daddy ever."