At First Sight

12.

For the past three weeks, Darryl has been showering me flowers and gifts. Taking me to fancy restaurants and romantic dates. He's a real softy and I love it. I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world when I'm with him and the sex is amazing as always. But I think Hope is feeling a little neglected. Her dad has been giving me so much attention I don't want her to feel like I'm taking him away from her. She's been giving me the cold shoulder lately so I decided to take her on a girls' date. Just me and her doing whatever she wants to do.

Darryl sat on the bed next to me. "So a date between just the two of you?"

"Yeah, I want her to get to know me without you around. You know build a relationship with her especially if I'm gonna be around for some time."

"And do you plan on being around for a long time?" he smirked.

"Hmm, you can say you're starting to grow on me."

He grabbed my waist tickling me. "Oh really?"

"Stop!" I giggled.

He kissed my nose before sitting up. "So where are you girls going?"

"I was thinking a bike ride and then maybe some ice cream. What do you think?"

"She'll love that but don't let her get carried away with the ice cream."

"Are you okay with me being alone with her? I mean I want to get to know her but only if you're also comfortable with it."

He took my hand in his. "I trust you with her. You're the most gentle soul I know. And just to let you in on the secret she likes you already. She always asks about you when you're not here."

I pushed his shoulder. "Don't lie to me."

He chuckled. "I swear."

~~~~~

I stood in the doorway waving as Hope and Michelle backed out of the driveway. I'm glad they're getting along. At one point though I was a little concerned. For a while, Hope wouldn't talk when Michelle was around only giving her the side-eye. After a week she began to relax around her. After the way Riley treated her, I can't blame her for being a little apprehensive around any woman I introduce to her. I'm grateful Michelle is so caring around her. She's a natural when it comes to kids.

I turned to go in but before my foot cross the threshold something hit me over the head causing me to blackout.

~~~~

"Did you enjoy the bike ride?" I asked Hope while sitting across from her in the ice cream shop.

"Yeah! I beat you twice!" She said referring to the many bike races we had at the park.

I smiled wiping ice cream from her nose.

"Are you and my daddy going to get married."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Um, I don't know. It's still a little soon for marriage."

"How?" She scrutinized me with those big brown eyes.

"Well, it's only been over two months."

"Do you love my daddy?"

"Uh...I don't know yet."

"He loves you. I can tell. Daddy was sad for a long time but he smiles a lot with you."

"And what about you? How do you feel?" She shrugged. "Are you not happy?"

"Well I guess but it makes me sad 'cause I don't have a mommy and all my friends do."

Oh, I just want to hug her. "You know I didn't have a mommy for a while when I was younger and that made me sad too."

"What happened to your mommy?"

"She... couldn't take care of me so she ran away."

"That's messed up."

"Yeah."

"But what about your dad? My daddy takes care of me didn't your dad take care of you?"

"I didn't know him. But then one day a nice couple came to adopt me. Do you know what that is?" she shook her head. "It's when a person takes a child in and loves them and they become a family."

"So...I can have a new mommy?"

"Yes. Whoever your daddy marries can become your mommy, but she will never replace the mommy you had. The one that carried you in her tummy and loved you first."

"Can you be my second mommy?"

"We'll see what your dad says about that."

"He's gonna say yes."

I chuckled. "Okay, finish your ice cream before it melts. And then I'll take you home but I have to stop at my house for a moment."

"Okay."

~~~~~

After ice cream, Hope and I drove to my house. I planned on spending the weekend at Darryl's and needed an overnight bag.

"I'm gonna be real quick," I tell Hope while walking into the house. "Aunt Ashley this is Hope. Hope this is my mom and Aunt. Can you keep an eye on her while I go grab some things?"

My aunt looked up at me from the couch. "So this is the mystery man's daughter? When are we gonna meet the man?"

"Soon. I'll be back okay, Hope?"

She nodded moving to sit next to my aunt.

"Oh, wait. This came for you. It was delivered by this girl. Very pretty. Said you should read it asap."

I took the letter from my aunt's hand glancing at the sender's info. "Why would Riley send me a letter?"

'Michelle,

I don't know what you've heard about me or what you think of me but I thought you should know the man you're dating. A year ago I was pregnant and happy. Darryl seemed excited, he said he'll be there for me and the baby and that he loved us. Then one day he told me we couldn't see each other anymore and he wanted nothing to do with the baby. When I tried to talk it out  - to get to the bottom of it he called me crazy and told me to leave him alone. I went into a deep depression because I didn't understand. I thought everything was going great. I wasn't taking care of myself and I lost the baby, which as you can guess didn't help my mental state. I can't seem to escape my pain. There are two copies of this letter. Whichever one finds you is to let you know I have Darryl with me just in case you and Hope are wondering. I hope you two have a good life together. Darryl would want you to take care of her.'

"Oh, my god. I gotta go! Can you please watch her?"

My aunt looked up alarmed. "What's wrong?"

I looked at Hope. "I can't say. But please watch her. Please."