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XXI. Our Smart Little Girl

A/N: The moment of truth lovelies.

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XXI. Our Smart Little Girl

LESLIE

I gently sit Natalie on her bed, ready to finally explain everything to her about what she just heard. That Jackson is in fact, her daddy.

"Baby, what you heard downstairs is true," I begin, biting my lip as I come up with the words in my head before continuing on.

"Jackson is your daddy. I made a mistake five years ago by not telling him I had you in my belly before you were born and never told him he was your daddy afterwards. I wanted him to make something of himself in the Army as a Doctor first," when she looks down at her hands with a frown I'm worried she thinks he didn't care about her.

"Daddy didn't know about you until that day you had to go to the emergency room for your arm. I was telling the truth about Daddy loving the both of us, even though he didn't know about you. I don't want you thinking he doesn't," she listens intently and hugs her stuffed Orca tightly. She's nods her head in understanding, actually taking it quite better than I thought she would.

When she starts to cry again, I hope it's not because she's upset that Jackson is her daddy. She seemed to really adore him when she was around him.

"Baby why are you crying? Are you upset that Jackson is your daddy?" I ask her and she shakes her head frantically.

"No Mummy. That guy—the mean guy scared me. I didn't like seeing him hit Daddy. I didn't like the words he said about him or about you," her brow furrows and she frowns. I can't help but smile at her.

"Oh baby, your daddy is fine. Between him and your Papa's, that guy won't be bothering us again," I promise her and wrap my arms around her as she snuggles into my chest while I gently rub her back.

"Mummy, there's something I need to tell you..."she begins as she looks up at me but quickly stops as we hear footsteps approaching her room.

Jackson shows up in the doorway and looks down at us with concern, his eyes are glued to Natalie. The look on his face when he noticed Natalie standing on the front porch broke my heart. He was terrified of her seeing him that way and that her finding out about him in that way would hurt her. But our baby girl is much stronger than that.

"Is she okay?" he asks and steps further in. He sits down on the edge of the bed next to us and Natalie looks up at him.

Her bottom lip begins to tremble and she catches us both by surprise as she jumps into Jackson's arms. She wraps her arms around his neck and he holds her tightly to him.

"Daddy, I love you," she cries and I quickly put my hand to my mouth to muffle my sobs. I look up at Jackson and there's fresh tears falling down his face.

"Oh baby girl I love you too. I love you so very much," he sobs as he kisses her temple.

He gently rubs his hand up and down her back as he holds her close to him. When he leans back against her headboard, she lays on his chest and closes her eyes, being absolutely comfortable in his arms.