"So, your field trip tomorrow,are you excited?"
She asked Simone.
Simone let out a large sigh as she struggled to lift herself up onto the bar stool, requiring assistance from her mom.
She huffed.
"Yes, we're gonna go see zebras, and tigers and paycocks-"
"Peacocks,my love. Peacocks."
She corrected her,making her nod her little head.
"Right,peacocks. And we're gonna ride the big yellow school bus there, and when we get there we're gonna eat lunch. Oh! By the way, could you make sure to pack an extra pack of fruit snacks in my lunch pale,and don't forget to cut my sandwich in triangles,not rectangles!-"
"Okay okay."
Tori chuckled,swiping some of the curls out of the little girls face.
"I'll make sure, I promise"
"Thank you."
She smiled up at her mom.
"So,chicken Alfredo with bread or do you wanna share some ramen with your mommy?"
Tori asked, getting up from her stool to stir the food.
"Mmmmm."
Simone lifted a finger to her little chin to make a thinking face.
"Alfredo,and an extra piece of bread too please!"
"An extra piece of bread? You keep eating like this we're gonna have to get bigger pants for that cute little belly."
Tori told her with a giggle,making Simone do the same.
Tori scooped two spoonfuls of pasta onto her pink princess plate before placing two small pieces of bread on it.
"Alright pretty princess, here's your serving size."
She told her,placing the plate in front of her.
Simone thanked her, going to dig into her plate just before her mom stopped her.
"Hey! one, you're not gonna wait for me and two, say your grace first!"
She scolded her,making Simone sigh.
She put her hands behind her back to hold herself over, she was 'sooo hungry' as she would say.
She might have been a little girl but if there was one thing about her, it was that she was gonna eat.
"Thank you."
Tori smiled as she sat down across from her as they both joined hands.
"Say the grace baby."
She told her, closing her eyes.
Simone let out a big breath before saying her grace.
"Thank you God for the great food, and my great family, and my great life. Let the food heal me and mommy's bodies and keep us healthy. God bless mommy, God bless me, and God bless the fooooooood! Amen!"
She smiled, opening her eyes and digging in.
"Great job baby girl,great job."
Tori told her daughter, pulling her hair back and preparing her chop sticks to eat the ramen.
She grabbed the noodles, pulling them towards her mouth, just before a knock trickled through the home.
"Eat up babe, I'll be right back."
She told Simone.
Simone nodded with a mouth full of pasta, not worried about anything other than her food.
Tori jogged to the front door, taking a quick look out the peephole.
Her heart stopped as a small gasp fell from her lips.
She took a look back at Simone who was dancing happily as she chewed her food, completely oblivious to her mom at the front door.
Tori let out a huge sigh, unlocking the door before sliding out into the dimly lit apartment hallway.
"What the hell, are you doing at my house?!"
She asked in a stressed tone.
"I told you, I was coming to see her and I meant what I said-"
"Are you fucking crazy?!"
She whisper yelled.
"You're standing in front of my apartment, my kid is in there-"
"She's my kid too, don't you ever try to take that title away from me."
Ryan flight back.
"You lost the right to that title four years ago, when you moved to Florida while I stayed here and took care of her!"
She told him.
"How many times do we have to go over this-"
"Once! And once only! You left me,high and dry to go to some fancy high school and live in an even bigger house than you already did, and guess what I was doing while you were soaking up the Florida sun?!"
Ryan kept his mouth shut, letting her finish speaking because he knew that she was heated.
"I was here! Crying every night, while doing everything on my own. if it wasn't for my parents, i probably wouldn't even be here right now. And guess what, I waited for you Ryan! I fucking waited, every night I prayed that you would eventually come back and but you didn't! I was the the one who was working extra hours to provide for her, I was the one going to school every day taking everyone's relentless teasing and bullshit, I was the one who birthed her,alone, in that room all on my own! So I'm sorry–actually,no the hell I'm not, if I don't feel the need to forgive someone who left me when I needed them the most!"
She pointed at him, her manicured nail poking his hard chest.
Ryan let the tension subside, as they both stood in the hallway silently, Tori's hard breathing being the only noise heard.
Ryan let out a big sigh before placing his hands on his hips, speaking cautiously.
"I know that. I fucking know that Tori, and I'm the only one to blame in that situation, I get it."
He said,avoiding eye contact.
"You can be mad at me as long as you want. You can hate me forever, but don't–"
He sighed.
"Don't let that little girl suffer without so much as a father figure, at least, just because of my mistakes."
He pointed at the door.
"Oh she won't. Simone is doing just fine, she's perfect. She doesn't even ask about you or any father figure for that matter. Me and her have a great bond, and I'll be damned if I let you step in between us and ruin it!"
"Listen to what you're saying! How will I ruin what you two already have?!"
He whispered.
"You can't take your anger out on her just because you're upset with me-"
"I will do whatever the hell I please with my child. Okay, don't tell me how to parent my kid."
Tori barked back at him.
Before Ryan could utter another word, the wooden door had been pulled back,making Tori basically shove Ryan out of the door frame.
"Mommy, who are you talking to? I'm almost done with my pasta, so you have to come run my bubble bath."
Simone peaked her little head out the door.
Tori held onto Ryan's shoulder, making sure that his body wasn't seen by Simone at any point and time.
"I know my love, I was just talking to Mrs. Roosevelt across the hall. She wanted to know if you wanted any sugar cookies from her new batch."
She smiled.
Simone gasped with big eyes.
"You told her yes right? Please say you told her yes!"
She jumped up and down.
"Yup, and I made sure to tell her to make yours with the pink buttercream frosting."
She clarified to the little girl.
Simone jumped up and down in the doorway, making Tori push Ryan back even further past the door cautiously.
"Yayyyy-"
"Okay okay, but you have to make sure you're being good so that you can get them tomorrow. How about you go start your bath and then finish your food, okay?"
Simone stopped jumping before nodding, quickly turning to go do so.
"Aht! And remember what I said last time with the pink bubbles, what did I say?"
She said sternly.
"Only one cup of the bubbles, not the whole bottle."
Simone recited what her mother had told her weeks ago when she made the tub overflow with pink bubbles.
"Good girl, go finish eating."
She told her,watching as she ran back into the apartment.
Tori closed the door fully this time,
Turning back to face Ryan.
She rubbed her face with both hands before letting out a big sigh.
"Look, Simone has a really good thing going for her okay? She's one of the smartest kids in her class, she's taking karate at four years old, and she's happy with just me and my parents in her life. I don't need all this other bullshit that comes with the dual parenting and the divorce court and the fucking back and forth every other weekend to a different parents house,okay and neither does she."
She said calmly.
"Ryan, this is my kid. Okay, my name is on those custody papers,not yours. Your name isn't even on her birth certificate, so technically speaking, you don't exist in the world of Simone Smith!"
She said making movements with her hands.
"I care about that little girl more than you even know, I would give her my last breath if I had to–"
"I care about her too, why do you think I'm here?!–"
"No! No you don't Ryan. Because if you did, you would've answered the phone the first time I called you that night four years ago, to tell you that I was fucking having your kid!"
She said with a raspy voice.
"I will fight to keep her safe, and if that means that I have to argue with you every day until you get that through your thick skull, trust me I will sure as hell do it!"
She shook her head.
Ryan put his hands on his hips before shaking his head down.
"Satoria, I want see my kid."
He said slowly.
"Well, you should've thought about that before you left me here to fend for myself. Would've been a great excuse back then."
She said putting her finger print on the key pad, unlocking the door.
"Tori, I was sixteen, okay I was just a kid!"
He raised his voice at her.
"Okay well so was I!"
She yelled back, making Ryan put his head down in defeat.
She took a big breath before pushing the door open.
"Get away from my door, or the next face you'll be seeing is the security guard down stairs."
She told him stepping into her apartment.
"You'll never be her dad, ever."
Tori let out a breath as she closed the front door, walking back into the kitchen to see Simone placing her empty plate into the sink.
She could hear the sound of the water cascading into the tub all the way from Simone's bathroom.
"I finished my food! And I put your ramen in the warming drawer, so that it wouldn't get cold."
She nodded, with her hands behind her back.
Tori had been so occupied with arguing with Ryan in the hall that she had completely forgotten about her dinner.
To be quite frank, she was no longer hungry after having the argument with him.
She just wanted to get ready for bed, and go to sleep.
"Thank you my sweet girl, okay come on let's get you in the bath."
She told her as they linked hands,walking to the bathroom in Simone's room.
Tori gathered all of Simone's hair in a clip before helping her take her clothes off and get into the tub.
"Make sure you wash up real nice, so that you smell good."
Tori told her, putting some soap on her washcloth.
Simone hummed a random song as she scrubbed her body of the dirt from the day, while her mom got her pajamas from her closet.
"Mommy?"
Simone asked, just as Tori entered the bathroom again, putting the pj's on the countertop.
"Yes Simone?"
"When is my daddy coming back from his vacation?"
She asked innocently.
-
Edited**
This is the prologue for 'I Am Here' I was actually supposed to start this book on March, have no clue what happened... it's June.