I finally get to see her. My daughter. Never would I have thought that I could even make a child.
After Nat and I lost our McKenzie, I gave up hope of having one of my own. She obviously didn't want one by me. Maybe my seeds knew she was a lying whore. My seeds are smart.
Smart enough to move in with the egg of a total stranger.
"Dammit." I shifted in my seat, gripping the steering wheel. Cree eyed me curiously. Aside from Ruger and Eva, he's still the only one who knows anything about Lucia. My world was a little too complicated for a child, I needed to get my house in order.
"Why are you so nervous? She's just a kid." I shot him a glare before answering.
"A kid that's mine and has never seen my face." I spat.
"Why am I even here? I don't like kids." He grumbled.
"Because she's your niece and Ruger is bringing Chase." I paused for a second. "You hate kids, but you like Chase."
"Chase is cool peoples." He shrugged. "Not every day that a toddler can do more pull-ups than a grown man."
"You shot him in the shoulder." I exclaimed.
"No excuses." He waved me off. I sighed,running a hand through my hair. "Let's just do this."
We exited my Escalade and met at the front. I scanned the crowd for a familiar face. My eyes landed on a tall, lanky figure pulling a dark haired girl into an embrace.
"He's here." I whispered void of any emotion.
"Shall I shoot him?" Cree inquired, rubbing his waistband.
"You'd shoot our right hand?" I arched an eyebrow.
"In an eye blink." He stated proudly. I openly gaped at him.
This fucker is crazy.
"What?" he shrugged. "F.O.E." he slapped his side where loyalty was inked. "Technically he's betraying you. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't shoot him."
"Kids, Cree." I deadpanned. "Plus it's not his fault. They needed help and found each other."
"If she taught him anything that Chase knows, I'll love our little Lucia." He flashed a smile.
Our little Lucia.
I suppressed a smile of my own and started walking. Cree openly checked out the women married and single. His eyes settled on one not too far from Ruger. She was holding a baby to her chest and laughing. He smirked before turning his attention to me.
"Maybe kids aren't so bad." He stalled, stealing another glance at the woman. I rolled my eyes and pulled him away.
"Shit. Even the pregnant ones are hot." He mused. "What if she runs a hot mom mafia or some shit?"
"Language." I scolded.
"I'd let them take me out." He grinned. "Maybe they'll drown me in breastmilk." I ignored him and finally made my way to Ruger.
We were spotted by Chase first. He wiggled in the lap of who I guessed was Harper. Her head was turned away so I had no way of knowing for sure.
"Uncle Luck! Uncle Cee!" He exclaimed, scrambling out of her grasp. His excitement caught the attention of Ruger and Harper. Her face showed one of confusion while Ruger's covered in shock. He quickly recovered as Cree picked Chase up into a hug.
"Lucien." Ruger nodded, his words coming out with caution. I simply nodded in response. I turned to Harper whose eyes flashed with anger. She turned to Ruger who glanced between us.
"Did you do this?" She spat, waving a hand toward me for emphasis. He shook his head.
"No. I never told him where I was going." He ran his hands over his hair, irritation flickered in his eyes. "Eva did this." He directed at me.
I shrugged in response. "She figured I'd want to be here for my daughter's birthday." Harper's mouth dropped before anger returned.
"You don't have a daughter." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"I believe I do," I smirked. "She's even named after me."
"Not by my doing." She spat, deepening her glare. "Why are you here? Lu already has a daddy."
I don't know why, but anger crept into my blood. Everything in me wanted to kill her.
How dare she let my daughter call another man daddy.
"Lucia is mine." I growled, clenching my fists. Harper's gaze shifted around the park. I guess she was trying to keep the peace. I watched her take in a sharp breath. I raised an eyebrow daring her to go against me.
"Not here." She gripped my arm. "Come."
Her small hands barely got a grip. The warmth sent jolts straight to my heart. Her touch was magical. Something addictive, I wanted more.
She pulled me toward a black SUV, ignoring the curious stares from the adults. She stopped a little boy and whispered in his ear. He nodded and pointed to a woman with curly hair. She smiled at him and shooed him on.
"Stay right here." She motioned to where we were standing. "Don't talk to anyone."
She jogged over to the woman with and whispered in her ear. The woman's small eyes widened and her head snapped towards me. I gave her an awkward smile as she gave me a once over. Harper smacked her arm and the woman laughed before smirking my way.
"Hey, do I know you?" A man called from a few feet away. He looked rugged, the kind of man who is used to hard labor. Just not the labor Cree and I were accustomed to. Farm boy was clearly not a fan of me. My eyes narrowed on the purple strap on his shoulder. He was carrying a princess backpack. My eyes trailed down to a small girl.
She looked just like my abuela. They had the same soul piercing dark eyes, tanned skin, and beautiful dark hair. It's her.
I took a deep breath as he came closer. That punk was walking around with my daughter. Jealousy pulsed though my veins, feeding my murderous thoughts. To keep calm, I stayed quiet.
"Are you lost?" He asked, sizing me up. I forced a laugh. He was wider than me, but I knew for a fact that I was quicker. Cree and I were taught to never let fear touch us. Never have, never will.
"No," I kept my voice friendly. "I'm an old friend of Harper's."
"Funny," he glared. "She didn't mention you were coming."
"It was a surprise. It's been a couple of years and my brother, Cree," I motioned to where he and Ruger were playing with Chase. "decided to see how she is doing."
He thought my explanation over for a minute. I took the opportunity to watch the little girl rocking her baby beside him. She kissed it's plastic cheeks like a mother would do her child. I smiled at the sight.
Harper must be a good mom.
"What's your name?" He asked, easing his tone a bit.
"Lucien." I smiled. "Lucien Myles."
"I'm Lucia!" The small voice beside him called. I looked down in surprise. I studied her so much that I forgot she was a living, breathing, human. I kneeled in front of her and held out my hand.
"Nice to meet you, Princess Lucia." I kissed her hand, making her giggle. I stood up and regained eye contact.
"Carson." He nodded. "Harper's boyfriend." I held back a grimace and signaled for a handshake instead.
What started out as a handshake ended up as his version of a pissing contest. He gripped my hand as if he were telling me to back away from his family. Little did he know, I was coming to claim mine. Harper walked up with an unreadable expression. She stood to the side, creating a triangle.
"Hi mommy!" Lucia chirped. "Look at baby."
"Hi sunshine, you're taking care of baby, right?" She cooed. Lucia nodded frantically. "Why don't you go see Teetee Kenya?" She pointed over to a smiling brown skin woman. Lucia giggled and began her trek to her aunt. Harper straightened up and eyed us again.
"I see you've meet my family." She said happily, but her eyes shot daggers. Hearing her include him in her circle irritated me.
"She's beautiful, just like her mother." I smiled, ripping my hand from the caveman.
"Thank you." She blushed. I almost smiled until she grabbed his hand.
"Actually, I see a little bit of my gran-"
"Lucien and I are going to go pick up a few things." She said my name like it was poisonous. "Call me if you need me."
He eyed me up and down before nodding. He pulled her in close and placed a disgustingly slow kiss on her lips. He kept his eyes on me the entire time, never breaking eye contact. She kept her eyes closed for a second before she pulled herself away.
"Come." She returned the edge to her voice. I forced a laugh and followed behind her.
"See ya Carlton." I called over my shoulder. He scowled and hoisted the backpack higher on his shoulder.
We finally made our way to the black SUV and she unlocked the doors. She climbed into the driver's side while I took the passengers seat. It was leaned back slightly.
Fucker marks his territory wherever he goes.
I smirked as I leaned the seat back a little more. Harper eyed me curiously with no idea of what I was doing. I flashed her a charming smile; she rolled her eyes and started the car.
"It's safe to say you didn't get her a present." She broke the ice. I shook my head.
"I... I... Uh didn't know what she would like." I stumbled to admit. She looked at me sympathetically and sighed.
"I'll help you." She gave me a smile that I returned.
"Do they know?" I asked, completely terrified of her answer.
She shook her head.
"Not a soul." She voiced. "A few have asked, but I just lie and say we grew apart."
I looked at her.
"Her pretend father and I, I meant." She clarified. "No one knows that you're her other half."
"Father." I smirked. She looked at me with annoyance.
"I said what I said." She waved me off.
I laughed to myself and turned my attention to the road. We rode in comfortable silence until we pulled up at Target. She parked the car. I headed in as she grabbed a shopping cart. We headed straight to the toy section.
"She loves princesses, and the color blue, animals." Harper rambled. I smiled at how excited she got when there was something Lucia really enjoyed.
It was such a difference from when Harper first left. It almost killed me having to watch her suffer through her depression alone. Not to mention my concern for Lucia. I knew she wouldn't hurt her, but I didn't want her left alone. They seem happy now, that's all that matters.
"Books." Harper smiled. "She loves when people read to her. Especially when they can do funny voices."
I grabbed a couple that stood out to me and placed them in the cart. She smiled at my choices. We walked down an aisle full of princess stuff. I grabbed random things. She gave me another curious look.
"From Cree." I flashed an innocent smile. She rolled her eyes. She grabbed the pink dress and put it back, opting for the green one.
"She doesn't like pink." She shrugged. I let my mouth form an "o".
"What's your favorite animal?" I asked, catching her off guard.
"Uhm, I don't know?" She shifted her eyes to the stuffed animals. Her eyes lingered on a penguin.
"What's Lucia's?" I grinned when her the light reemerged.
"She has always loved elephants, but here recently she's been drawn to killer whales." Her fingers rubbed against the small stuffed whale. "Last month, it was llamas."
I cocked my brow at her. No one likes llamas. Not even llamas.
"She watched The Emperor's New Groove with CJ." She smiled, I nodded.
"Who is CJ?" I asked, tossing a couple of stuffed animals into the cart. I slid in a penguin and my favorite, a white tiger.
"Carson Jr. He's four." She toyed with her necklace. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Lucia's still an only child. Thank God.
"Oh." I said, holding up an owl. She shook her head.
"She's terrified of owls." She grimaced. "And eagles. Basically anything they show at the Birds of Prey shows."
"Bad experience?" I asked, watching her head towards the checkout.
"Yupp." She nodded. "It's something about their calls that send her to tears."
I frowned at the thought of her crying.
"This is way too much." She broke the silence.
"What baby likes, baby gets." I shrugged. "Including you."
"Stop." She held back a smile as the heat rose to her cheeks.
I looked at my phone. We hadn't even been gone for fifteen minutes. We checked out after Harper's protests at the price. She got a call from Kenya saying that some extra kids showed up and Lucia gave her cup to a little boy who was crying so we had to stop by a party store. I promised to wait in the car while she got the things she needed. I was actually content because we were just enjoying each other's company.
I just happened to look at a storefront and saw the best present for my princess. I snatched the keys out of the ignition and hopped out. I locked the car and jogged into the toy store. I went straight to the desk and asked for the giant stuffed unicorn. They seemed apprehensive until I pulled out a wad of cash. I paid for it and a few other things and hurried back before Harper noticed I was gone.
I opened a random app on my phone and steadied my breathing. She climbed into the car and eyed me suspiciously.
"Why are you so dodgy?" She quirked an eyebrow. I shrugged. "And staring at your calculator."
"I was doing math. Isn't Lucia's party starting soon?" I changed the subject making her roll her eyes.
Phase one.
----
As expected, my daughter loved the gifts and her mom did as well. Even if she wanted to be hard headed and say I did too much. Cree and Ruger observed us carefully, making sure no one got in the way of our family bonding.
The party ended around three, leaving a lot of day left over. Of course I offered to stay and clean up. Having to clean up after thirty kids, Harper was in no position to turn down the extra help.
"You know you don't have to stay, right? You've seen her and spoiled her, you can go." Harper broke our silence.
"She's my kid, I want to be here. Let me, please." I said softly, knowing how intense we could get. She glanced around to make sure no one could hear us.
"What makes you think I want you around?" She folded her arms over her chest.
"If you really didn't want me to, you wouldn't have been sending me those updates." I stared into her eyes. She bit her lip, looking away.
"What do you want, Lucien?" She asked softly, I looked at her in surprise. She sounded so far away and conflicted.
"I just want the chance to make things right. With you and my daughter. Let me take you two to dinner and I'll answer whatever you want." I answered honestly, guiding her face to mine. Her dark eyes stared into mine, searching for something.
"Fine." She sighed.
Phase two.
******************
Lucia and Lucien finally meet. Will they hit it off?
Eva helps Lucien out, is she planning anything or did she genuinely want to help?
How do you feel about Carson?
Was Ruger wrong for reaching out to Harper without notifying Lucien?